Question 1:
In this class I have learned many things. As a writer, I was someone that was always hesitant about what I was going to say. I knew what I wanted to write, but I didn't know how to put it into words. Taking this class, I was able to think about my ideas and put it to the paper in a thoughtful and well thought out way. Learning to do APA style helped me a lot because it allowed me to organize my ideas. Before, I would go in circles about my ideas always going back and forth between ideas, but now I know how to stay on one topic without circling back to the one I previously talked about. It was using the headings and the subtitles that helped me place my thoughts into where they belonged. It wasn't until I read back my first paper that I finally understood how much that helped me. I no longer circled around through information because of it being one long essay, it was organized. The organization that I used throughout these papers allowed me to see how much easier it is to read something when the thoughts are organized. I am now much more confident in my writing because I can make each point clear in each paragraph and just stick to that.
I also learned how to focus on my audience. I learned how to properly write to who was reading my paper. Before it was confusing to me about how to write to someone because the audience was not clear. I didn't know the amount of background information they had on the topic or how formal to be when it came to my words, but now I know. Doing the writing for your major was something that really helped me do that. I learned the difference in writing between someone that had no information about the topic and how to explain in detail (but not too much detail) about what I was writing about. I also learned however that there is no need to explain that when you know the person will know what you are talking about. It really helped me clear up some information I was unaware of and how to properly write to my audience.
Lastly, I learned the importance of examples. I always was bad at picking sources because I would make them either too specific or too broad. Having examples like that always messed up the paper because it wouldn't help the topic I was talking about. Through the papers, I learned that the examples that I pick to incorporate into my paper need to be something that fits perfectly in. They need to be academic and non-academic sources that go along with what I want to say and fit the overall question I want to answer in the paper. Without this, the point of the story can get lost and can allow the reader to loose focus on what truly matters. Having a good example however, can really help further emphasize the point being made and helps back up the rest of the paper and other examples.
Question 2:
Everywhere we go, there is always something to write or talk about. That's life. Writing and speaking are two very important concepts. That is why we have been doing both of them ever since we went into schooling in preschool and will continue to do it throughout our careers when we are olderI think that taking rhetoric as a general education class is necessary because of the use of writing and speaking in the real world.
For me, I never thought as writing as something that important to me in the future. I never really thought of it being necessary to me when I got a job in business when I would graduate college. It just never seemed like a big part of the job. When we did the first paper about using rhetoric in our future careers, I was both right and wrong. I was right in the sense that writing was not going to be the biggest portion of it, but was wrong because it still was important. I learned the proper way to write business plans, meeting notes, emails to other employees in the company, and so much more. The research I conducted was so influential to me because without it, I could be writing wrong in the future and not even know it. Writing is also something that people think is really easy. They think that anyone can write and everyone can, but not everyone can write well. This is a chance for students to look into their writing and to figure out whether or not they are writing in the proper way, whether their thoughts are organized or not, and how to write in their job in the future. Writing is such a critical part of everyone's life and will be everywhere for as long as we live. Being able to write well is not just for a general education course, but for a life skill.
The other part of rhetoric (not done is this course) but through others is speaking. Being able to get up somewhere and talk to an audience and to give a speech is a life skill that everyone needs to have. While writing is super important, I think that speaking is even more important. You hear all the time about people being afraid to get up and give speeches in front of people, but for most of us that is going to be a major part of all of ours jobs when we grow up. For me, I am going to have to stand in front of a bunch of people and pitch business plans. There is no time to be afraid or to have to think about how to properly speak in front of everyone, there is only time to do. Learning how to speak in front of people and practice that allows for further success in the future.
The writing and reading involved in rhetoric is not just a general education course, but a life course. It is tedious and it is a lot of work, but it is work that helps us for the future better ourselves for our careers. They are both such important skills to have in the workplace and life in general. Not many adults can say they are confident to give a speech or that they are confident in their ability to write a great well thought out and organized paper, but through this class we can all say we ca.
