Valerie Brantley Eng 1010 sec 60 April 30, 2014 Reflection

Writing the summaries for this course prepared me for the final paper by giving me the confidence I really needed to write at all. Over the duration of this course every writing assignment was a little harder than the last. I have trouble with coming up with the words to write and having the gradual progression of this course really eased me into it. The rhetorical analysis was an interesting project evaluating another persons work like that. I also now understand the way authors use ethos, pathos, logos and kairos by appealing to readers emotional and logical minds. To back up their thesis with research and studies and to keep a good timeline. Seeing how others write and studying the different readings was a big help to writing the position synthesis. I did learn to agree and disagree politely although I would like to think I would have done so anyways. Writing the rhetorical analysis I believe was a real confidence builder too. Just writing this reflection at the end of the course I amazing to me. Before this class I would still be staring at a blank page dreading the prospect of writing two pages in an hour and a half. Which brings me to the teacher, Marianne Harding Burgoyne. I gained a lot of knowledge from my teacher. She maintained a standard of intellect when teaching that elevated the conversation without being condescending. The feedback I received was thorough and even when I made mistakes.and there were many, she always placed some positive notes when

grading my papers. I was given plenty f encouragement and that made it easier to progress as a writer. The annotated bibliography was a difficult project learning many things at once like how to do the MLA format and writing the different summaries but the research did make it easier to write the position paper. The position synthesis was by far the hardest project for me. I struggled with how to fill out the paper. I think Im just to direct but Im so glad I completed it. As for the book They Say I Say I found it to be easy reading with the concepts laid out informally using many examples. Ive used the templates in my own writng and found the book to be very helpful. The tests we took on the chapters did improve my ability to analyze the reading passages. Overall I would say this course was a challenge for me in a good way. Life is funny like that. Giving us challenges that seem to be at first insurmountable. But we almost always find that mountain in our way wasnt such a bad climb once we reach the other side.