Brooke Lockett

Professor Shannon Giambanco

Writing and Rhetoric ENG 170

5 December 2023

 

Impact of Writing and Rhetoric Towards my Academic Career

Dear Reader,

Prior to taking writing and rhetoric English 170, I initially felt I had a good grasp on writing. Structuring my ideas cohesively, diving further into my work than my peers, and effectively using the content knowledge to enhance my rhetoric seemed to be my strong points in high school. I always found myself receiving great grades in my work and praise from my teachers. While writing had always been an academic challenge, I enjoyed personal writing within my own time. This led me to feel I had a bit of an advantage in the English aspect, and I came into this class believing I was prepared with knowledge that applied to a college level class. However, I quickly was faced with the reality that I had just taught myself to get the words out on my paper without being instructed on proper techniques. From this class, my perspectives of college level argument-based pieces were transformed. Previously, I went from only using evidence directly given to me in high school courses to having the responsibility of finding my own scholarly sources. I’ve come to understand from our first class that in an environment such as college and leading into the workplace, I am the only one responsible for my success. This involves personalizing my own writing strategies or processes that align with my own method of functioning. Our first assignment of the topic proposal introduced me to the aspects of writing I had not become acquainted yet with. It completely transformed how I became familiar with the material I was assigned, shaping all my future work for the class. This paper taught me the importance of becoming deeply familiar with creating an outline through the prompt and rubric I am given. Preparation for any assignment is what I found to be key to constructing a well-developed paper. Furthermore, I became aware of how I consistently introduced multiple claims or ideas that I never advanced on later in the paper. However, I used this knowledge to my advantage as in later papers, such as the following research paper, I dedicated myself to making sure I did not give only a fragment of a claim.

Our class textbook, Everyone’s an Author by Andrea Lunsford et al. personally served as one of the most valuable sources throughout this course. Assignments to read chapters from this book and reading it on my own time allocated me with immense guidance and information. Specifically, chapter fourteen “Writing Analytically” drew me to understanding exactly what insight I should gain from my analyzations of research sources. As I progress through my career and life, it is dire that I have the ability to analyze information to assure I am making the right decisions and can effectively work in a high-level work setting. Another example of constructive writing experience from my portfolio was our annotated bibliography. Addressing why sources support my argumentative claim, along with why these sources are considered credible showed me how to build ethos. Building ethos will allow my audience to feel I am in a position of authority and trustworthiness. However, in the annotated bibliography I had to redesign my whole research concept. I found mostly all new sources as I realized my former progress within the topic proposal did not match the purpose of my research paper. A major concept of the writing process I have come to understand is formatting and structure, coaligned. I have learned through this course exactly how I should structure my paragraphs to cohesively articulate my ideas. I have come to find how important the introduction is. It includes your arching supporting claims, a well-developed thesis, and a general overview from the larger concept to the specific points. Everything should tie back to your introduction claims. Formatting throughout the rest of the writing is just as important. Through learning how to format my piece in MLA style, I learned along the way how to develop the sources I used directly following it. I gained an understanding of the need for further explaining what the source means and tying it back to my overall arching claim. This is necessary as an explanation proves how the scholarly sources I chose in my research benefit my argument, rather than just taking up space. By taking both introduction to psychology and writing and rhetoric my first semester of college, I found that these two courses are closely intertwined by skills and strategies needed to succeed. From critically analyzing the text, to developing well-written responses leading into presentations and being able to organize thoughts or ideas, these classes seemed to beneficially mirror each other. The strategies I have learned in writing and rhetoric have pushed me academically as I was able to utilize comprehension abilities to succeed. Another class I found myself using English skills within was global philosophy. Essays in this class required MLA format, which I had never become even close to familiar with before taking writing and rhetoric. This class provided me with the opportunity to learn MLA writing style that I will repeatedly need throughout my academic career.

From assessing my strengths and weaknesses throughout writing and rhetoric, I have gained a deeper understanding of where I can even further progress on and where I need to take a step back to reassess my direction. I do feel I have gained a skill for ethical citation, which I am proud of as it is my first semester using citations of any kind. From in-text citations to my works cited page, I have continuously followed ethical standards. Another skill I have improved on throughout this course is creating a sense of urgency. My claims are all centered and supported through sources around the need for urgent change within our wicked question. Especially within my conclusion, I have tried to make a sense of urgency a main focal point. However, I do need to improve throughout my academic career on constructing a focused, well put together thesis statement. Throughout all our main course assignments, creating a thesis statement is a large factor that holds me back. It can be very detrimental to my work as the thesis expresses the purpose, and significance of what I am trying to prove. However, I know I have the ability to progress in this area to perfect my writing abilities. From learning processes of writing, I have felt many struggles and successes along the way. My attitude throughout writing and rhetoric has grown to a much healthier mindset. I’ve come to not let the stress consume me, but rather understand that I do have room to grow through either editing/revisions or taking my newfound knowledge and applying it towards my next assignment. Breaking down writing related tasks into a process allows me to put my focus on individual parts at a time so I can sufficiently divide my energy. Therefore, I can even enjoy writing if I become passionate about my topic. I am grateful for the opportunity to take this class as I was consistently challenged within my perspectives and work. Upon completion of this course, as well as this reflection, I recognize how beneficial this course has been to me and my academic abilities. What I have learned throughout this course will be an immense asset to my following academic career, and the goals I have within it. Even by jumping into a college level writing intensive course with little to no preliminaries, I feel very highly prepared for new writing expectations with my learned skills and techniques.

Sincerely,

Brooke Lockett

 

Works Cited

Lunsford, Andrea. Everyone’s An Author with Readings (3rd Edition). 3rd Edition, 2020.