Liao 1 Mike Liao 16th December, 2013 Prof.

Lipnicky English 106 Reflection Paper Throughout history, literacy and writing have always been emphasized as an essential skill to have. The goals of literacy have been looked at since ancient Greece to present day this semesters English 106 class. However, not all of the goals have remained the same over the decades. Just like the original goals have changed, my own goals have changed throughout my personal experiences in the class. My original goal for taking an English class as an engineering student was that of any other math crazy engineer, take the required class and be done with English courses forever. Unfortunately, I have come to a realization that I will never be done with English. However, as I went through English 106, my own goals changed, and I began to see the goals of the course itself. In the beginning, I wanted nothing to do with English. When I entered college, I expected to be able to customize and tailor my classes to only focus on my areas of interest. My first impression of the course was, Why does a computer engineer have to take an English class? I felt that everything I needed to know about writing had already been taught to me in high school, but week by week my impressions of the class changed. My goals changed from finishing with a good grade to learning about rhetoric. I was completely unaware that there was such intricacy to persuading people. Through each project, I learned more and more about the art of rhetoric. The three projects each taught me something different. In the first one, I learned about logos, pathos, and ethos. My literacy narrative helped expand my critical thinking skill by writing about my own influences in literacy. This first essay was a test on how I could consciously use these new writing

Liao 2 techniques. The discourse community essay made me see a group that I had always known as something else, and it gave me a chance to analyze the use of rhetoric in these everyday groups. For my final field of study essay, I was able to learn that there is still rhetoric in objective writing and how to find it. Through this course, I began to understand how to write to for an audience rather than for myself. However, I was not able to master any of the forms of rhetoric. With only a few months to learn this technique, I was able to merely scratch the surface. I have now accepted that I may never master these techniques, but they have value in any field. Thus, my new goal has become analyzing rhetoric and how I can apply it to my own field of work. English 106 showed me how effective writing is for any career. With this class done, I hope to apply rhetoric as a valuable resource in my future writings.