Class Reflection

I signed up for this class only because I had to; not because I like writing or waking up for an 8am class. Coming in I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew from friends that GWRTC 103 wasn't a impossible class and that it was somewhat easy to do well. I also had the idea coming in that I wasn't really going to enjoy it; I didn't really like writing. It wasn't that I just didn't like doing it, it didn't come naturally for me. Whenever I wrote good papers I either sat down, made an outline and had a clear organization for my paper and just filled it in. Or sometimes I would just procrastinate and throw down some information and opinions and get an A on the assignment. So I guess I just had lack of consistency in my writing.

This class helped me a lot. I learned more techniques and strategies to help my writing and make it more effective. In this class we studied arguments, but what we learned about commas, sources, credibility, acknowledgment and response, and the rhetorical appeals can be used it a lot of papers. I liked that we learned three different ways to argue; I liked the narrative the best and rebuttal the least. I think a narrative was one of the best ways to prove a point and give emotion and credibility. I also used narrative elements in my Rogerian argument and I think that also made it effective.

In this class I learned how to better incorporate my research and make it help my paper rather than distract the reader. I also really liked the assignments we had in this class, they were all very interesting.

But most of all, I learned a process of writing. I learned that in some papers I would kind of had like 5 drafts and 5 phases or work. I learned that the more and more you revise and reread the better your paper will be. I learned how to reread my paper, how to edit it, and when things need to be changed. I think this class taught me that writing is a process and sometimes when I didn't feel so great at it was because I would only write one draft. I also really appreciated the workshops. Every assignment I wanted my paper to be workshoped. I learned that now I can just email my papers to someone to get their feedback. Getting others feedback clarifies so much because most of the time my sentences made perfect sense to me but someone else wouldn't understand them.

Overall I got so much more out of this class than I was expecting and learned how to be a better writer and reader; two things that will help me throughout the rest of my career.