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English 111 G/H Rhetoric
and Composition
Sample E5
I
have accomplished much in English this semester. I have completed
many assignments and participated in many group exercises that
have enhanced different aspects of my writing. My overall style
of writing has vastly improved since the beginning of the semester.
All of the different assignments I have completed have contributed
to the improvement of the structure of my writing.
First
of all, reading and summarizing various chapters in the Writing
Arguments book has been tedious, but helpful to my future
writing skills. It taught me many important ways to structure
an argument in order to make it stronger and more effective.
Our class also discussed many common logical fallacies that appear
when writing arguments. We discussed the reasoning behind these
fallacies and how to keep from using them in our own papers.
I believe that in my portfolio my essays are well structured
and free of logical fallacies.
Writing
Arguments also taught me two other important skills to use
in my arguments. They are reading as both a doubter and a believer,
and appealing to the audience. I started out reading many essays
and choosing a position right away. Then I learned that it is
better to see the issue from both points of view before choosing
my position. This was useful when writing my documented white
paper. I had to look at both views of my topic before I could
chose the one on which I would write. My topic was how television
violence influences children’s behaviours. I had to first
look at how it did influence their behaviour and then I had to
see how it did not. I also had to use different tones when writing
to different audiences. It was necessary that I write with a
sophisticated attitude toward professors and superiors. If I
wrote to them with the tone with which I converse with my friends,
it would sound improper. The reverse is also the same; if I spoke
to my friends the way I write a research paper for my professors,
they may think I sound strange.
Many
of the readings and learning logs we have done have had an impact
on my personal life. One in particular was Richard Rodriguez’s
"The Achievement of Desire" that talked about a "scholarship
boy." "Scholarship boy" is described as a person
who does not think for himself. He is like a tape recorder; he
just records information that is given to him and then plays
it back. This essay made me think about my own life. I realized
that my life was sometimes like the life of "scholarship
boy"; I was good at spitting out information that was in
my head, but sometimes I did not do any original thinking. I
realized that eventually I had to start thinking for myself because
I could not just repeat information like a tape recorder forever.
Learning to do original thinking will help my future because
I will be able to come up with ideas for any projects for my
job as a computer scientist. I will be called upon to make suggestions
for new/improved programs, so I need to be able to present my
ideas in a professional way.
Many
hours of library work were common while working on my documented
white paper. Library research skills will be very helpful to
my future writing. Doing research will discipline me to get a
head start on projects in order that I do them the best I can.
I was forced to look for a lot of information so I could build
a solid foundation for my argument. Much of my research included
looking up book and magazine articles and then taking down notes
from them. In order to do efficient research, I had to invest
a great amount of time so I could find a lot of information.
I then had to take all of the skills I have acquired in the course
to write a strong paper with a powerful argument. I believe that
I make a good argument in my documented white paper, and I was
able to back it up with evidence I found from library research.
Peer
critiquing and teacher conferences were probably the biggest
help to improving my writing this semester. Peer critiques were
a big help because they showed all of the mistakes and areas
that needed improvement that I had overlooked. Even if I proofread
my document ten times, there are mistakes that I am liable to
neglect every time. Friends in class can critique my paper and
instantly find mistakes or areas that need improvement. Peer
critiques are also very helpful because they often use more constructive
criticism than teachers. This type of criticism does not kill
my ego and still gets the point across to me. Teacher conferences
are also very helpful because she can point out weaknesses that
even peer critiques fail to reveal. These conferences can really
help me improve in areas in which I am repeatedly weak. My portfolio
is full of numerous copies of my works with multicoloured pen
marks on them. I have at least three copies of each of my essays,
and each shows changes I can make for a clearer essay. These
comments usually say that I need more details or a more well
developed thesis.
I
believe that my writing has many positive aspects to it. I use
good structure and mechanics when writing my papers. I also try
to use pathos and ethos to appeal to the audience
according to their beliefs and values. This is prevalent in my
documented white paper. I use both pathos and ethos
to convince the audience that television violence does influence
our children and it should be controlled. I use pathos
to try to make the audience see what could possibly become of
out children if they are exposed to too much television violence.
I use ethos to convince the audience that it is wrong
to subject children to television violence. I think I provide
many examples, including personal examples, when describing a
situation. E1 is my biggest proof of these personal examples.
I tell how many people and situations have influenced my life.
On
the other hand, there are still some areas in which my writing
technique could use improvement. First of all, I need to provide
more details when describing some situations. I have been told
this in both peer critiques and in teacher conferences. I know
I am bad about leaving out details, but sometimes I just overlook
them while proofreading. Other times, I am too vague when describing
a topic. I need to be more concise and condense my thoughts.
I also tend to get off the subject which is the result of being
vague.
I
need to learn to use all of these writing skills to excel in
my future. I will need to present ideas for my job, and that
will require proficient writing skills. There will be a lot of
writing required in the computer science field, so I will need
excellent skills to perform whatever tasks are necessary. Although
many jobs will require a computer language to program, I will
still need to use structure and logic to write efficiently.
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Copyright 1997 Department of English |
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New Mexico State University |
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Use only with permission |
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