What have I learned: I have learned the correct way to incorporate logos, pathos and ethos into my writing as well as their effectiveness.  Appealing to your audience is the golden key in writing. I also learned how crucial it is to have evidence that supports your clam and thesis.  And the most important thing I learned is to have a ‘so what’ to a very strong thesis.

What will I take from this class: The rule of analyzing every piece of evidence in order to maximize its effectiveness and the general outlining of an essay. Also how to make a works cited page!

Where can I still improve: I personally realize after the fact that I rush in my essays and my audience may not understand all the points I try to make.  I tend to make my essays too complex and therefore I need to work on my clarity and organization.

Things that I’ve learned:
From this class I have learned how to  write to a certain audience using rhetorical knowledge.  Before this class, I really only wrote to myself.  I have also learned how to incorporate media into writing, an amazing creative element.  As someone who aspires to minor in journalism, this class has been invaluable in giving me to tools to write to an online audience.  The collaborative space has made me vulnerable, but also instilled confidence in me.

Things that I will take away:
I will take away how to collaborate with others in order to improve my work.  I have already used my new found strengths in reading, writing, and research to write a few papers for art history.  I have gotten great feedback thanks to this class!

I will also take away that knowing your audience comes from information about them.  Consider all factors.  This has helped me write for an audience, rather than just for myself without compromising my personal writing style, but by tailoring it.  Recognizing your audience is very new to me.  Because of this, I am much more conscious of how I get my ideas across.

Things that I need to improve on:

I feel like I will always be improving my writing as my style continues to develop.  I found in rekindling my love for writing, that I am freshly sloppy.  The edges may be rough, but the passion and excitement are never lacking.  I am working on improving constantly.
-Julia

Things I have learned

I am most proud of how much my analysis of articles (scholarly and popular) has improved.  I have learned how to properly annotate an article, how to search for evidence, and how to persuade an audience.  I learned how the power behind a statement or claim on the internet can change dependent on what platform it is presented on, whether it is Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or in the comment sections of a video or article.  Overall, I have learned a lot about the digital age that we live in and how heavily people rely on social media platforms to persuade others and argue their beliefs.

Things I need to improve on 

I think that I could use more work on my writing style, in terms of tone, word choice, etc.  I hope to continue to practice writing and hopefully become comfortable with changing my style to fit a certain rhetorical situation.

Things I will take away

Honestly, I will never look at social media the same.  We have spent an entire semester picking apart many different internet comments, getting down the bottom of the purpose, execution, and reaction to the comments.  When I read comment sections, Instagram captions, or tweets, I will always remember how heavily we analyzed those elements in class and I will take away how greatly comments are ostracized on the internet.

Bianca

Things I’ve learned:
This semester I’ve learned that writing is a conversation, and that you have to be aware of who your talking to, and what’s already been said. I also learned a lot about research, like how to properly search for sources, and the difference between popular and scholarly sources.

Things I will take away:
One of the biggest things I will take from this class is how to be more analytical with multiple forms of media. In this class we have read everything from scholarly articles to youtube comments, and we have learned how to further analyse them. I think this will help me greatly in the future with everything from research, to just daily living. I will be able to read more forms of media, more intellectually.

Things I need to improve on:
My writing still has a long way to go. I still make grammatical errors, and write sloppily from time to time. Through practice I hope to improve in the future. I also hope to improve on my procrastination which gets out of hand from time to time.
-Jon

What I’ve learned

In this class, I’ve learned how to actively read and write in the rhetorical situation. Before this class, I would only look for important information within the text, instead of looking for information key to the relationships between the audience, the reader, and the message. Now, I can easily find information relative to motivation and purpose in a piece of literature. I’ve also learned how to properly cite scholarly and popular sources, rather than depending on citation makers. Most importantly, I think, I’ve learned what works for me in classes and reading and writing effectively.

What I’ll take from this class

From this class, I’ve already applied knowledge about reading efficiently to a history class. It has helped me to understand why writers wrote what they wrote, because I can now think about the historical context and what the writer was trying to accomplish in their message. I will also take knowledge about writing and scholarly writing, because I am an Animal Science major and I’ve already had to write about research for one of my laboratory setting classes. This knowledge will help me to efficiently synthesize information and explain it in a way to come to a new conclusion in a rhetorical situation.

Where I can still improve

From the beginning of the course, I knew I wasn’t very argumentative in my statements. This is an area I can still improve on so that my writing isn’t just synthesizing information, but rather adding to a scholarly conversation. I can also improve on revising my writing so that a wider variety of minds can understand it, because I know that sometimes I write in a way that only makes sense to me. However, I know what I need to improve on and I can make an effort to improve those areas throughout the rest of my college experience.

What I have learned

Some of the things I’ve learned throughout the course is the rhetorical triangle and that the connections between the author, audience, and message are important to give an effective message. I’ve also learned that according to the writer’s audience is, they must alter their style and tone so it complements the appropriate audience. I also learned about how important writing is in the digital setting. The whole assignment researching about comment sections opened up my eyes, I didn’t know comment sections were popular and that many sites used them for users to communicate with each other.

What I will take with me from this class

I will take many things from this class, one of which will be the organizational techniques such as the annotations and outlines that helped immensely with my research paper. They turned an overwhelming task into a project that was organized and manageable.

What I can still improve on

Like any other writer, there are endless opportunities for improvement. First of all, I think my writing sometimes goes off on a tangent. For instance, I’ll be talking about some specific example and analyzing the example, and then one thing leads to another and I’m talking about something entirely different. I need to focus on staying focused, if that makes sense.

1.) I’ve learned that writing is a form of social interaction.  I’ve learned to respond to texts with a critical and productive aim.  I’ve learned that a writer should consider various audiences and adapt their writing for those audiences.

2.) Something I’ll take with me from this class is adapting my writing for various audiences.  I always thought you should consider one type of audience and only write for them.  This class has taught me better.

3.)  Something I need to improve on is finding better evidence and being creative.  I feel like my writing is boring so in order to engage my audience I need to be more interesting.

I’d say I have learned a reasonable amount throughout the course of the semester. I know for a fact I’ve learned way more than I did in most English classes in High school. I think the most important things I have learned over the semester is how to respond to others texts with critical and productive aim as well as understanding my audience to better appeal to them. Those have to big the things I struggled with the most because I never knew how to steer my papers. I’ve also learned that writing is a social form on interaction between each other, it’s a frequent way that people are able to spread what they want to say to others in a matter of moments. As well as my writing skills improving, better claims, stronger introductions, and better breakdowns of my evidence.

What I have taken from this class is that it is important to take into consideration other’s point of views when writing because opinions are valid and they matter. You can learn from others and better acknowledge or inform people with the way you write to them and appeal to them. Also that communication is a major part in our lives and social media provides us with that playing field to share.

What I still need to work on is my explanations, I get what is expected but I do not yet get how to form it all in my head. I also could work on my word choice and use less passive ways of speaking, use words that more so stick to my main point. I can also work on ways to make sure that I don’t repeat myself constantly, brainstorm more ideas so I won’t run out.

What I have learned from this class has honestly made my writing style a lot better.  What has especially helped me in this class is properly knowing how to outline a paragraph and an essay.  I honestly think that my writing has been decent, but now that I officially know how to use this concept, it has helped make my writing a lot smoother and cleaner.  Going along with that, concepts that we have used in class like the “so what?” and not trying to make your paper seem so bias has helped me think rationally instead of winning the reader’s opinion, but giving the reader an understanding.  What I have also learned from this class is making an annotated bibliography.  What I can take from this class is what I have said that has helped me with my writing skills.  What I still need to improve is my transition sentences because I have trouble switching to a new topic by being subtle about it and have a better conclusion most of the time.  Thank you for everything.

This semester in English 110 I have learned a lot. I admit I can’t remember everything that we have done off of the top of my head but a two of the most important lessons that I can remember is my target audience and critical reading and thinking. Writing a paper becomes 10 times easier to write when you have a specific type of audience to write to, it makes you more persuasive while also allowing you to look at your paper from the perspective of the reader. By learning to critically think and read I have become a much different person, I am now a more open person and a better listener. I now look at things from multiple angles and points of view compared to my old self that would block out people who did not agree with me. Although I have learned a lot I know there is still a lot for me to learn and hopefully, I can continue to take English classes because for the first time in my life I actually enjoyed going to English.