English 1010 – Reflection

Rhetorical Rationale

English in general was not my favorite nor my best subject throughout high school, not knowing the writing process made it difficult to write. All of my papers back then consisted of random ideas and weak conclusions. Without knowing proper style, diction, tone and voice, then the strength of my papers would have been, “Less effective,” as Y mentioned. Writing seem less like English now and more like chess or algebra.

This perspective of English was changed when taking my online English 1010, in the summer semester of 2016. This online English 1010 course was a hybrid of sorts. Unlike conventional lectures at campus, this online course was a new experience. The speed of the course was faster than what I presumed. The classroom environment being online did not consist of in class lecture, it was more of a chat and lecture course. This gave all of the students the potential of asking questions and that made this an upside unlike the other courses

However, unlike a reality type of game, the peers were real and so was the instructor. The grading was a little different, less quizzes and exams but it was structured and organized. The work was demanding, unless the concepts of the lecture made sense. This is where my first three assays began to make sense. These essays consist of a reflection, visual analysis and lastly the Rhetorical Analysis.

The first essay was titled, Reflection Essay: The Difficulties of Reading and that essay has assisted in reflecting on older strategies that were used and develop new strategies for writing. This essay was targeted towards an audience who has had difficulty in reading. Using new writing techniques such as voice, it became my intent to show the targeted audience that difficult problems required hard work. The first draft consisted of a few errors. These errors included grammar, run off sentences and misspellings. Despite this, my goal was accomplished and my reader were engaged and they also responded with an empathetic response.

Hard work pays off and as a result my second essay required different techniques in writing, voice and tone. The essay was titled, Visual Analysis Essay: Sleeping with Your Gay Partner’s Past. My personal intent within the essay used something controversial and broke down the authors true intent for those who may question the image’s authenticity and those who may find this content relevant. After a few revisions that ranged from simple mistakes, grammar and the flow of tone the – this essay proved to be a little more difficult than once thought. The peer review feedback made it clear that more work was needed by pointing out different areas that the essay could improve.

Additional notes: This assignment was one of the two assignment that failed to save after completion.

The third essay was titled “Steve Jobs Persuasion in Dropping Flash” and my intent was to breakdown this public letter by skillfully using techniques that reveal the writer’s intent. These techniques style, diction, tone and voice. A few revisions were made, resulting from reformatting charts that emphasis the form diction and in other areas diction within the essay that better illuminate the article. The final revision placed special attention on formatting, spelling and grammar. Although this paper did not receive a review from peers, different reviewers engaged in the content, pointing out the authenticity of the document and clarity.

Thus, hard work continues to pays off. The hard work learned from childhood experienced have influenced in sharpening my writing skills, despite the difficult beginning. In fact, the hybrid online course was not what I expected. As it turned out, the interactive portion of the class resulted in what seems to be mutualistic and parasitic behaviors among peer.

In concussion, these personal essays have allowed me to focus on improving my personal writing strategies. When teamwork is mutualistic, the help of the classroom peers creates an environment that makes it simple to learn. After learning the different techniques and strategies for writing effective papers, sharing ideas or issues has become an essential necessity within my environment. Just like game of chess or the art technique of mathematics, writing itself has become a fundamental art and skill.