My Three Moments

When I initially signed up for this course I was not expecting to learn so much in such a short period of time. To think that we only have three class periods left in the four week course is amazing. I would never have expected it fly by as fast as it has. Although it’s flown by I’ve learned many new things about writing I didn’t know before and I’ve experienced three very distinct moments in this class that have helped me to improve my writing skills and realize the potential I have as a writer.

The first moment was when I realized how little I knew about the incredible importance genre and audience have in writing. I never understood how valuable the aspects of genre and audience can be in writing until this course opened my eyes to they’re importance. We learned the many different types of genre and how each type is directed to a specific targeted audience. I think one of the most valuable things I’ve learned about writing thus far is that successful writing is always effective in engaging the projected audience and most of the time is successful in eliciting a reaction, change, or a response to the particular piece of writing. I’ve learned that it’s vitally important to pick the correct genre and analyze the audience I am writing to before I start the writing process so I make sure to address the appropriate readers and address them in the most efficient and effective way possible. The image I’ve chosen to demonstrate this moment is a flow map that connects genre, audience, and purpose together. When I start my writing process, I now think about all three of these terms before I start writing so I make sure I achieve my goal of presenting my ideas to the correct audience.

The second moment was when I learned about rhetorical situation. Before taking this class I had never heard of this very important term, but now I’ve come to realize that this term is present in all writing, no matter what genre. Learning that all writing is based on a past situation or experience made perfect sense to me and really made me think about everything I’ve written before and how it’s all based on different rhetorical situations. The situations, experiences, and events that are encountered every day, I’ve learned, are what inspire writing and rhetoric. Throughout this course I’ve learned that a rhetorical situation is comprised of a target audience, the urgency or exigence that compels the rhetor to write, the writers goals or purpose, and the constraints that limit the audiences perspective. By examining these elements in depth before I begin to write will help me become a successful writer and will also help me build a solid persuasive argument. The image that I chose to represent this moment is a map of the elements of a rhetorical situation and it includes some important questions that I ask myself before I begin to write.

The third moment was when I discovered the importance of reflection. The discussions we had with regards to reflection, really struck a chord with me and made me realize that I don’t reflect enough on my writing. The discussions helped me appreciate the significance of reflecting throughout my writing process. It was helpful for me to realize that I shouldn’t only reflect on my writing after I’ve finished it and turned it in, but more importantly I should reflect while I’m writing so I can improve on my thoughts and ideas. Also I might realize through the reflection process that I want to add or take out some ideas to enhance my writing. Not only is it important to reflect on my writing, but it’s important to reflect on yourself and your actions daily, so you can improve as a person. The image I’ve chosen to represent this impactful moment is a football player seeing his reflection in his opponent’s visor. This course has taught to look at my writing in another person’s point of view to reflect on what I can improve upon. I’ve learned that I can always change something in my writing to make it better and more persuasive.

These three moments were very impactful and important realizations that I made during this course that have really helped me grow as a writer and will help me continue to grow in the future. I can only hope that in the next three classes I can have more “moments” like these that will support my writing going forward.