Jaida VanDunk

Lynda Haas
Writing 37
March 3, 2015
Writing 37 Reflection Essay
When I walked into the classroom at the beginning of this quarter, I
had no idea what to expect. When I would ask others who had taken the
class before, some would tell me its so hard, youre going to die! or its so
much work! while others told me it would be a breeze. Now, as the quarter
is coming to an end and there are only a few classes left in for writing 37, I
can honestly say that I was challenged, but not completely overwhelmed. I
feel that our various projects, essays and assignments really helped me grow
as a writer and gave me a better understanding of rhetorical devices and
appeals.
In my high school English classes, the use of rhetoric was discussed
but was never something that I fully understood, because we never
specifically focused on the use of rhetoric and its appeal to the audience of
the works that we were studying. The rhetorical appeals, pathos, ethos, and
logos are the devices most frequently used in pieces of work. These three
appeals allow the author to make the audience feel a certain way about the
subject that they are showing in their work. Pathos, the rhetorical device

used to appeal to the audiences emotions, was the easiest rhetorical device
to learn about, because it was so easy to find sympathetic moments in the
works that we studies. In the graphic novel, We3, for example, several
moments of pathos are used throughout the story in order to convey the
message that using animals in the military is not right. You see pathos a lot
when the animals escape, and the dog that has been altered into a war
machine by the military keeps on repeating that he wants to go home. The
authors is trying to make the audience sympathetic for the dog by showing
that all he wants is a home and family, a life that military dogs do not get to
choose for themselves. Logos, the rhetorical device that backs up the
authors thesis/message with evidence and facts, was also pretty noticeable
in certain works. Throughout the film Blackfish facts surrounding the abuse
of Orca whales at SeaWorld and other water parks were exposed in order to
convey the message that whales should not be held in captivity. The
information provided was given my experts and whale trainers who had
worked at Sea World and had seen first-hand what was happing behind the
scenes at the water parks, which allowed the audience to trust the
information that was being given. This applies to ethos, a rhetorical appeal
that gives information credibility.
In order to find these rhetorical devices in works, I have to look at the
given piece critically. My capability to read critically has improved
significantly over the quarter. Towards the beginning of the quarter, we had a
connect assignment that was really helpful and gave me the tools to use with

our readings for the rest of the quarter. A big problem for me with critical
reading has always been that it takes so long to analyze everything. After a
certain amount of time, I start to lose focus and it makes it harder for me to
think critically about the text. With the connect assignment, we were given
tips on skim reading and how to get through a text quickly while still being
able to point out the main points of an essay by doing things as simple as
paying attention to the headers and sub-headers, knowing the main topics of
each paragraph by identifying the topic sentence, and knowing the authors
background.
My academic writing skills have also improved along with my critical
reading. Now that I properly know how to use the rhetorical devices of
pathos, egos, and logos, I know how to address my audience more
efficiently, so that I can better emphasize my thesis. Knowing how to use
the rhetorical devices properly really helped me in writing my rhetorical
analysis essay and give a proper analysis of the use of pathos in Rudyard
Kiplings Rikki Tikki Tavi. I also learned how to better incorporate sources
into my essays. Starting this quarter, something that I really wanted to
improve was finding the right sources to better support my thesis and I
believe that I have achieved that. However, I still need to work on making my
sources converse more. In my literature review essay, a lot of my peers
agreed that I needed to relate my sources and now looking back, I agree. In
my revision of my literature review essay Im definitely going to combine the
information that I used from my Leslie Irvine source and with the research

from Brian Hare. The two authors ideas both related a lot and I believe
combining the information from these two sources would really strengthen
my argument. A lot of these improvements that I need to make have been
brought to my attention during the peer review process. I would have never
noticed these mistakes before but my classmates have given me a lot of
great advice over the quarter to improve my writing. Reviewing other
essays from my classmates have also been extremely helpful, not because I
can see what they did wrong, but because I notice methods that really
capture my attention and improve their arguments, and it makes me want to
incorporate similar ideas or methods into my own writing. Reviewing other
people essays really allows me to identify what I need to improve in my own
writings.
Ive learned that in order to be successful in this class, I have to be
both flexible and responsible and organize my time efficiently so that I can
get my connect assignments done on time. They dont take a lot of time but
the do require focus to get them done in an efficient amount of time and still
allow myself learn what I need to learn. Connect assignments have also been
extremely beneficial because they help me realize how frequently I make
grammatical errors. In previous writing classes, my teachers would mainly
focus on how to close read an essay and what to look for in academic
writings, but I realize that its been years since Ive reviewed how a sentence
should be structured or how to identify grammatical errors in my writing.
Through these assignments Ive noticed a lot of mistakes that I often make in

writing and now I know how to improve them. The peer review process has
also allowed me to be a lot more engaged with my classmates, something
that doesnt usually happen in college courses, as well as keep me open
minded to the ideas of others. Staying open minded to the ideas of others
allows me to improve my own writing and how I look at a source because I
look at it differently than I would have before and get a better, more
universal understanding of a certain topic.
Now, at the end of our quarter, while I can happily say that my writing
skills have improved significantly, there is still a lot that I need to work on. I
am really happy about my improvement on incorporating the right sources
into my writing, but I recognize that I still need to work on giving a better
analysis of these sources and making them relate to each other, not just how
they individually relate to my thesis. I also need to continue to work on my
grammatical errors. Again, while my grammar has improved in my writing I
still make a lot of mistakes. In my rhetorical analysis essay, my peer review
partner noted that I made several mistakes and I really want to go back and
improve them, and note what mistakes I frequently make so I know not to
make them again. As an aspiring teacher, I can improve the skills that I have
picked up in this class and the skills that I will continue to develop
throughout my college career, and pass them on to my future students.
During this quarter I have happily improved many flaws in my writing
and have already began to apply my knowledge and writing skills in other

classes, and will continue to develop and utilize these skills throughout the
rest of my educational career, and career as a teacher in the future. Learning
how to recognize rhetorical devices has really allowed me to think and read
more critically as well as improve my own academic writing. I still have a lot
to work on but I have already improved so much in this quarter and I am
excited to learn what other new things I will learn throughout my academic
experience.