Informal Writing: This was the first writing assignment due in my ENGL 211 class. This was a diagnostic writing that showed my professor my writing skills and style. We were given the quote, "The life a person lives is the greatest argument she or he will ever make." I was excited to write about this prompt because I agreed with the quote. Also, I was interested to see how my writing skills would be after not writing for an entire summer. I wasn't satisfied with this essay because I felt I had good ideas, but they didn't come across how they should have due to mechanics and grammar issues.
Rhetorical Analysis: The second essay in my ENGL 211 class was a rhetorical analysis of a speech. I had to explain how a speech used rhetorical tools to satisfy the audience and purpose. I chose to write about Hillary Clinton's speech at the 4th World Conference of Women. Writing this essay gave me a good review and understanding of some rhetorical tools that are commonly used today. One of the hardest parts of creating this essay was trying to figure out which rhetorical strategies I was going to focus on in my essay. I am a little more satisfied with this essay than the diagnostic writing. As I read back over the essay it felt a little messy and not in order. Hopefully I can get someone to review it with me.
Visual Rhetoric Essay: This essay made me explain how a poster used visual tools to fulfill its purpose. I chose a poster about animal testing that was very attracting. This was fun to write about since we see posters everyday. It was interesting breaking something down that seemed like a simple tool used by clubs and organizations around campus. It was an easy essay to write about because there were three obvious visual tools used in the poster. Overall, I was satisfied with this essay, but I am sure I can do some revision to make it better.
Visual Rhetoric Project: This is a presentation for the animal testing poster that I talked about in my visual rhetoric essay. This project was done with a fellow classmate and explained the visual tools used in poster. I enjoyed creating this presentation with my classmate and getting to practice my public speaking as I presented this project.
Evaluation Essay: In this essay I present reasons why a recent book I read is the best in its genre. This was a fun and difficult essay for me. It was fun because I got to talk about a good book, but difficult to think of the criteria that made this a good book. I am not satisfied with this essay because I do not believe I explained my criteria well and some of my reasons or examples seem weak.
Research Paper: The longest assignment by far was the research paper. This was a 2000 word paper on a research question of my choice. It helped that I got to create my own question, but creating my research question seemed like a long process. Overall, I enjoyed writing this paper because I wrote about something I enjoy and is apart of my life. I think I used too many sources in this paper and didn't have as many explanations in my own words to make it a strong paper. I am not satisfied with this paper, but it was still an enjoyable process.