Dear Reader,

This semester, I have learned so much useful knowledge from my Writing and Rhetoric class. In high school, I took a College Writing class, which prepared me to write four or five page essays. However, in this course, I wrote my first seven-page essay–the research paper. I didn’t think I would be able to expand my research and thoughts to seven whole pages, but the writing techniques we learned in this class enabled me to do so without repeating myself. 

Luckily, Kat taught us about clutter words and how to avoid them. I used this writing strategy in my philosophy class when we were assigned a brief essay. We were supposed to summarize a section of Plato’s Gorgias in 350 words or less, and I found it challenging to sort out the crucial information from the excessive details. While ruthlessly editing my philosophy paper, I found that I often used clutter words like “so,” “very,” or “much” to emphasize a point when I could have used more powerful language instead. I replaced these words with better verbs and adjectives that were more descriptive of what I truly wanted to say. This is an example of a useful strategy I learned in Writing and Rhetoric that I used in other classes this semester, and I plan on continuing to use it to improve and polish my writing in other classes as well. 

I wish we had more time to cover proper grammar and mechanics in this class. I think most of the people in our class struggled with basic grammar in formal writing pieces, because we did peer reviews where we got chances to edit other people’s works in progress. I noticed that many people neglected grammar and mechanics, which can hinder future opportunities. If one’s job application has grammatical errors, the employer is less likely to see that person as an educated and responsible candidate for the position.  I also wish that we had done more creative writing, like short stories or poems. I enjoy creative writing because it allows the writer to express personal feelings or emotions without writing about themselves or their own experiences. Creating fictional short stories or crafting poetic language can be challenging, but it is good exercise for the brain. I am still uncomfortable writing about my own experiences, so I prefer to make up new people and new situations. I can still weave in personal emotions and opinions when I want, but without being forced to relive or recreate a moment in my life. This is why I wish we had more opportunities for creative writing in this class.

I have learned that the first few drafts can look completely different from the final product. For my process essay, “How to Escape a Disaster Date,” I started with an extremely rough outline. It didn’t have complete sentences, and I used more colloquial, casual language to get my point across. As I transformed the mess of fragments and informalities into a more sophisticated paper, I realized that I could do this as many times as necessary. The revision process became more appealing to me because I saw that it wasn’t always frustrating, it could be encouraging and invigorating. I also used this strategy for my critical analysis paper, “Whitewashing in Media.” I started with a basic outline of what I wanted to say, and I went through three or four drafts before I got it to look and sound right. I learned that the revision process can be helpful to figure out the overall goal of writing the paper, and to find who the intended audience is. 

Now, I consider editing to be one of my strengths. I used to get attached to pointless words and cliches, but now I can them delete easily and replace them with more pointed, purposeful phrasing. Writing about my own experiences is still a weakness of mine, but I can use what I have learned in this class to work on it and polish my skills. This class made me a better editor because it taught me to be ruthless in deleting unnecessary words and phrases that don’t add to my argument. 

Thanks for reading,
Dalia Kropf