Running head: METACOGNITIVE REFLECTION ESSAY

Metacognitive Reflection Essay

As the quarter comes to the end, it is time to reflect on my writing skills and look back
to see if I have changed as a writer. I have never really thought of my development as a writer.
But the more I am thinking about it now I feel like I have accomplished something this
quarter. This quarter, I realized the importance of doing the readings and especially the
importance of writing about the readings. The readings that we were supposed to do were
very helpful with my own writing process. Most of the readings were about how to form an
argument, how to use rhetoric for our own advantage, and how to find evidence for our
research papers. With help from my classmates, my teacher, and the class material I have
become a better writer by understanding the rhetorical analysis and by improving my skills in
creating thesis and arguments.
First of all, I have learned the meaning and purpose of rhetoric. Rhetoric is basically a
way of speaking or writing effectively. Rhetoric is a way of persuading the given audience
about what you as a writer have written. In the article that discusses rhetoric, Boyd (2011)
informs us about the purpose and meaning of rhetoric. Boyd (2011) articulates, Choosing
how to express your meaning is every bit as important as the message itself, which is really
what rhetoric is (p. 87). Every time we write something, we are deciding what words to use
and what tone to establish in order to form our thoughts based upon what is appropriate for
our intended audience in that context. This article helped me realize to always tailor my
writing towards my target audience. I basically have to be able to persuade the given audience
of what I have written. I learned to ask myself questions before and during my writing such as
- Who is the audience? What am I writing about? How am I going to engage the audience?
Where is my writing going? These questions help me realize where exactly I am going with

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my writing and if I am using the right strategy for the intended audience. Knowing what
rhetoric means allowed me to write appropriately for the given situation and the given
audience.
Secondly, after I understood the definition of rhetoric I learned about the rhetorical
analysis. In the article by Carroll (2010), the author guides us through the steps toward
successful rhetorical analysis. This article made me realize how we constantly judge and
analyze everything we read and we draw conclusions from those readings. From what I
understand, rhetorical analysis is the ability to evaluate the way language and images are used
to influence our lives. There are always three things to consider exigence (what is this
rhetoric responding to?), audience (who are the recipients?), and constraint (beliefs,
attitudes). I learned that by understanding these three principles I can convey my message
more efficiently in my writing. As far as I am concerned, rhetorical analysis is important
because it can help us understand what the writer wants us to believe and how the writer
influences us with his/hers writing. By understanding this and noticing this core purpose in
the writing world we can apply it to our own writing. Now I understand how to influence
other people with my writing.
Continuing on, I learned how to come up with an arguable thesis and arguments that
support my thesis. Coming up with a thesis statement is not the easiest thing in the world.
However, after taking this class I feel like I understand how it should look like. From my
point of view, a thesis is a specific, arguable statement to the reader that I am trying to argue.
After developing a thesis statement, it is important to support it by arguments. By
understanding the rhetoric and rhetorical analysis I learned how to make an argument and take
a stand on an issue. I found out that a good argument should be able to persuade the audience

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on the issue and show that I understand it. There were several readings that I read throughout
this quarter that helped me with my thesis and arguments. In the comic book that we read in
class we found out what make s a good argument. Losh and Alexander (2013) state, A good
argument is actually a lot like a good conversation (p.148). And what does a good
conversation have? Two people who each represent a different side of the argument. The
comic book points out the importance of representing both sides of an argument and the
importance of making a statement that is arguable and can be possibly disagreed with by
another person. It also teaches us that each paragraph should be based on evidence and each
paragraph should support some kind of an argument. This helped me a lot with the
organization of my final paper and with any future papers that I will write in my other classes.
Looking back at my in-class journal responses, I can see that I was a bit confused by
the class project in the beginning of the quarter; however, by the end of the quarter I
understood how everything comes together and how it all makes sense. It gave me a hard time
in the beginning because I am a very organized person and a bit of a control freak. I always
like to know all the deadlines and assignments in advance to be able to plan out whats next. I
usually have about five different to-do lists that keep me organized. I like to be the one in
control but that was not the case during this class. Academic writing class has been
challenging for me because of those things. However, now I can see the outcome. This class
was challenging but it kept me on my toes and it kept me focused.
In summary, I believe that I have become a better writer. Actually this reflection essay
helped me realize the amount of work that I put into the academic writing class this quarter
and how that work paid off. In addition to all the things that I have mentioned in this essay,
there are so many little things that I have learned throughout the class discussions and

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through the weekly writing tips. I have learned the difference between genres and conventions
and some tips about writing process. Also, I found out the difference between who/whom,
affect/effect, hyphens/dashes, and about the oxford comma. Most importantly, I learned the
APA formatting which will be very useful for my other classes. All around I think that this
class and all the material that we went through made me a better writer. There is a major
difference between my writing skills in the beginning of the quarter and in the end of the
quarter.

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REFERENCES
Boyd, J. (2011). Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking). Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing.
Parlor Press.
Carroll, L.B. (2010). Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps Toward Rhetorical Analysis. Writing
Spaces: Readings on Writing. Parlor Press.
Losh, E. & Alexander, A. (2013). Understanding Rhetoric. Boston, MA: Bedford/St.
Martin's.