English 1010 has been a very eye opening class for me. It has been over 4 years since I have taken an English class. The last English class I took was in high school, and I wasn’t very motivated to learn or even listen. College is completely different. I want to learn because I can see how it can help me in life. I know that the more I learn now, the better I will be in the future. It hasn't been easy, but it has been a wonderful learning experience. The first thing that stands out to me the most this semester is MLA format. I have never had to do an assignment following the MLA format. I was surprised by how closely it needs to be followed. I was marked down for not putting a period after the abbreviated month in my citation. It was also the first annotated bibliography that I have written. At first, it seemed crazy to write a paragraph about each source and how I would use it. After I finished, I could see the value it had. I no longer had to search through each link trying to find where I read something. The paragraph was enough to help me find which article I was looking for. Another thing that I learned this semester was the three different rhetorical appeals: logos, pathos, and ethos. The rhetorical analysis that I wrote helped me to understand each of these concepts more fully. Logos is the logical appeal- it uses numbers and facts. Pathos is the emotional appeal- it tugs on peoples’ heartstrings. Ethos is the writer’s background, or ethical appeal. With ethos, the author uses his credibility and character to persuade others. We believe those we respect. I analyzed the article "Restoration or Destruction: The Controversy Over Wolf Reintroduction" Notebooks were also very helpful. It was nice to take the concepts that we were talking about in class and enforce them on my own with the notebooks. They were situations and articles that I was able to relate to myself, which helped me to remember concepts we learned in class. Organizing my thoughts from my head to a paper/computer screen is very difficult for me. The hardest part about writing my exploratory essay was conveying points clearly. In my head, the article glides smoothly along, giving clear, yet concise points from every view. When I read over it, the points didn’t sound as clear and orderly as I would have liked. During the editing process, I tried to fix this. I took out extra words that were not necessary, re-worded sentences for clarity, and even switched paragraphs to help the viewpoints be clumped together. Overall, I felt very satisfied with my paper and was confident when I turned in my final draft. As a writer, I have learned that I can always improve, but I am better than I ever let myself be in high school. To help me get better, I just need to keep on practicing! |
