Alex Sirna

Ms.Ouderkirk

ENG 170

4/26/21

               Before this course, my initial attitude towards my writing was that it was only good in terms of journaling or non-academic writing. This is because of the fact that I had struggled with essay writing in high school, particularly in the AP class that I took last year. However, I did, and still do, enjoy writing about my own personal experiences, thoughts, and feelings about my life. One thing that I learned to do was write a research paper. This semester, I wrote my first research paper for this class and was able to learn how to use different credible sources and use the library to help me complete the paper for this class. These were two things that I had learned in this class that I was able to apply to using for my research paper that I had to write for my history class I had later in the semester. Learning how to use the library was helpful in particular because it allowed me to find the sources that I needed for the paper in a pretty effective way. A strategy that I learned how to use that I used in another class was writing an annotated bibliography. This was also something that I was able to use in my history research paper. I made the annotated bibliographies for both classes in very similar ways. One example of a thinking practice that I learned in this class was to acquire multiple perspectives of an issue in order to come to a proper conclusion. The main message of this class was that one story can be the most dangerous, and this was something that was seen in some of the sources we analyzed and discussed in class to show that having a limited perspective on an issue can lead to having inaccurate information and help draw upon an inaccurate conclusion about events or issues. This will be valuable since it will allow me to explore issues further and develop more informed conclusions on certain issues. Another thinking practice that I learned from this class was how to incorporate my own personal experiences into making an argument. While I have written about my own personal experiences in the past, I had not used them to make an argument such as when I did so in my narrative essay I wrote this semester. This can help me in future writing assignments where I can use my own personal experiences to support my position and help make my argument. This class has changed the way I view college writing since it shows that I can use my own experiences to influence my school writings. 

                 This class has also helped me learn about the writing process in terms of editing and revising my work and that there is a difference between the two. I learned when and how to use the two different types of reviewing my work and was able to use them for developing my own writing such as my narrative essay and rhetorical analysis essay. I also learned about the importance of stepping away from my piece of writing so that I can spot errors in my writing. This was something that I did not think was effective for writing, but it proved useful for all of the writing I did for this class and other classes I took this semester. I found that when I took a day or two to step away from the piece and then reread it, I actually spotted mistakes that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. I think that one of my writing strengths is developing and supporting my claim with evidence acquired. I was able to do this well in my research paper I did for english and the narrative essay that I also did for this class. Something that I need to work on for future writing assignments is getting used to using different formats such as MLA to cite sources in the bibliography of my essays and in the writing piece itself. It is something that I am not too familiar with and will need to work with to become more familiar with in future papers. Another area that I could improve on is with recognizing and interpreting rhetorical strategies since I did have some challenges with the rhetorical analysis essay where I analyzed a movie trailer. For the Writing and Rhetoric course, I think that there should be more of an emphasis on research based writing since that was something that I encountered in my history class and sociology class this semester. Due to this type of writing’s importance to other subjects and the importance it has beyond college, it may require some more attention in the course, especially since I did not encounter a research paper prior to this class and had little experience with the MLA format prior to the class as well. I think that I am more prepared for future college papers and writing expectations of other professors. I found the process of writing my research paper for this class and for my research paper for my history class were somewhat similar. It also changed my perception of my writing skills. I have a bit more confidence in my writing skills for academic writing. I definitely think that I still have room to improve my writing skills academically, but I was surprised with how well some of my writing pieces for this class turned out. My attitude towards academic writing has also changed in that I don’t view it as different from my independent writing I do on my own since I can still write about myself, my experiences, and opinions on issues in academic writing.