Coming into Florida State University, I did not think that it would be necessary for me to take another composition course. I had already taken AP Literature and ENC1101 + 1102 in high school through the dual enrollment opportunities that my high school provided. However, this was not the case; another year of my struggles with writing was due.
Although the initial stigma of having to take another composition class was negative, this class led to significant progress in my research and writing. These lessons will not only benefit me throughout my college tenure but will also carry over into my professional career. This class has taught me how to systematically attack large research projects in segments, resulting in a better end product and less stress.
As a Finance major, I liked how I was given the freedom to research a topic that I had an interest in and was passionate about, instead of being constrained in a box, a prompt that would not provide me any interest. This freedom allowed me to get a greater understanding of a problem that is relevant to my field in behavioral finance. The projects in the course were sectioned into a feasible amount of time, and the instructions were reasonable.
Each project in this course focused on a different style of research and reflection, helping to truly evolve my research skills in a holistic manner. Project 1 was a typical research paper, while Project 2 was a rhetorical essay. Project 3 encouraged me to create my own artifacts, and Project 4 challenged me to create my own website to demonstrate my work.
Something else that I thought was valuable in this course was the peer review sessions that we had with our classmates, and also the private face-to-face session with the professor. These sessions helped get an outside perspective on my work, solving both grammatical issues and also issues with my delivery at times. This also helped me become better at peer-reviewing some of my classmates' work, understanding how to become a better peer reviewer, and how to deliver corrections to others' work.
This course also taught me a plentiful amount of genres. Each of these genres is designed for a specific scenario, helping ot diversify my options when trying to tackle tasks, customizing my work towards the needs of the recipient. I had not previously been aware of these genres and how big of an impact they make in making your paper unique and memorable.
Furthermore, this class also taught me the importance and use of using ethos, pathos, and logos more in depth. It taught me how critical it was to mold these rhetorical strategies in correlation to your audience to make a more compelling piece of writing. Making my writing more relevant to readers. This is a concept that all writers need to have in mind when beginning a piece of their own.
To conclude, the knowledge gained over ht tenure in this class has become critical to the success of my writing in the future. Molding me into a more complete and professional writer and researcher.