Metacognitive Reflection

By: Kyran Million

What I learned
This quarter was a blast. Academic writing is an intimidating course
description. I didnt think it would be as fun as it was. I really enjoyed
how out of the box the examples and texts were. It made writing
interesting and unpredictable, which in retrospect is why I came to
class. When you have a 6-9pm class, I can imagine that it can be a
stretch for a teacher to stimulate conversation, but for me it was
always easy to find inspiration in the from-left-field technique Zack De
Piero used for our classes.
Despite all the grammar and punctuation assistance I received from
taking this class, there was a few specific things I will take away from
this course. I think one of the biggest take-away was how to categorize
conventions of genres. Conventions are consistencies that together
make a genre. In Class we learned that there are genres in artifacts of
writing and that even mundane emails, Facebook posts, and text
messages are examples of their own genres because they abide by
certain guidelines to make them such. Looking at the things I
experience everyday with social media or in a professional realm - I
now cant help but pause to ponder what the writers intentions are
and if they are accepting and applying the conventions of that genre.

Another awesome bit of information is how I now understand

rhetoric and that everything is an argument. These two gifts of
language where hi-lighted very prominently throughout the course and
will be forever in my memory. When I understood that everything from
the way I comb your hair, to the beer I buy, to toilet paper I use is all
part of an argument I am making I was allowed to take a back seat and
examine why I conducted myself the way I do.
Argumentation is only one piece of the puzzle. When you
introduce rhetoric, you introduce a very classic and keen way of
persuasion. Rhetoric is how we deliver and convey points in written
and oral argumentation. The course examined how good rhetoric
should appease and simulate fundamental and classic forms of thought
like Aristotles logos (logic: facts and examples to promote the
argument), Pathos (emotion or appealing to an audiences humanistic,
emotional and moral convictions), Ethos (credibility or notoriety and
qualification by a unanimous or dignified authority), and Kairos (timing
or precision to deliver your point based on how and what is affecting
the audience socially, culturally, chronologically and emotionally).
My attitude toward writing has definitely changed for the better
with taking this class. I remember when we talked about shitty first
drafts and the article we read about simply putting words down on
paper or on your keyboard. I think that article was powerful to me
because it aligned with all the anxieties I was feeling from being being

told I was bad writer in the past. I now know that I was putting writing
up on a pedestal and I couldnt touch. No even come close. That
mentality prevented me from engaging in what I know hold true to be
one most free forms of expression a person can have. Taking this
class has taken a huge load off my shoulders and I feel like my feelings
are shared with a majority of the class.
Based on these things alone I have shared, I will apply all of
these teachings and experiences in my professional life. This class has
taught me to appreciate writing and a blood flow of culture, business,
and society. Writing is a foundation to progress and innovation. Coming
into the class I was unsure and frightened to how I would be accepted
and achieve the expectations, but I realized that in the real world it is
all about taking a chance and exposing yourself in your writing, making
edit after edit, not accepting mediocrity and driving your purpose
home to your reader. I am a business major at Antioch University and I
hope to create my own business someday. I know that professionally I
will need these skills on a daily basis. This class has taught me that
making a valiant argument and applying the guidelines of rhetoric to
get what you want in this world can elevate my company to make a
difference in the world. I am very please to have taken academic
writing at Antioch University and how I will challenge myself with its
lessons for years to come.