Reflective Letter
Overview
Throughout this English course, I have learned many important and valuable skills that have helped me progress as a writer. I have learned how to write effectively to a variety of different audiences and also have learned a great deal about rhetoric, specifically Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. Also, I have learned how to effectively persuade audiences without completely discrediting the opposing argument or writing in a completely biased way. Overall, I have learned how to convey a strong message to the exact audience I want to read it and learned how to integrate my voice better into my papers.
Learning how to Communicate Effectively
Coming into this class, I considered myself to be relatively strong writer. What I lacked however, was the ability to write to other audiences effectively. Before taking this class I was only able to write to my teachers in a very academic way. I had trouble bringing my voice through my papers. But now if you look at some of my work, specifically my movie review, I found that because it was a lot more of an informal paper it was a lot easier for me to bring out my voice and really connect with my intended audiences.
In addition to the movie review, my voice really shined through in my commentary. I feel that I incorporate Campbell’s theories very effectively in my commentary and am able to persuade my specific audiences very well. This class has honed my communication skills and made me a much more successful writer.
Integrating Ideas and Sources
Another key aspect of this class was the integration of sources into papers. I learned how to sift through sources and evaluate the rhetoric in each source. Learning how to evaluate the Logos, Pathos, and Ethos in a source taught me how to effectively pick the right sources for my papers and made my arguments much stronger. If you look at my groups Rhetorical Evaluation you will see how my group was able to evaluate all the aspects of our source.
After learning how to pick the right sources, we had to learn how to use the sources effectively in our papers. We learned how to pick the right quotes and elaborate on them just enough to make a good impression on our audiences while not drowning out our own voice with senseless quotations.
Best Example of New Concepts
Of all the papers I have written for this class, I think that my movie review best demonstrates my ability to apply new writing concepts. Before writing this review, I was only used to writing very academic and plain papers. Because of this, I had to work very hard in order to grasp the new concepts taught in class. The whole idea of the review was to write in a very informal tone, something that I was not very familiar with.
Although adapting to this style was a bit difficult, once I got writing I found that my voice flowed throughout the entire paper and I was able to effectively convince my audience to watch the film a second time and really pay attention to all the subtle hints that are laid throughout the film.
Mandatory Revision
The piece I chose to revise for my mandatory revision was my commentary. I chose to revise my commentary because I felt that it was a bit underwhelming and didn’t quite do what it was intended to. I found that I left out a lot of key materials and because of that it was much less persuasive than I had intended it to be.
I decided to add a few paragraphs to better explain how superheroes are modern myths. By adding these paragraphs I hoped to both show how superheroes are modern myths and also to connect them better with Joseph Campbell’s theories which were central to my argument. I also removed my origins paragraph which was a bit off topic and replaced it with a couple examples of Campbell’s monomyth cycle in modern superhero movies such as The Dark Knight Rises and Marvel’s The Avengers.
After making these changes I found my commentary to be a lot more effective in persuading people. I think the addition of the paragraphs explaining how superheroes represent modern myths and removing the origins paragraph really connected my argument with my examples and paved the way for a very informative and persuasive commentary.
Personal Goals
Looking back at the goals I made at the beginning of the semester, I can honestly say that I have made a lot of progress. I have come a very long way as a writer and learned many skills that will help me in the future. I believe that I will earn the grade that I had hoped for at the beginning of the class. I also made a lot of progress on my stress management goals. I learned how to manage my stress better and how to not let all of my work pile up until the last minute.
Although I have made a lot of progress on my goals, I still have a long way to go. I still have a lot of work to do on my test anxiety. I have tried many different techniques but nothing seems to work very well. I get very anxious whenever I take any kind of test and extremely anxious whenever I take finals. I think that it negatively affects my score is something that I need to continue to work on in order to succeed. Another goal I need to work on is my ability to work efficiently with groups. I find it a little hard to work with other people because I usually come up with an idea and have a lot of trouble seeing the worth in someone else’s because I have my mind set on my own. I need to work on my compromising skills and also learn how to incorporate my ideas into other peoples to create a strong idea that everyone in the group can agree on.
Throughout this English course, I have learned many important and valuable skills that have helped me progress as a writer. I have learned how to write effectively to a variety of different audiences and also have learned a great deal about rhetoric, specifically Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. Also, I have learned how to effectively persuade audiences without completely discrediting the opposing argument or writing in a completely biased way. Overall, I have learned how to convey a strong message to the exact audience I want to read it and learned how to integrate my voice better into my papers.
Learning how to Communicate Effectively
Coming into this class, I considered myself to be relatively strong writer. What I lacked however, was the ability to write to other audiences effectively. Before taking this class I was only able to write to my teachers in a very academic way. I had trouble bringing my voice through my papers. But now if you look at some of my work, specifically my movie review, I found that because it was a lot more of an informal paper it was a lot easier for me to bring out my voice and really connect with my intended audiences.
In addition to the movie review, my voice really shined through in my commentary. I feel that I incorporate Campbell’s theories very effectively in my commentary and am able to persuade my specific audiences very well. This class has honed my communication skills and made me a much more successful writer.
Integrating Ideas and Sources
Another key aspect of this class was the integration of sources into papers. I learned how to sift through sources and evaluate the rhetoric in each source. Learning how to evaluate the Logos, Pathos, and Ethos in a source taught me how to effectively pick the right sources for my papers and made my arguments much stronger. If you look at my groups Rhetorical Evaluation you will see how my group was able to evaluate all the aspects of our source.
After learning how to pick the right sources, we had to learn how to use the sources effectively in our papers. We learned how to pick the right quotes and elaborate on them just enough to make a good impression on our audiences while not drowning out our own voice with senseless quotations.
Best Example of New Concepts
Of all the papers I have written for this class, I think that my movie review best demonstrates my ability to apply new writing concepts. Before writing this review, I was only used to writing very academic and plain papers. Because of this, I had to work very hard in order to grasp the new concepts taught in class. The whole idea of the review was to write in a very informal tone, something that I was not very familiar with.
Although adapting to this style was a bit difficult, once I got writing I found that my voice flowed throughout the entire paper and I was able to effectively convince my audience to watch the film a second time and really pay attention to all the subtle hints that are laid throughout the film.
Mandatory Revision
The piece I chose to revise for my mandatory revision was my commentary. I chose to revise my commentary because I felt that it was a bit underwhelming and didn’t quite do what it was intended to. I found that I left out a lot of key materials and because of that it was much less persuasive than I had intended it to be.
I decided to add a few paragraphs to better explain how superheroes are modern myths. By adding these paragraphs I hoped to both show how superheroes are modern myths and also to connect them better with Joseph Campbell’s theories which were central to my argument. I also removed my origins paragraph which was a bit off topic and replaced it with a couple examples of Campbell’s monomyth cycle in modern superhero movies such as The Dark Knight Rises and Marvel’s The Avengers.
After making these changes I found my commentary to be a lot more effective in persuading people. I think the addition of the paragraphs explaining how superheroes represent modern myths and removing the origins paragraph really connected my argument with my examples and paved the way for a very informative and persuasive commentary.
Personal Goals
Looking back at the goals I made at the beginning of the semester, I can honestly say that I have made a lot of progress. I have come a very long way as a writer and learned many skills that will help me in the future. I believe that I will earn the grade that I had hoped for at the beginning of the class. I also made a lot of progress on my stress management goals. I learned how to manage my stress better and how to not let all of my work pile up until the last minute.
Although I have made a lot of progress on my goals, I still have a long way to go. I still have a lot of work to do on my test anxiety. I have tried many different techniques but nothing seems to work very well. I get very anxious whenever I take any kind of test and extremely anxious whenever I take finals. I think that it negatively affects my score is something that I need to continue to work on in order to succeed. Another goal I need to work on is my ability to work efficiently with groups. I find it a little hard to work with other people because I usually come up with an idea and have a lot of trouble seeing the worth in someone else’s because I have my mind set on my own. I need to work on my compromising skills and also learn how to incorporate my ideas into other peoples to create a strong idea that everyone in the group can agree on.