Britany Morocho
Ms. Megan SkellyΒ
Freshman Composition
December 10, 2019
Theory of Writing
Throughout the first semester of English, my writing has improved to an extent. The process of brainstorming ideas enables me to capture all my thoughts even before starting a rough draft. Examples showed prior also helped with the brainstorming as it was like a guide for everyone to go their own way. Rhetorical terms such as audience, language, tone, genre, rhetorical situation, purpose, medium, and stance where major key terms in our writing.
Starting from the peer and teacher review there were cons and pros of each. Starting with the positive contributions of the peer review, it allowed for students to receive feedback from another person with almost the same mindset as weβre all almost the same age. Additionally, mistakes caught during the drafts were helpful. However, a negative contribution would be that the feedback given by the peer could be bias depending on the topic of the essay. Therefore, some of the feedback could have been based on what your peer wanted instead in the paper. From my opinion Iβm not saying it happened, but it could have. Moreover, with the teacher revision, it was a different story. This revision allowed for correct changes to be made. Feedback given by the teacher corrected each studentβs writing positively. This part of getting a paper done for the Freshman Composition class helped immensely.
On another topic, whatβs important in my perspective about writing is the flow of it. If the writing piece does not have a strong flow it will make no sense unlike a piece of work that will be easily understood. For the flow of the paper to be easy going, the proper diction is necessary for the coordinating topic. This should be kept in mind when writing. For example, during class we had read a few readings in which language was the center of explanation. A proper language should be used for a formal writing piece. If replaced with a slang language the pieces will not be acceptable in a way as the piece and diction wonβt coordinate. Yet, if the writing piece where to be informal than the diction and language would be way different. Overall, the proper words picked out is what shapes our writing to the way we want our audience to interpret it.
One of the works that shaped our understanding of what was useful in our writing was the Source Based Essay. This was the first essay during the semester that had an impact on me. I was able to learn more in depth about the terms as previously stated such as rhetorical situation, language, tone, purpose, medium, genre, audience, etc. Being honest, I had some trouble truly understanding a few terms. I had learned them in previous English classes but rushed as previous teachers just wanted to get into the writing. For example, the term, rhetorical situation was in my perspective the focus. This gave the idea for the writing piece. Then the audience as if was the target to reach for. Without the right audience for the topic, the written work would not be appropriate. As writing the Source Based Essay, my knowledge about those terms grew and future works after that one were easier to be done.
The Inquiry-Based Research Essay came right after the Source Based Essay and it was more comprehensible to work with as there was more knowledge with the rhetoric terms. Even though we were unable to write an essay, the same way as the Source Based Essay, it was useful as a guide. In a previous English class, I had done a research base essay and it was a little bit difficult. However, my previous teacher had taught us how to find sources and plan how to use each. I used the same method of planning that I had used before in my high school English class to this research essay and it just added to the factors that made writing my essay way easier. One thing from this essay that was really nerve panicking, was the interview. Iβve never done an interview in my life. It was difficult having to go out there and find a non-profit organization who would have been willing to have time to respond to questions of a freshman student in college. This had to be done and I had to step put my boundaries to be able to accomplish this. Although the interview was via email, I still found it difficult yet used some of the writing skills taught in the Freshman Composition Class to get it done.
Overall, coming into this English class I didnβt expect much but ended up learning a lot. I had that mind set of a student just leaving high school entering college who would just be attending another English class. Sooner, I found out that I was wrong. Thereβs a lot to learn about writing. One may think that writing is just writing and itβs not useful, but it is. It is to write letters, emails, speeches, or just a sticky note for someone, writing is everywhere. This class enable me to be ready for future classes and be open to understanding new concepts to increase my writing skills.
