Kennedy1

BriannaKennedy

ENC1102

26April2016

Throughoutclasslecture,readings
in
FromCriticalThinkingtoArgument,andThe
EverydayWriter,
classdiscussion,groupwork,computeractivities,peerreview,andmy
researchproject,IhavelearnedmanyskillsinENC1102butIfeelasifIhavenotmasteredany
buthavebecomeclosetomasteringafew.Tosayaskillismasteredisimplyingyouhave
acquirescompleteknowledgeinthatskill,andIdonotbelieveitispossibletoacquirecomplete
knowledgeoveraskillinonesemester.AlthoughIhavenotmasteredtheseskills,classlectures
andtheuseofmytextbookshaveallowedmetobecomemoreskilledinreadingandanalyzing
complextexts,havehelpedmelearnhowtoproducepersuasivearguments,andtheyhelpedme
gainstrategiesforrevising,editing,andproofreading.
Previously,Iwasunabletolookatapieceoftextandanalyzethecontentratherthanjust
thestructure.Withtheuseofreadingssuchas"WhatisRhetoric?"byWilliamCovinoand
DavidJoliffeinthebook
WritingaboutWriting
,Igainedskillsthatallowedmetolookdeeper
intothetextsIwasreading.Priortothis,Ididnotreallyunderstandthatatextcanbeanalyzed
furtherthanjustaudienceandpurpose.Ilearnedthatthereisalsoarhetoricalsituationinevery
pieceoftextandthatthisrhetoricalsituationisthereasonthattheauthoriswritingthistextin
thefirstplace.AlthoughIknewthataudiencewasawaytoanalyzeapieceofwriting,Ididnot
knowthatitcouldgosofarindepth.Ilearnedthattherearetwodifferenttypesofaudiences:
primary,thosethatdirectlygetthewriter'stext,andsubsidiary,thosewhomayhappentocome
acrossthetext.Ialsolearnedthattheaudienceisabigpartoftherhetoricalsituationbecause

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theyaretheonesthatmotivatethewritertowrite.Iwasalsouneducatedaboutthefivecanonsof
rhetoricbeforetakingENC1102.Thesecanonsareaguidetocreatepowerfulwritingand
includeinvention,arrangement,style,delivery,andmemory.Inventionistheprocessof
developingyourtext,arrangementistheprocessoforganizingyourtext,styleisdetermining
howtopresentyourtext,deliveryischoosinghowyouwilldeliveryourwritingincludingtone
ofvoice,andmemoryistheprocessofrememberingthethingsyouwritesoyoucandeliver
themagain.Whenlookingatanypieceoftext,Inowambetteratpickingapartthetruemeaning
behindtheauthor'spurpose.Thisisaskillthatwilldefinitelyhelpmeinmyfuturecareerasa
newsanchor.Iwillbewritingnewsarticlesandscriptsfornewspackagesallthetimeanditis
importantformetounderstandtherhetoricalsituationforthepieceIwillbewritingespecially
regardingaudienceconsideringthatthestoriesImakewillbeprimarilyforthepublic.
AftertakingENC1102,Iamnowabletoformabetterargumentforanessay.Beforethis
class,Iwasabletoarguemypoint,justasanyoneelsecan,butthetypeofarguingIusedwas
notonethatwasbeneficial,itwasmorebackandforththanfactual.Afterreading
"A
Psychologist'sView:RogerianArgument
fromthebook
FromCriticalThinkingtoArgument,
I
nowunderstandthatarguingismorethanjustgivingfactsandideastothepersonyouare
arguingwith.Thegoalofanargumentativeconversationistohaveonethatisopentomultiple
truths.Beforetakingthisclassandreadingthistext,IneverwouldhavethoughtthatIcould
createamoreeffectiveargumentbyhavingbetterlisteningskills.IlearnedthatifIreallywantto
communicatewiththepeopleIamtryingtopersuadewithmyargumentandgetthemtolisten,
thenIneedtobecomepartnerswiththeminsteadofopponents.Ilearnedthattherearguments
canalsoincludevisualmaterialsandtheseservetwomainfunctions:toappealtoemotionsand

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proveapointusingstatisticaldata.Argumentswillalsobeabigpartofmyfuturecareer,and
whatIlearnedaboutargumentshasbenefittedmegreatlyandwillcontinueto.Iwillbeableto
lookatbothsidesofanargumentnowwhichissomethingveryimportantinnewsbeingthatI
cannotbebiaswhilereportingastory,andIknownowaftertakingthisclassthatifIreally
listentowhatpeoplesayintheirargumentthatitwillmakeminestronger.Visualargumentswill
beanevenlargerpartofmycareerbeingthatIwanttoworkwithelectronicjournalism,newson
television.ThiswillbefullyvisualandbecauseofthisENC1102courseand"VisualRhetoric:
ImagesasArguments"in
FromCriticalThinkingtoArgument,
Iamnotabletounderstandhow
andwhyvisualsareusedandIwillbeabletousetheminmyfuturecareer.
PeerreviewwassomethingIalwaysdreadedinhighschool,knowingthatitwouldnot
bettermypaperbecausethosereadingitwouldskimoverandcorrectgrammaticalerrors.After
takingENC1102,Ihavelearnedthereissomuchmoretopeerreviewthanaddingcommasand
periods.In
WritingaboutWriting,
RichardStraubdiscussesmanymethodstoensureyourpeer
reviewishelpfulinhistextRespondingReallyRespondingtoOtherStudents'Writing.After
readinghisarticleandexperiencingpeerreviewinclass,Ithinkitisverybeneficialtomy
writing.WhenIusetopeerreviewotherwork,Iwouldfixgrammaticalerrors,sentencefluency,
wordchoice,andthinkIwasdone,butafterthisclassIunderstandthatthatisnotwhatpeer
reviewingisallabout.Whenpeerreviewing,youshouldlookintoallaspectsofthepieceoftext.
Youshouldnotseekoutallerrorsbutmakesuggestionsonwhatshouldbefixed.Actasafriend,
notajudgeorateacher.Ilearnedthatitalsohelpsifyoucomplimentthepaperaswell.When
writingthingsthatcanbefixed,usecompletesentencesandbespecific.Donotbeshortand
sweetbecausethiscanleavethewriterunsureofwhatexactlytofix.Reallyreadthepieceoftext

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andreviewthingsotherthangrammar,lookatorganizationandhowthewriterpresentstheir
arguments.Thesearewaysinwhichpeerreviewwillactuallybenefitthewriter.Throughoutthe
semester,weusedpeerreviewinthisclassforallofourmajorprojectsandIthinkitis
somethingthathelpedalotandsomethingInowlookforwardtousinginthefuture.Asanews
anchor,Iwillbeworkingalongsidemypeersdaily,andwillrelyonthemforconstructive
criticismthesamewaytheywillrelyonmeforit.Peerreviewisadailythinginthejournalism
industryandaftertakingthiscourse,Ihavebecomeinformedontherightwaytodoso.
Becauseofclasslectures,
readings
in
FromCriticalThinkingtoArgumentandWriting
aboutWriting,
classdiscussion,groupwork,computeractivities,peerreview,andmyresearch
project,Ihavelearnedmanynewskills.Ihavebecomemoreskilledinreadingandanalyzing
complextexts,Ihavelearnedhowtoproducepersuasivearguments,andhavealsogainedmany
strategiesforrevising,editing,andproofreadingwork.TheseskillsaresomethatIwillbeusing
inmyeverydaylifeinmyfuturecareerasajournalist.AlthoughIhavenotfullymasteredthese
skillsyet,IfeelthatthisENC1102coursehashelpedmegetonestepfurthertodoingso.