Semester Reflection

At the beginning of the semester I was extremely hesitant about writing blogs because I really did not quite understand what they were or what their purpose was. I began the semester by strictly following Brett's guidelines with the goal of trying to get a good grade in the class. I originally thought blogs were busy work and would become frustrated when trying to think of ideas to write about. I had a poor attitude about the class in general because of the bad experiences I have had in my other English classes, and could not understand why English 225 was needed for a movement science major and to gain admissions into medical school. However, after a short period of time my attitude changed. I am not quite sure what triggered this transition, whether it was Brett's enthusiasm about writing and the ways she presented the material that emphasized its relevance in all fields of study, or if it was the excitement of getting to research and write about topics that actually interested me and I desired to learn more about, but either way I began to enjoy the class. I actually began to enjoy asking questions and trying to use identity theorists to help me answer them. I think at this point in the semester my blogs became more enjoyable and I think this can be seen in the content and writing. I began to ask questions that were of sincere interest to me and used the blog as an avenue to explore ideas. I never before had found writing as therapeutic and satisfying as I do now. I find that I am now perfectly comfortable sitting down and just writing what is on my mind or analyzing the rhetorical elements of a paper or idea or presentation.

I think one of the most important things I have learned from this class is the importance of knowing your audience, or according to Charland, calling or creating an audience. I never before realized the crucial role that one's audience plays in one's argument, but essentially you need an audience to argue with and by defining and understanding your audience you are more effectively able to argue a point of view and take a stance. My writing has greatly changed as a result of this knowledge. I began my blogs by writing about things without providing explanations and assuming that whoever was reading my blog understood what I was talking about, which is entirely not true. However, now that I understand the importance of audience I feel I can draw on the common knowledge that I share with them in order to create an appealing and persuasive argument. I learned in my inquiry and convincing paper that I need to explain to the reader what my thought process is and explain how I go from one idea to the next, something I had previously just assumed that they knew. I have also learned how to draw from multiple credible sources to support my arguments and of the rhetorical significance of doing so. Overall, I feel I have learned so much from this semester and feel my writing has greatly improved and I feel more comfortable writing. I would like to thank Brett and my classmates for this.