Reflection On My Rhetorical Strategies

I set goals at the beginning of this class - goals I wanted to achieve by the end of this semester. After looking back at the sheet of paper where these goals were written on, I realized that they had all been accomplished. Also, after reviewing the essays I wrote before, I noticed that the most recent essays had gotten better and more improved. My goals created at the beginning of this semester when this class began were to improve my vocabulary and mechanics, learn to use citations, stay on focus, and have fun, rather than looking at writing essays as a school assignment that has to be done. Some skills have improved more than others, but in an overall outlook, all the skills I wanted to improve on had gotten noticeably better. There is …show more content…
There were always so many errors in this field during the peer-review stage. The same errors were found in about every paragraph; my point of view kept switching from first person to third person and back, there would be awkward word phrasing, the message I wanted the reader to see was unclear, and the conclusion was not strong. Looking back at my first essay, the one before it had been revised to be resubmitted, I realized how many errors I had made in the rhetorical strategy category. Before now, I could not read an essay and easily find the errors the writer had made with point of view changes, or awkward phrasing. Now, it could not be easier. Those errors are clear as day. During my editing process, I use several different tools, resources, and techniques for my editing day. There is Grammarly, Paper Rater, peer edits, and the BGSU Learning Commons. I could also read my essay out loud to find awkward phrasing spots. At first, I did not think all of these editing steps were necessary, but I learned quickly that they are because they help to make your essay ten times better. One time, a friend of mine asked me to revise one of her essays before she turned it in. While reading through, these kinds of errors were easily picked out, and she ended up getting a pass in that section of her rubric because of my aid. Turning to genres, I had no clue that there were so many different ways to writing an essay. Each essay assigned in my GSW 1110 class covered a different genre and I learned how to write in that genre’s style. Each essay had its own audience as well. Arguing a Position With Sources was directed towards teens looking for a job, and Proposing a Solution was to inform teachers and students about how much food is wasted at lunch. Analyzing a Visual Argument was directed towards drug addicts, and Justifying an Evaluation was for sympathetic animal lovers. Each essay was