Reflection

To be 100% honest, when I started writing this paper I thought it was the most boring and pointless thing I'd ever been asked to do. But with hindsight, I actually learned a lot. I think that the thing that I learned the most from this assignment was how to critically read. It's funny how a writing assignment can teach you something about reading. Everything I read now, I try to see what the writer's audience is and what types of tools they used. It also taught me what I should do when writing, because now as I have taken the role of the analysist, I know what is effective and what is not. I thought it was fun to use rhetorical tools while analyzing the rhetorical tools of someone else. Overall, I think that having written this paper will help me a lot in my future classes and in my life in general. It has helped me to not take anything for face value, but to really think about what the author is trying to say, instead of just being fooled by some rhetorical tricks.

Looking Back

I have learned a lot about writing through the rhetorical analysis process. I am always gaining a greater appreciation for pre-writing and how much it helps my papers to be better. If I were doing this assignment over again I would have more people read my paper and critique it so that I can make it better. I could have asked some of my roommates for help with that. This assignment has helped me to really analyze the things I read and look at every day. I am more critical of what I see and how it affects me. I also really gained an appreciation for the effort many writers put into their work; they have specific ways to try to get their message across. By analyzing another's work, it has helped me to know how to write my own papers in the future. I now have a greater idea of what to think about when I am writing. Overall I enjoyed this assignment and the sense of accomplishment it gave me when I finished it and was happy with what I had written. It has been a while since I have felt that way about a paper.

Analysis of my Analysis

One thing I learned about writing was that your direction can change as you begin to write. When I started writing my paper, I really didn't have a clear understanding of what I wanted to say. However, as I kept writing my ideas narrowed and I finally figured out my thesis. I used the second rough draft to revise my paper, especially the first part, to fit this narrowed down thesis. I think this was an effective strategy for me because I probably would have never figured out my thesis if I hadn't just started analyzing the text and writing things down. Another thing I learned about analysis in particular was that it is important to think with a critical mind. It is easy to get persuaded by an argument if you aren't looking at how the author is using rhetoric. However, by analyzing the tools that he or she uses I was able to form my own opinion--not just the opinion the writer wanted me to form.

Reflection!

This past paper has been a great way to learn how to analyze things. I am not the best at such thing, nor have i ever cared to be. So this paper really helped me learn these valuable skills. I think that identifying your audience is very important and so is recognizing tools the author uses. This way to can analyze the authors writing effectively enough that the audience will also understand what your saying and believe you. Analyzing can be long and tedious, but when done write you can truly understand where the author is coming from and what he or she is saying. These skills can be applied to life to. When people are talking to you, you can analize what they are saying and see if they are sarcastic or sincere.

Reflection

I learned quite a bit when writing this paper. When I first wrote my paper, I just wrote down a bunch of tools, and it was not an effective paper. However, when I really looked at the rhetorical situation and applied it to the article, it gave me a whole different perspective. Recognizing the importance of the rhetorical situation in my paper was key to improving my paper. I enjoyed analyzing the article and recognizing different tools they used to convey their message. It was very interesting and I learned how to better communicate using different tools.

RA Reflection

I enjoyed writing the Rhetorical Analysis paper more than the Opinion Editorial. I think I had an easier time with this paper because I had organized a clear plan on how I would complete it. My writing process was more or less: finding the article I liked best, finding tools in the article, writing a thesis, and doing the analysis. If I could do something differently, I would not have procrastinated as much as I did so that I could have done a better job on revising it. But all in all, this was a good experience and I learned a lot from critically analyzing someone else’s work.

RA

This was an interesting paper for me to write.  The first draft I completely missed the point.  I wrote a very general thesis and used examples that could have applied to any article in our book.  So essentially I had to start over.  When I rewrote my paper I tried to use specific examples from the specific article I read.  I made sure that I had a clear argumentative thesis that people could agree or disagree with.  Then I made sure I backed it up throughout the paper.  All in all I feel like I made a HUGE improvement from my first draft to my final.  I am so glad it was pointed out to me what I needed to work on and that I was able to respond.

Reflection to Analysis

Overall, I enjoyed the rhetorical analysis assignment. Being a Media Arts Major, analysis of peoples work is a common rhetorical that will become a part of my everyday life. Throughout the assignment I learned to better analysis something without my paper sounding repetitive or becoming a summary. I think I got my point across to how the analysis affected the Seattle audience better than any other aspect of my paper. Unfortunately, I believe the worst part of my paper was tying the tools to the article I chose. Learning to use the tools given to better help us analysis the article are rewarding in being able to use in future assignments. This will greatly benefit me in my career in the future.

Practice Makes Perfect

Overall, I feel as if I learned a lot from this assignment. Not only did I learn how to critique and improve my own paper, but I also learned how to comment and help others with theirs. I had never written a paper like this where I had to analyze an article before and I actually found it very difficult, however, I believe that it was a great learning experience for me and will help me with papers in the future. Although I do not feel like this is my best writing, I feel that I have improved from my opinion editorial and that I am slowly getting better. Practice makes perfect right?

Reflections

When reviewing the experience I had from completing this assignment learned a lot about the way I write and the way I critique others writing. I found that if I could have done the assignment over again, I would have tried to be a little more positive about the author of my article. I also saw that when writing about someone else work it helped me as a writer see what works when trying to convince a certain type of audience and what doesn't work. Overall, I enjoyed this this writing experience.

Reflection

Analyzing another's writing makes you consider your own style a lot more. By seeing what worked well for the author, it gave me a better understanding of how to use rhetorical tools effectively within writing. If I could do something different, I probably would have read the article a few more times so that I really had an idea of what was said and what he was driving for without having to look back while writing my analysis. It was interesting to not write to a specific audience but to take a step back and view another's writing aimed at their target audience and how they went about it. It was an interesting and thought provoking assignment.

RA Reflection

I actually enjoyed writing this paper. I have never written one before where I consider how the author is trying to influence the audience. It was a new perspective that was very interesting to me. Analyzing another's paper really makes you think about how you can improve your own writings and really solidify your own arguments. I learned a lot about the different tools used to influence the audience and how rhetorical skills can greatly improve your chances of having someone listen to you. Overall, this was sort of a fun paper to write because it was a new perspective that I have never taken before.

WW1 = Water War 1

I really enjoyed writing the Rhetorical Analysis. I enjoyed the fact that I feel like the examples I used were really good ones, and that I was about to fully analyze the different tools that I used. One thing that I noticed about this paper is that it seem really difficult until I sat down and told myself that I need to finish this paper. Once I did that it worked great and seem things to really flow. I think that my paper turn out really well, there were a couple of things that could have used more work, but I did not have the time, oh well.

Reflection

By analyzing I learned a lot better how the art of rhetoric is exercised. Taking another person’s writing and actually examining the effects of it on the reader helped me understand how to better convince readers of my own essays. I especially learned the effectiveness of the proper tone. One must write with a tone that holds interest yet is formal enough to gain respect from the reader. One may manipulate his audience’s attention and feelings based solely upon the tone that the writer takes.

Reflection

I have a hard time deciphering what the author is trying to say and what I think he is trying to say. I felt like I had good examples of tools the author used in his article, but my analysis was repetitive and weak. This paper taught me to look closely at the techniques used to persuade the audience and how the audience is effected. I always think the advice from classmates helps me clearly see what I need to fix. Also, reading my paper out loud and making sure it is concise and clear was an effective part of my writing process. Writing this paper has effected the way I look at an argument. When looking at globalization articles online for the blog assignment I found myself looking into what the author was trying to persuade the audience to do and how he was trying to do this. If I could do this over again I think I would pick an article that interested me more so that it could be more enjoyable, but overall I learned a lot from this assignment.

Tools

I think the term is grossly overused to refer to rhetorical techniques - but I don't hesitate at all to refer to those used in this unit as tools. I don't think this paper actually changed my writing style, but I certainly changed the things I look for when reading. I have become more aware of what people are trying to accomplish in their writing - which is an indispensable ability. When I returned from my mission and watched TV for the first time, I couldn't believe how manipulative it was - and I'm finding the same thing with a lot of writing. Concerning what I write, this unit has helped be more objective. Previously, I would've written entirely based on my impression of the article, which would have been awfully subjective. But now I look for specific 'tools' that help me make insightful criticism more confidently.

Does anyone else worry that learning techniques like this impedes true creativity, even if it enhances our skills in the short term? I mean, I look for certain things that helped me improve my paper, but will focusing on those things make it harder for me to notice new things?