Reflection

In this ENC 2135 course, my participation in the three major projects reflected my deep understanding and learning of genres, composing and rhetorical strategies that I have acquired during the semester. Through these three assignments, I was able to advance and hone my writing skills and think critically about the complex connections that exist between writing, language, audience, and purpose.

 

Genre refers to the category or type of literary work. Exploring other genres increased my understanding. The variety of writing styles—from creative items like music videos to analytical essays—broadened my understanding of how language functions in different contexts. I discovered that every genre has its own set of conventions and requirements, necessitating an intricate plan to connect with the target audience. For example, I developed my skills in using evidence-based reasoning when writing the project 1B essay, but creative projects like projects 2 and 3 gave me the chance to experiment with using sensory language and narrative strategies to evoke feelings.

 

Composing these projects helped me identify my areas of strength and growth with writing, creating, and understanding the connection. The rewriting and drafting processes' repeated nature highlighted how crucial perseverance and patience are to improving someone's writing abilities. My changes were greatly influenced by the comments I received from my teacher and peers, which highlighted how collaborative the writing process is. I gained the ability to evaluate my work critically and to embrace help from other, which taught me the importance of constructive criticism. Also, I learned how to create pieces that would allow me to convey my own message to my target audience (in project 3). This allowed me to learn how to bridge the gap and be the one trying to convince others on a point that I felt that was important. I also taught me how to be observant because you would need to know about different audience and the things that they like in order to tailor to their needs.

 

Rhetorical strategies are things, usually words, that are used to convey a meaning, usually used to evoke a response out of someone. Rhetorical strategies were used a lot throughout the semester. I came in knowing what rhetorical strategies were and some of the types of rhetorical strategies, but I never really knew how to use them efficiently. Knowing the art of persuasion and how to modify messages for various audiences became an essential skill for me to have in my writing. By examining rhetorical devices like ethos, pathos, and logos, in project 2 and project 3, I was able to use them more skillfully and increase the impact of my speech and writing. My ability to intentionally use words, tone, and structure to accomplish rhetorical goals—whether they be to inform, convince, or entertain—was improved by my newfound knowledge.

 

Overall, these three major projects allowed me to become a better writer from how I started. I was able to learn how to analyze different genres, transform one genre to the next, and create artifacts of persuasion based on what I knew about a certain genre. I learned that writing is not just what is on the surface but what is deep under. Although things such as a simple music video or article talks about something, there is usually always a deeper meaning that the author would want to convey to their audience.