DeVreOuntre Buchanan

Howard Lytle
5/10/2016
RHET 1300

Composition II Reflection

Composition II has been a journey. It has improved my writing ability even

more than in college Composition I. This semester even though there did not seem
to be as many writing assignments I feel that I was challenged a lot more. I gained
experience while reading and composing in several genres to understand how genre
conventions shape and are shaped by readers and writers practices and purposes.
I developed facility in responding to a variety of situations and contexts calling for
purposeful shifts in voice, tone, level of formality, design, medium, and/or structure.
I now understand and use a variety of technologies to address a range of audiences.
Another thing I learned is matching the capacities of different to varying rhetorical
situations. I mastered this through rhetorical knowledge. This was used in the
commercial ad below. Learn and use key rhetorical concepts (ethos, pathos, logos,
audience, purpose, etc.) through analyzing and composing reading responses.
Gain experience reading and composing in several genres to understand how genre
conventions shape and are shaped by readers and writers practices and purposes
through navigating genres, article by Kerry Dirk. He discusses personal experiences
to show that through rhetorical writings genre awareness is demonstrated. Possibly
without even thinking about it, you were recognizing the rhetorical situation of your
action and choosing to act in a manner that would result in the outcome you
desired (Dirk 253). Genres are social, cultural, and situated, it should be no

surprise that they are also ideological, that they represent ways of thinking about
and valuing the world (Dean 18).
He also taught me that developing facility (aptitude, capability, mastery) in
responding to a variety of situations and contexts calling for purposeful shifts in
voice, tone, level of formality, design, medium, and/or structure is, more than form
matters here, as knowing what is appropriate in these situations obviously requires
more rhetorical knowledge than does filling out a credit card form (Dirk 253).
Understand and use a variety of technologies to address a range of audiences.
These personal experiences such as Facebook, emails, and jokes all require leaned
behavior from experiences
Match the capacities of different environments (e.g., print and electronic) to varying
rhetorical situations Genres often have formulaic features, yet they vary even as the
nature of the genre remains constant (Devitt, Writing, 48). These match the
capacities of different environment.

Dasbender article Critical Thinking in College Writing: From the personal to the
academic showed me the how to use composing and reading for inquiry, learning,
critical thinking, and communicating in various rhetorical contexts. He stated, To be
a critical thinker you not only have to have an informed opinion about the text but
also a thoughtful response to it. There is no doubt that critical thinking is serious
thinking.
While reading diverse ranges of text, attending especially to relationships between
assertion and evidence, to patterns of organization, to the interplay between verbal
and nonverbal elements, and to how these features function for different audiences
and situations Dasbender said, When reading any essay, keep track of all the

important points the writer makes by jotting down a list of ideas or quotations in a
notebook (Dasbender 38).
I am very mindful of locating and evaluating (for credibility, sufficiency, accuracy,
timeliness, bias and so on) primary and secondary research materials, including
journal articles and essays, books, scholarly and professionally established and
maintained databases or archives, and informal electronic networks and internet
sources, because Dasbender stated, This list not only allows you to remember
ideas that are central to the writers argument, ideas that struck you in some way or
the other, but it also you helps you to get a good sense of the whole reading
assignment point by point (Dasbender 40)
Use strategiessuch as interpretation, synthesis, response, critique, and
design/redesignto compose texts that integrate the writer's ideas with those from
appropriate sources was also discussed in the article. Dasbender discussed how to
model good writings, craft essays, make an academic connection, write personal
response, noticing key terms, and how to summarize quotes.
The casual argument project taught me how to develop a writing project through
multiple drafts.
Peer review was vital too. Collaborating with partners assisted me a lot during the
academic synthesis assignments. They influenced me to realize some of my ideas
were vague, or there wasnt enough research, so they informed me to reconsider
what I wanted to discuss
Kerry Dirks article also taught me the knowledge of conventions informed me of
how to develop knowledge of linguistic structures, including grammar, punctuation,
and spelling, through practice in composing and revising. Genres are social,
cultural, and situated, it should be no surprise that they are also ideological, that

they represent ways of thinking about and valuing the world (Dean 18). From day
to day, year to year, comparable situations occur, prompting comparable responses;
hence rhetorical forms are born and a special vocabulary, grammar, and style are
established. (13) Which is why genre conventions for structure, paragraphing, tone,
and mechanics vary?
Stedman article Annoying Ways People Use Sources demonstrated how to apply
citation conventions (MLA, APA, Chicago Style, etc.) systematically in their own
work. Different conventions can be followed depending upon the purpose and
audience of the writing, because it may rub different people depending upon the
audience (Kyle Stedman page 244). The saying is, different strokes for different
folks. So it ultimately depends on whom one is conversing with. As stated in the
passage, in a blog I cite a source by hyperlinking; in an academic essay, I use
parenthetical citation (Stedman page 244). It helps me to remember that the
conventions of writing have a fundamentally rhetorical nature (Stedman page 245).
The easiest way to effectively massage in quotations is by purposefully returning
to each one in your draft to see if you set the stage for your readersoften, by
signaling that a quote is about to come, stating who the quote came from, and
showing how your readers should interpret it. In the above example, that could be
done by introducing the quotation, (Stedman page 245).