I am a student majoring in Criminal Justice and Psychology at Florida International University. I have always enjoyed the thrill of writing and the freedom to express or address an idea. English Composition though, seemed to be a challenging course focusing on intense papers and critical analysis on various literary sources. I was intimidated at first glance because my foundation in high school did not prepare me enough for college level writing. Throughout my journey in this class, I have been shown that this class delves deeper into writing and its distinct structures. I have been exposed to the many rhetorical tools a writer can use to effectively connect with the audience or achieve his or her purpose. I have attained skills such as : analyzing ideas from other sources, utilizing rhetorical tools, and formulating cohesive essays. Going through the syllabus and modules, I was overwhelmed by the extensive amount of work, but soon realized that each assignment in the three units build onto one another. The organization in the course enabled me to avoid procrastination and pay close attention to the details that I could use for the next unit. The strong response blogs, discussion posts, and theory of writing essay guided me as a writer to find my voice and navigate my thoughts without the fear of rejection and negative judgement. This English Composition class provided sufficient content and opportunities to find my identity in the style of writing.
During Unit 1, all students were assigned a literary source to read and analyze. My group’s designated source was “Late Nights, Last Rites, and the Rain-Slick Road to Self- Destruction” by Thomas Osborne. Professor Gregory refreshed my memory when she discussed the various rhetorical tools that are used to effectively communicate with readers. The appeals to pathos, logos, and ethos were interesting to dissect from Osborne’s source because his writing provided many examples of pathos as he describes a common scenario many students face when they have writers’ block. Tone, diction, and imagery were skills I had practiced in high school very frequently, but reading with or against the grain was a new concept. I discovered that reading with or against the grain was my favorite rhetorical tool to use when analyzing sources because it produces a rebuttal. This tactic enables me to question other sources and provide suggestions for a different or similar approach. I find myself using this skill quite often in my American History class. Many classes in college require essays and questioning a source while developing a unique point of view is ideal. I am now more observant in the rhetorical devices writers use as well as how to implement them appropriately in an essay.
In Unit 2, strong response blogs gave me the opportunity to respond to three literary sources in an essay form. I chose to analyze Christensen, Branson, and Tyre’s articles. In the beginning of the semester I realized I was an extreme planner. I am the kind of writer who plans out my ideas and how I will word them first in an outline and then create the final draft. However, this process did not really become apparent until I was assigned to create the three strong response blogs. I practiced reading sources and annotating important details I wanted to highlight later in my response blog posts. After completing annotations for each source, I created a list of the main rhetorical devices and provided examples for each in order to organize my thoughts. Once that was done, my writing process became a much easier task. Christensen influenced my writing significantly this semester. She writes about students finding their voice and identity through their own writing about issues or ideas they are passionate about. The topics Professor Gregory chose were relatable to students. For example, writer’s block, flaws in our academic system, teachers’ true sentiments, hardships for students, and the writing process itself were key issues in all the sources I read in class. Analyzing the bias within the sources, I was able to develop my own perspective and voice just as Christensen encouraged her students to do. At this point, my confidence level in the class improved drastically because I was able to detect certain things I did not even ponder about when reading in general. I am more aware than ever while completing assignments, thinking ahead and questioning the source.
Finally, Unit 3 pushed me farther than I thought possible when I was assigned to write my own theory of writing. At first, I thought the topic was very broad and I could not condense all the ideas I had in my head. For this reason, I chose key elements that emphasize the writing process and how it should be administered through the academic system. Throughout the units I focused on the sources and kept building upon my analysis, pulling from Tyre, Christensen, and Branson’s influence. I was surprised to discover that my general ideas did relate heavily to the statements Tyre, Christensen, and Branson were communicating through their literary pieces. At the time of the conferences, I had all my ideas and structure laid out, but was still uncertain about my development of ideas. I was advised to finish my thoughts or separate them by paragraph. I noticed I have a tendency of trying to fit in multiple ideas into one single paragraph but not developing any of them enough to get my point across. In addition, I am not accustomed to include a attention grabber in my introduction because it is a difficult task depending on the topic I am assigned. However, for the topic of writing it came easily to me and I noticed that it does significantly impact the introductory paragraph. After taking this advice, I felt more comfortable writing my own theory fo writing as well as this final course reflection. I will apply these lessons to my future writing assignments in other classes. Altogether, I believe my theory of writing paper displays my own perspective on a challenging topic, demonstrating my progression as a writer.
To conclude, this class served as a great opportunity to find myself as a writer and improve my writing skills for future occurrences that deem it necessary. I have learned to plan my moves carefully but not too carefully because spontaneous thinking and brainstorming produces my best work. I always felt alone in the struggles I faced in my writing process. Soon I discovered that writing is a profound process that involves not only thinking and analyzing, but being able to articulate words in a way that readers will understand. Writing is everywhere we go and in different contexts. The skills I have attained in this class will help me to read, think, and challenge the thesis. I feel confident in my writing abilities for next semester and the rest after that because I have built a solid foundation. Being able to analyze other writers, I have found my own voice and opinions on issues worldwide. I am appreciative for the learning outcomes that I have achieved in this class and will use them in ENC1102.