The first semester of my college career has been challenging, thought-provoking, and most importantly, rewarding. Before this semester, I had no real understanding of the word literacy. Since then, I have gained a much deeper awareness as not only a writer, but also a composer. Throughout the units, I have been introduced to various new writing styles and rhetorical situations. As I have discussed in my unit one blog, which is accessible through this expressions site, entering college felt as though I had been thrown into a 6-foot pool without ever having had a proper swimming lesson. I was completely unprepared to swim on my own. As Bartholomae states in his article, “our beginning students need to learn… to extend themselves into the commonplaces, set phrases, rituals, gestures, habits of mind, … obligatory conclusions, and necessary connections that determine the ‘what might be said’ and constitute knowledge within the various branches of our academic community.” (11) I feel I have sufficiently mastered all of these skills.
As we reach the end of the semester, I am pleased to confess that I can now confidently tread the waters on my own. With the help of our in-class exercises and homework assignments, I have managed to acquire the tools required for success as a 21st century university student. These tools consisted of rhetorical action, situated processing, and proper source incorporation. All of these tools help strengthen one’s ability to critically think. Critical thinking is the key to success when constructing a strong, compelling composition. Before taking Writing 105, I was a very mediocre writer. I stuck to the five paragraph theme and rarely explored the various styles and rhetoric actions; however, I am now aware that these actions can truly advance my compositions, and therefore pushing me to become a better writer.
Each unit had different focuses. In unit one, we were given two major assignments, the first being our critical reflection blog-post-turned-podcast, and our second being the rhetorical analysis. In order to prepare us for the completion of these assignments, we were also given different invention work assignments as a way to create a foundation for our learning. All of the invention work allowed us to explore the various different genres and practices commonly administered in 21st century literacies. Reading Ed White’s “My Five Paragraph Theme Theme” essay taught me to break free from my rigid ways of writing. I was encouraged to explore new techniques and themes. I learned to no longer confine myself to a limited amount of paragraphs. This was considerably challenging at first. I had always written using one particular theme and it was difficult to stop. With practice, I realized that by limiting my paragraphs, I was only limiting my ability to elaborate on my thinking. In addition to Ed White’s article, Drs. Melzer and Coxwell-Teague’s ‘What is Literacy’ was also very informative. It clearly illustrated the importance of literacy tools, such as situating, purpose, audience, persona, medium, genre, and context. The notice and focus heuristic was particularly helpful because it showed us how pay close attention to detail.
Unit two was centralized upon visual rhetoric. We were to choose a commonly held myth, belief, or misconception and create a public service announcement in order to attract recognition and awareness. We were also assigned a rhetorical analysis. The PSA was very thought-provoking because for the first time, I was beginning to understand that literature was not just in the form of a book. Literature can take the form of anything, in this instance, a video that was generally free of written words. I used visuals and speech in order to get my message across. Throughout the unit, we also completed various homework assignments. In order to help us pick a strong misconception, we located two articles that supported the belief that millennials are lazy. Once we located the two articles, we completed the Building Bias, Twisting Tales heuristic, which allowed me to instantly recognize biases when consuming any form of literature. Some of these types of biases include commercial, bad news, status quo, access, visual, narrative, and fairness.
Finally, in unit three, we were to write an academic argument and a professional statement. We read the document What Is Argument? in order to help understand how to craft a well written academic argument. I learned how to methodically create an argument without having a pro con debate. I did not pick a side. Rather, I analyzed the perspectives of both sides. This assignment also taught me how to create a well-constructed thesis. The document ‘Writing a Thesis Statement for Your Academic Argument’ offered multiple tips on how to recognize a poorly crafted thesis, for example, having no apparent claim. I now know how to create a strong thesis and I am aware of its importance. In order to make a strong argument, you must first create a strong thesis.
The skills I have acquired this semester have not only helped me in Writing 105, but all my other courses, as well. They have been useful in my courses EDU 203 and CFS 201 where I was often required to write. For that reason, my essays were always well organized and thought out. I think these skills will be useful forever, even after graduating from university. I will most definetly use them as an early childhood educator. Although I will be working with young children, and my students will most likely not be doing much writing just yet, I feel like I can teach them these skills, even at such an early age. Skills like critical thinking can be useful at any age. The ability to push yourself out of your comfort zone is applicable to any point in life. And most importantly, the appreciation of the literacy that is eternally surrounding us.