Andrew Young

Professor K Dorhout
English 1001
1, December 2014
Reflections and Revelations
Looking back at this semester in my college career, there are a few things that I learned,
which I can say will benefit my writing throughout the rest of my life. Some will not just benefit
me as a writer but, as a person in general. One of which being the need to examine things around
me more carefully and critically, whether it be to look for fallacies in the arguments of a
politician, or the meaning behind a simple image and the purpose and emotion it is meant to
evoke or perhaps even the deeper meaning of an action film. I have learned that a failure to
examine these things closely can, and often does, lead to missing their true worth or meaning.
Perhaps a film I had written off as a simple action thriller might house some profound and deeper
meanings than I ever thought possible. An image of a children with AK-47s means so much
more than the text I just used to describe it. This benefits my writing through adding depth and
emotional appeals, and is essential when doing rhetorical analysis. Yet another thing I have
learned is the value of peer review and what I can learn from critiquing others writing. How
taking apart their work can help me develop, adapt and evolve my own writing style and
understand how to use all three elements of rhetoric. I have also learned it is important to write
about things I am passionate about, as Robert Frost once said No tears in the writer no tears in
the reader. I have always loved this quote and this semester just amplified its meaning to me.
Finally, I learned that how foolish it is to not utilize all of the tools I have at my disposal and

failing to do so is the same as shooting myself in the foot so to speak. There were four main
papers that helped me to make these academic revelations during this past semester.
The first paper I was assigned was an essay on our most significant, educational
experience. This paper could have been about any experience in education, be it a coach, teacher
or a time we failed. The purpose of this paper, besides to give the professor a feel for our writing
abilities particularly with the rhetorical element of pathos, was quite possibly to influence us to
begin the semester by thinking positively about education and educators in general. In my case
this did in-fact work and was very conducive to my learning process.
Given a chance to revise this paper with what I know now I would most definitely have
taken it to the Learning Center and have had it proof read it more carefully myself. This paper
was riddled with silly grade school level mistakes and could have received a much higher grade
if those had been corrected. This paper was a classic example of shooting myself in the foot by
failing to utilize all of the tools at my disposal.
The second major paper we were assigned was a visual analysis, which was a completely
new concept for me. In this paper we were to analyze an ad of some type looking at the rhetorical
appeals. This assignment was intended to get us to look at rhetoric more closely and in a
different medium then the conventional essay or passage from a book.
Given the chance to revise this essay I would have again, taken it to the Learning Center
and proof read it myself more carefully, it too had quite a few easily caught mistakes that my
grade could have been saved from. I also could have dug a little deeper into the rhetoric of the
ad, not so much the pathos and ethos appeals as I feel I covered them quite well, but I believe my
assessment of the logos appeal could have benefited from a little more insight and development.

The third paper was an evaluation of a movie, author director musician, or band. The
purpose of this paper was to learn how to evaluate and critique a work as well as develop our
argumentative styles in writing. Also, whether this was intended or not, this is the paper along
with the visual analysis that showed me the value of taking a deeper look at something and
seeing its true worth.
If given a chance to revise this paper further, there is not a whole lot I would do to change
it, this paper was by far the one I put the most of my rhetorical analysis into and took the hardest
look at. Though it may have benefited from a little more time spent on the research done, or a
more in depth look at logic supporting my thesis, which involved the power and impact of the
movie I chose.
The fourth and final paper I wrote was a research paper on a current and relevant topic.
The purpose of this paper was to teach us about the process of doing research, and writing nonbiasedly. An underlying lesson that this paper taught me is not to trust everything you read and
take nothing at face value until you have done the research yourself, that the truth is almost never
black or white, this side or that, and it usually falls somewhere in the middle.
If given a chance to revise this paper further I would, do more research and looked at a
few more prospectives. Although did look at quite a few different angles and approaches, and
tried to include all arguments, I am sure there is one I missed somewhere. I am also certain that
this paper could have been approved with one more trip to the Learning Center although I did
take it there twice. As I have learned, there is always something that can be fixed or improved by
peer editing.

Throughout this semester I have learned the value of looking deeper into the world
around me. That peer editing can be beneficial in more ways than one, taking apart someone
elses work can help you to understand new ways to use rhetoric to manipulate your reader, and
help to adapt and evolve your writing style. I have also come to realize how foolish it is to let
resources go un-utilized. It was through these four main papers that I have come to all of these
revelations in writing.