My Year of Literature
Honestly I’m not entirely
sure what I was expecting out of this class even after reading the syllabus for
the first time. I suppose I was expecting to read more novels from my previous
English class experiences, when we didn’t even read one, which was somewhat
cool learning literature from TED videos even more than our educational books.
The essays I have chosen to most clearly represent my growth in writing through
this class and most clearly show my achievement of the course outcomes are my Contest
Essay, my Process Essay, as well as my Ethnography.
My Contest Essay
best exemplifies the second outcome of demonstrating an awareness of rhetorical
situation and acquiring different strategies when writing in different
contexts. I used acquired vocabulary such as, “This exigence (or call to
action) comes in the form of the contest.” My tone changed from the Analysis to
the actual Essay portion of the contest essay which i had set with the first
line of each. My Analysis began, “Everything begins with a problem, a question
that needs solving,” while my Essay began, “Another world. A moment in time. A
fracture in space,” clearly one addressed the audience directly whereas the
other set the scene of a story. This also demonstrated my ability to write for
different audiences as my Analysis directed its audience as fellow peers where
the Essay’s main audience would be focused on Ninja Turtle fans. Finally in my
analysis I assessed the writing choices of the Library on it’s targeted contest
audience.
Up next, the
outcome of understanding writing processes and how processes change is best
exemplified through my Process Essay. In this essay I did an in depth analysis
of how I both write an essay for class as well as for a random story to see how
my writing flowed. While setting up for my essay I was most concerned with
sticking to guidelines and MLA Format, which slowed down my process
significantly. I determined that perhaps not multitasking during this time
would speed up my writing significantly. Hence I reflected on, evaluated, and
proposed an adaptation to my process to enhance my productive ability as a
writer.
Bringing up the rear
is my Ethnography, exemplifying the fourth outcome regarding a comprehension of
“discourse conventions, lexis, genres, and their communities.” I used the
appropriate vocabulary to show the accomplishment of this outcome, for instance
on my second page the second paragraph begins, “In every community, there is
certain forms of discourse that is frowned upon.” In depth I analyzed the TMNT
fandom community of DeviantArt. Though it is true DeviantArt itself is a
community, it also needed to be narrowed down for the analysis to better
understand a specific discourse rather than the entirety of the largest online
art community. I addressed different genres in the commentary I studied (both
art and Fanfiction) and hence have achieved the outcome.
I believe I’ve
gained much more from this class than only these outcomes, mainly a more open
mind, lasting friendships and fond memories. This class I shall surely miss.
