Final Reflection

Alexander Dowdy

Throughout this rhetoric and composition class, my writing has improved due to the

experience I gained by writing the three major assignments and the assigned readings that were

discussed in class. Of everything we learned in class, though, one thing stuck with me more than

anything else: that the most important thing in writing is perseverance. I have taken the sentiment

that you just have to keep writing to heart. You cant bide your time waiting for inspiration to

strike. Diligence and the ability to keep writing every day is far more important than inspiration

or natural writing ability. I think this to be true because in my experience I have found that

inspiration naturally comes as a result of writing and that writing ability naturally increases as

you get more experience. This knowledge that persistence in writing is of chief importance has

already helped me a lot so far and for that, I am very grateful.

I think my ability to think critically, read, and write within the field of English is best

demonstrated by my major issues essay, entitled Framing the Gun Control Debate. The

creation of this essay required me to read rather dense articles on how participants of the gun

control debate are viewed so Id say it demonstrates my ability to read. This essay is the longest

thing I have written for this class, so Id say it demonstrates my ability to write. In addition, the

creation of this essay required me to think critically when I had to determine how to structure it

as a whole. Earlier in the semester, we talked about the concepts of kairos, logos, ethos, and

pathos. Honestly, I had never heard of kairos before I attended this class, but now I know that

kairos plays a very important role in my writing. I have always preferred to write about things

that are timely and now I know the correct word for that appeal to current sentiment. I like to

keep my writing as kairotic as possible, so the knowledge of kairos is very helpful. Logos,

pathos, and ethos apply to my writing in the proportion which I use these three rhetorical appeals

in. When I was younger, I was much more likely to employ logos as I thought pathos and ethos

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Alexander Dowdy

were somehow insincere. My sentiment was that I shouldnt try to make an argument if I

couldnt effectively argue it with logical means. However, I have started using pathos more and

more over the years. I havent yet gotten the hang of ethos, though. Of all the rhetorical concepts

weve covered throughout the semester, I think kairos is the most interesting.

One interesting thing I learned about my writing process is that my best works are

produced when I write what Im working on over and over again instead of revising. This

process may be time consuming ,especially when writing long works, but I have found that it

works the best for me. This method probably works best for me because most of my writing

problems involve the structure of the work as a whole and not word choice or individual

sentences. Overall, I would certainly say I am more comfortable with my composition now than

at the beginning of the semester.

I think the writing I performed this semester will very closely mirror writing required of

me in later courses. I would guess that the rest of my career as an English major is going to

involve a number of rhetorical analyses and argumentative essays. I learned from this class that

scholarly writing in the field of English requires a lot more evidence than what Id assume. From

what I understand, its not acceptable for someone to write their opinion on a subject and publish

it as a scholarly work. I think the process of retrieving information and synthesizing it into a

coherent research paper might be a problem for me in the future.

While composing the rhetorical analysis, I learned that the structure of an analysis can be

just as important as what is analyzed. This analysis was different than what I was expecting

because there is some background information that I did not know beforehand. I learned of the

difference between writing meant to be spoken and writing meant to be read when writing the

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Alexander Dowdy

MME. I think the purpose of research-grounded argumentation is to convince people of the right

thing to do with the help of evidence which is based in reality.

I analyzed and responded to diverse rhetorical situations when I wrote about how

participants in the gun control debate are framed in my major issues essay. Everything I have

written so far for this class has been written for a purpose. The purpose for which I have written

everything in class is that of the acquisition of a good grade. In my major issues essay, I wrote

with authority derived from the sources I cited. I have demonstrated critical reading and writing

when I analyzed the two articles in my rhetorical analysis. I have demonstrated my

understanding that writing is an exhaustive process in the contextual information, the reflections,

and this final reflection published in this portfolio.

I have demonstrated my ability to read and analyze a diverse range of texts via the QQCs

which I have handed in through the asulearn website. My ability to understand and evaluate texts

through rhetorical theory can be seen in my rhetorical analysis. I have demonstrated an

understanding of the genre and format of the field of English in my major issues essay

considering that it is meant to build off an existing argument in the field of English.

I have demonstrated the ability to produce texts in various genres as evidenced by my

multimodal ethnography and my major issues essay which are two very different works. My

ability to effectively use sources in the applicable genre can be seen in my major issues essay.

My ability to use two different documentation styles can be seen in my rhetorical analysis and

major issues essay because they use two different styles of documentation.

I have demonstrated my understanding of differences across academic writings and the

rationale for them in my major issues essay. My ability to reflect on my own writings and their

places within disciplinary conversations can be seen in the reflections of this portfolio.

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I have demonstrated my ability to use a diverse range of technologies to create scholarly

texts in my MME.