Reflection
In the past years that I have taken writing courses, I never noticed that there are different ways to make papers depending on the genre. After taking College Writing 1 with Dr. Kyburz, I have learned rhetorical knowledge, critical thinking, reading and composing, and processes.
Rhetorical knowledge is described as "the ability to analyze contexts and audiences and then to act on that analysis in comprehending and creating texts" (Council of Writing Program Administrators). At the start of the semester, I did not know that there were different types of papers to be written. After learning about different genres, I developed rhetorical knowledge by negotiating purpose, knowing the audience and the context. Another aspect that rhetorical knowledge includes is to be able to use and understand technology in order to reach the audience. An example of using technology was when I created the multimodal video Why don't we give?. I used technology to better reach the audience.
In class, we had to create a summary of a documentary of our choice. I chose to write about The Electric Car directed by Chris Paine. In the beginning, I was extremely confused as to how I should even begin to approach it. But with much help, I found out how to do it. I began with a rough draft Electric Car Rough Draft and did not even know how to complete works cited. But with the process of revision and writing often, I turned my uncompleted writing into a completed one. Another example of the process of completing rough drafts and revising is the rhetoric narrative. I began with a draft Rhetoric Narrative draft and later worked my way up to a completed one. In the beginning, I did not know how to end it but later I was able to fix the end to make it flow more effectively Rhetoric Narrative.
Due to the various assignments that I needed to complete in College Writing 1 class, I was able to effectively develop my skills in rhetorical knowledge and processes. I very much enjoyed the projects. This class taught me the skills needed to be taught but it also helped me stay focused because the assignments were about my interests.
