My development as a writer throughout the semester
My development as a writer has been exercised in this class throughout the following writing assignments we did in class this semester. I have learned many things regarding the different writing assignments. Each assignment, the research paper, the auto-ethnography, the personal narrative essay, all collectively used the main course objectives. Using these course objectives has set me up to be a better writer. This can be used throughout my academic and personal life. Even now I can draft this paper effectively because of learning the course objectives. Each course objective can be seen being played out effectively in each of my papers.
Attitudes towards linguistic standards can both empower and weaken my work. Throughout drafting my essays, I wanted to include parts of me through my writing style and decisions effectively. I also had in mind what would be my audience’s reaction to said linguistic writing choices. Attitudes towards linguistic standards played a crucial role in all my assignments. Being able to accurately use the right words, rhetorical strategies, and writing language to get the proper reaction from my audience is important, and I made sure to touch on it in all my assignments. Getting the connection from my intended purpose and claim to my audience was important. So, considering the things I am saying and how it will be portrayed was something I focused on. Attitudes towards linguistic standards can weaken a person’s writing because often writers are so used to their own writing and how they portray it that it is difficult to understand how it may be portrayed from another person’s perspective. This can just create a wedge between the audiences getting the intended purposes of the writing. Often students are so used to their own writing language and style that breaking out of their habit and trying new writing formats can be difficult to do which only prevents them from advancing as a writer. My essay was about the power of yoga and how it can improve people’s quality of life. My intended audience was people who practiced yoga and those who did not. Either way I wanted both groups to feel understood and gain an interest in how yoga can benefit their lives. I did this by being cautious of my writing language style and choices. I listened to my professors and peer reviews’ feedback to gain a new perspective on how my writing can improve. I also branched out into new linguistic standards according to how I believed it would be portrayed by my audience.
By doing this I was also able to explore and focus my attention on a variety of new genres and rhetorical strategies. While reading and writing my papers, I focused on how the writer was using rhetorical strategies according to their genre. Doing this allowed me to learn more about genres and rhetorical strategies and how they can effectively be used to improve my writing. For example, while writing my personal narrative essay I knew to emphasize on the rhetorical strategy of pathos. By using pathos, I answered the prompt effectively. I used pathos by sharing my feelings, emotions, and thoughts, using this brought my paper to where it needed to be. I used pathos in my personal narrative essay when I was describing why I first started using yoga in the first place in my paper in the following lines, “You see I was so depressed and mentally exhausted that I could no longer let myself stay in that place. I decided to practice mindfulness and dive into spirituality,” (Echavarria, page 1). By choosing to express my struggle with mental health I play with using pathos to get my purpose across to my audience. So, I was able to use proper rhetorical strategies that transformed my paper’s quality. This can be said for my research paper. According to the research papers genre I knew that pathos would not be as effective as logos and ethos because using those rhetorical strategies would apply better to the research papers genre.
Since I was writing many papers, I got used to the idea of having someone peer review your work. After writing every essay I had to do reflections, revisions, and talk to my peer review partner. By doing this, I developed the ability to look at my writing and see how I can improve it. I became intentional in how I edit my papers and look at other people’s papers. I developed the proper strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing throughout this class. I developed the proper strategies for collaborating, revising, and editing a lot through peer review. While having conferences with my professor and in peer review, I learned how to look at my essay from a different perspective. I remember that during my conferences with my professor I learned to read my paper aloud so that I can hear how it would be read by another person. I now do this for all of papers because reading it in your head does not allow for you to get a full gist of how your writing language is coming across. While peer reviewing with my partner, I learned how to take that advice and carry it out into all my papers. I was made aware that I can be repetitive in my writing. I want to emphasize a point, so I will keep repeating it in different ways. When one good sentence can effectively get the message across. So, to stop myself from over-wording a point I read it aloud after I have written it and see if it needs shortening. If it needs shortening, I will edit it and narrow down what I am trying to say. This allows me to get to the point without over-killing the point. Now I can collaborate and take other people’s perspective of my writing into account to better my writing.
I learned how to recognize and practice key rhetorical terms in my writing. I learned how to do this and used it to better my writing by incorporating my new knowledge into my research paper. In a research paper you are supposed to accurately be able to site sources that go with what you are talking about. Your writing needs to be supported by your sources in a research essay. I considered this and incorporated ethos and logos into my research paper. Using ethos and logos in a research paper builds your credibility and people believe your research claim. I used proper citations in connection to my research in the following lines, “Yoga philosophy and the practice itself shifted my awareness to looking at myself and seeing that I actually have more power than I give myself,” (Seth Jay, Gillihan PhD, page: 1). Gillihan conveys that the practice of yoga and its philosophy has helped him realize his own personal power,” (Echavarria, page 6). I used proper evidence to prove that my statement, yoga is powerful in improving people’s quality of life, was true. Using credible sources, which is ethos, to prove my knowledge in the topic also used logos to build up credibility and make my research paper effective.
I was able to locate the proper sources in my research paper. I was able to utilize academic journal articles, magazines, and newspaper articles to aid in getting the proper sources to help my writing. I was very cautious to pick out sources that were non bias, reliable, and credible. I first made sure that the articles I looked at were affiliated with “.org,” “.Edu,” etc. I also made sure that the information in the articles were credible and would help my claim not dis-empower it. I picked out journal articles on the CCNY’s academic gale library to help with my research papers claim. I picked out the articles and the evidence within those articles that will help me develop my claim within the research paper. One of the ways that I did this was by using the proper evidence in my research paper that I picked out according to its accuracy and what it could do for my paper and that specific section. I used the proper citation from a newspaper article to support my claim that yoga can help heal people’s quality of life, this was done in the following lines, ““Yoga may help children and young people cope with stress and thus contribute positively to balance in life, well-being, and mental health, Thus, yoga may contribute to healthy development and good mental health,” (Hagen ingunn, Usha. S. Nayar, Page # 1, line #22). This quote explains how yoga has been known to create a balance for children and adolescents’ mental health, which establishes a healthy life,” (Echavarria, page 2). In this section I properly picked out a source and utilized academic magazines, journal articles, and newspaper articles that could support my claim on how people can improve their lives with the practice of yoga. I also made sure that my papers held the correct form of synthesis all throughout. I often did this by ensuring that every quality and element incorporated into the paper was held together. I used evidence and source citation that flowed with my claims and explanations.
Since I was incorporating many citations in my writing, I made sure to use the proper systematic application of citation conventions. I used MLA formatting for all papers that needed it. I often struggled when writing out my citations according to MLA, but when I was lost or confused, I made sure to look it up on the owl Purdue website. It was important that I properly cited everything because you want to make sure that you do not discredit your own paper on accident. I practiced this in my research paper, as seen in the previous paragraph and my auto-ethnography. Overall, when writing all my papers, I enjoyed writing about all my thoughts and ideas regarding yoga. I utilized all the course learning objectives to aid my improvement as a writer. I made choices according to what I was learning. I learned a lot from each of these course objectives and will carry it out into all my writing for the following academic and personal years.
Works Cited
Echavarria, Karielle. “Autoethnography on the power of yoga,” 5 December 2022. Composition for History and culture 10103 FIQWIS, The city college of New York, autoethnography.
Echavarria, Karielle. “Yoga can improve people’s quality of life,” 23, November 2022. Composition for History and culture 10103 FIQWIS, The city college of New York, Research Paper.
Echavarria, Karielle. “How yoga transformed me, My love for yoga,” 23, November 2022. Composition for History and culture 10103 FIQWIS, The city college of New York, Personal Narrative paper.
Hagen ingunn, Usha. S. Nayar, Yoga for Young Children and Peoples Mental Health and well-being: research review and reflections on the mental health potentials of yoga, Frontiers, 2014. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00035/full
Seth Jay, Gillihan PhD, how can yoga make your life better? 2019, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/think-act-be/201906/how-can-yoga-make-your-life-better
