Loful Elyardo
Professor Brandon
English 111
06 May, 2013
English
111 Evaluation
I have learned many things that have
made me a better communicator and author in English 111. I was introduced to
the ideal writing process, oral communications, and rhetoric. The class has
helped me in my own writing process pushing me closer to the ideal writing
process. I have learned valuable rules of oral communications to help me
deliver speeches. Rhetoric helped me learn about influencing readers. This
course has truly raised my academic level and knowledge
Personally, the most important thing
I learned in English 111 was the ideal writing process. The writing process
helped me organize my thoughts so I can better communicate my message to my audience.
The process consists of six steps. Prewriting is when you discover what you can
and should say. You must also define the goals, audience, and genre
specifically. In the beginning during the prewriting stage I never used mind
mapping as a tool during my writing process. As the class progress I began
using this technique which helped me organize my ideas. There is an example of
the mind mapping technique is posted on my blog. The process of getting ideas
out of your head and coming up with a near complete work onto paper is the next
step called drafting. I learned that the draft doesn’t have to be perfect and
that criticism should be turned off. Before English 111 I used to proofread and
edit while writing my draft. As the class progressed I learned it was a time
waster because depending on what I revised the draft may not be the same as the
final draft. During the revision step the author decides everything.
Reorganizing, adding, and cutting are changes made to the message to make it
more affective. The draft must be gone through multiple times. On my blog I
showed examples of drafting in my Ray Puglia research project and in my
rhetorical analysis. The next step in the ideal writing process is editing. I
gained the ability during the course to see messages from the perspective of
someone else. This is where checking for spelling and grammatical errors takes
place. When delivering or publishing the message, the audience decides how the
message is delivered. The author must research the audience’s expectations to
deliver a message they can understand. The last stage of the writing process is
review. This is a step that I feel I need to work on. After working on a paper
I never looked at it again. It is necessary look over the work again to assess
the effect had. The author evaluates the affect had on the audience and is self
critiquing the work. The ideal writing process helped me the most in the
English 111.
English
111 taught me a valuable lesson in communication and influence. The process of
understanding audiences so you can better communicate with them when writing an
essay, speech, or argument is called audience analysis. This skill is very
important to have. Understanding the audience’s interests and feelings is a
very is an essential step in audience analysis because it is the key to not
violating the audience’s expectations. People will not listen if their
expectations are violated. Finding connections in experiences the author and
the audience share closes the distance between the author and the audience
making the message to be delivered and comprehended. Changing how an audience
feels, act, behave, and thinking are kinds of influences used. The appeals
triangle of logos, ethos, and pathos helps craft the author’s message to appeal
to the audience and assert influence on them. Being aware of ethos, logos, and
pathos in my own writing helped me to create texts that appealed to my audience
in many different levels. Ethos appeals to the author’s credibility, authority,
or character using that to support claims. Pathos uses feelings, desires, and
fears to appeal to the emotion of the audience. Logos appeals to the reasoning
and common sense of the audience. It uses examples to demonstrate points made.
I learned that an author’s ability to influence an audience is based on how
well the author appeals to the audience. I used these skills on my rhetorical
analysis on a commercial featured in the 2013 Super Bowl posted on my blog. I
expressed how I recognized the appeals in the commercial and analyzed the
influence it had on the audience.
During my days in English 111 one of the main lessons I
learned was on rhetoric. Rhetoric is the study of available means of
communications. According to Dr. Wheeler from Carson-Newman College, when we
write or speak to convince others of what we believe, we are rhetors. When we
analyze the way rhetoric works, we are rhetoricians. One of the things helpful
in learning rhetoric was the rhetoric triangle. The triangle is made up of the
three appeals. The general means of persuasion are ethos, logos, and pathos. As
a communicator I learned that I have to use my credibility to back up my reason
to deliver my message and to hold the audience’s attention. The communicator
has to have the right appearance for his message, enough authority, and
persuasiveness. The message has to have concrete information backed up by
evidence. It should have strong argumentative reasons and appeal to the
audience’s common sense. The audience’s beliefs and values also come into play
for rhetors. The author must craft the message to appeal to their beliefs and
experiences so they can better understand the message and be influenced. Each corner of the triangle is needed for the
success of the communication. This course has turned me into a rhetor, helping
me become a better leader in this society.
I learned how to a write a memo during our course. A
memorandum is a paper document that is usually short used for communicating
inside a group. It was my first lesson on it and I’m glad I learned how to
write memos because further down the line it will be imperative that I know how
to write a memo. For example, on my blog I wrote a memo to the professor giving
him information on a paper needed it to be done. It is informal and informed
the professor about new information and updates.
English 111 has prepared me for the
next step of college and I am grateful for this class. The ideal writing
process, oral communications, and rhetoric are crucial parts of the syllabus
that impacted me the most. I have learned numerous tricks and tips for writing
papers, memos, and reviews. From speeches to rhetorical analysis, English 111
was a valuable course that has made me a better communicator and a rhetor.
