This semester I have learned much about writing in two main areas. One area, is in the method of writing and the timing of it. I learned that, in order to actually enjoy writing, you need to pace yourself. Take it one draft at a time. Let the ideas flow and don’t stress out about what the final product will be like, just churn out a draft and start revising. It’s like sculpting. You start with a fresh lump of clay, your idea, your first draft. You then hack away large chunks, hacking away the clearly unnecessary parts. After that, there’s a little more fine tuning, taking care to remove the large pieces you don’t need, but not those precious pieces that you need to keep. Finally, there’s the fine-tuning, the minuscule details at the very end. You can’t start with those details, they must come after the hacking and narrowing. When done in that manner, writing can be a great joy and even, dare I say, a therapeutic process.
The second area I learned about was the wonderful world of rhetoric! I loved learning how to structure an argument and how to portray ideas in powerful ways. I had a great time writing the rhetorical analysis and the issues paper. It was exciting to gather the information and present it in a convincing way. I learned that the most exciting part of writing a paper like that for me is all that I learn! I learned a lot as I read through the research! I also learned to recognize the rhetoric of others and identify pitfalls in the logic and arguments presented. I see it everywhere now, especially in advertising. It’s a powerful thing to be able to recognize those things and separate the truth from the fluff.
This has been a wonderful semester for English. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed an English class quite this much. Thank you Professor Elliott for your help and for your love for us!
