Rachel Eisert

Professor Toohey

ENG170:26

Portfolio Reflective Cover Letter

2 December 2021

Writing and Rhetoric

Prior to this course, writing was something of a chore to me and I never found it as interesting as math or sciences courses. Part of the reason that I was never invested in my writing is because I felt that I wasn’t very good at it. As I went through this course, I have come to realize that I am not a bad writer, I had just never taken pride in the things I was writing. Additionally, I was never writing about topics that are important to me which contributed as to why I was never pleased with my work.

In Writing and Rhetoric, I have learned to stop “fluffing” my papers in order to fulfill a word or page count. In learning this, I have noticed that quality is always more important than quantity in regards to writing. Additionally, when you are writing quality work, it is much easier to fulfill a page or word count because ideas begin flowing much more rather than milking the same topics for multiple paragraphs. I have utilized this tool in multiple papers throughout the semester.

One skill in Writing and Rhetoric that I found useful in other courses this semester was citing sources. Anytime you do a research paper whether it’s for chemistry or history, you need to cite the sources in which you got your information in order to avoid plagiarizing. Learning the specific formats for citing different sources helped me beyond measure when writing papers for other classes.

Two of my portfolio assignments that taught me critical reading and analytical skills that I believe will be useful in future studies and careers is the Virginia Woolf reading and the Visual Memoir assignments. The Virginia Woolf reading taught me to really pay attention to how the author writes and why it is important in regards to the message that the author is trying to convey. Although not quite the same, the Visual Memoirs taught me to really pay attention to the decision that artists make in their work because for the most part, it is done purposefully in order to convey a certain message or persuade the viewer to do something.

Prior to attending college, I was under the assumption that I would be reading lengthy novels and English textbooks and analyzing them accordingly, which turned out not to be the case at all. Instead, I found that we more often read short passages with useful lessons in them to incorporate into our own writing. Another misconception I had before attending college was what a real argument was and how to have a productive argument. In order to have a productive argument, rather than only seeing your side of things, you must see another person’s point of view in order to really understand the topic that you are debating. Lastly, I had learned the importance of organization in writing. It’s great to have really in depth information and analysis in your writing, but without organization the work becomes weaker than it would with a great structure and format.

One important part of the writing process that I have learned throughout the semester was that good writing takes time. It’s important when writing to take breaks in order to ensure quality work. Even when you think your work is finished it can always be better whether that means lengthening it, removing unnecessary parts, or editing wordy or awkward parts of your writing. Additionally, I have learned that the writing process is different for everyone and your process should be specific to you and what you feel produces your best work, whether that means sitting down and writing a paper in one sitting, or writing in increments and coming back to your work with new ideas. Finding a writing process that works for me has allowed me to enjoy writing rather than seeing it as a chore. Prior to this class, writing is something that I always wanted to “get over with”, and now I take pride in the things I write because I found a system that work for me.

Although I have developed and learned many different writing techniques and tools throughout the semester, I still struggle with certain aspects of my writing. One of the obstacles I face in my writing is clarity when trying to convey my overall message to the reader. Since I normally choose topics that I am extremely passionate about, I often find myself getting off topic and writing too in depth about the subject which sometimes strays away from the message or argument I am trying to make. On the other hand, I find that one of my strengths in regards to writing is things like format, spelling, and grammar. Before I took the Writing and Rhetoric course, this was something that I struggled with because I was never taught how to format my writing properly. My strength in organization is a direct result of taking this course.