Reflection
Reflecting on ENC2135
As I come to the end of my time in Research, Genre, and Context I look back on the slight but impactful differences in my writing skills throughout ENC2135 and also in my other classes this semester. I believe, the skill of writing is so vital and it translates across to life so powerfully, especially later on down the line when you get into the big professions with high risks, for example a job application or interview. Last semester, I took ENC1101 and after completing that class I believed I knew what there was to know about English at University level. However, I found out soon after the start of January that we only briefly touched the surface of English in ENC1101 and there was so much more depth to this subject than I thought I knew. I come from England, and English taught in secondary school back home is very different to the English I learnt here at Florida State University. I wasn't at all familiar with rhetorical devices but over time I gradually became more confident in implementing these effective tools into my essays. As we dive into project 1 and start to analyze genre we learn about scholarly and non-scholarly types of media. Another important aspect of this course is citing theses sources found in your research in APA format, which again was a skill I learnt in this course.
Project one for me was by far the toughest project in this course. The investigative field essay required me to research an issue or topic within my chosen discourse community: women in business. My chosen topic was the inequality within business. I was required to complete an annotated bibliography and I used FSU OneSearch to find six sources to use in my investigative field essay. Before this class, I had never used something like OneSearch so it was challenging at first to find valuable sources but it became a lot easier the more I familiarised myself with it. I realized later on in this course how useful my annotated bibliography came in handy. I was able to base my entire project one off of my annotated bibliography and it saved a lot of time when citing these sources in my essay, in APA format, because I had already done it previously, in my annotated bibliography. I could not claim my stance on this topic but more so elaborate on the various arguments, approaches or perspectives addressing this topic. Not having the freedom to explain my standpoint on this topic was somewhat difficult but nonetheless forced myself to learn a new writing skill.
As we dove into project two, the rhetorical analysis of two artifacts regarding my topic, I definitely felt the most comfortable because I was able to showcase my perspective and opinions on the issue presented. This is where I started to see the skillset I had established come to life in my essay, with the use of various rhetorical devices and situations. In this project, I acquired a knew skill of citing a youtube video into my essay. I found it very simple, as I was now more familiarised with citing text-based sources. Project two inspired me to think more critically about the research I had found and provide a new, refreshing viewpoint on this matter.
The last project of this class, project three: Multigenre Persuasive Campaign and Rationale was undoubtedly the most enjoyable project thus far. It allowed myself to bring my creative side to this class by choosing three different types of genres to illustrate my chosen topic which remained the same throughout this course: inequality within business. My three genres were a podcast, an email and a poster which I believe targeted my chosen audiences appropriately relating to the topic of inequality within business. I was able to continue to enhance my rhetorical analysis skills in this project as a rhetorical rationale was required, detailing the specific components of each genre. The biggest lesson project three taught me was understanding the amount of genres we pass in our daily lives. I never fully grasped the significance of these artifacts and it made me appreciate them even more. Another thing I learned from this project was the ability to create a genre that seems so advanced, like a podcast. It may seem so strenuous at the time but the more you try the more you succeed.
To conclude, ENC2135 has provided me with a strong foundation of skills to use in my writing, whether that is research, analysis or the creation of media and along the way it has taught me many lessons about my own style of writing.