1

Lauren Lively

English 102

April 30, 2019

Final Reflection

Walking into the doors of English 102, I thought I had learned most of what there

was to know about English classes in school systems. I thought we would be writing

essays all year with requirements similar to what I’ve heard my whole life, “write a five-

paragraph essay using assertion, evidence, commentary, then repeat, to write a stellar

essay.” This was none of that.

Nor was the school work what I expected either. Going over the types of rhetoric

helped the way I write argumentative essays and proved to me that I don’t in fact know

it all. But here is what I do know.

I now know that writing middle to high school essays is not a talent. Writing those

five paragraph essays are so constricting because of the limits it puts on your writing.

They also bad in the ways of repetition of assertion, evidence, commentary.

Since the readers know what they’re getting next, they’re bored with the writing

even if it’s not dull. And with writing that is only assertion, evidence, commentary, there

is little room to add touches of rhetoric and other writing techniques that help advance

the writing in the argument.

This class has helped my writing grow by giving softer boundaries and letting

college students write in whatever style best suits our own writing (as long as it’s APA

format). The feeling is comparable to snipping the thread holding together a real
 2

Christmas tree, releasing the branches and all their glory, and are now ready to be

decorated with pretty ornaments.

I have also learned that high school lies to me and underprepared me in the

ways of formatting an essay.

In high school, all of my teachers taught all of their classes MLA format and how

to cite using that way. We spent four years perfecting it, thinking that college would

make us use MLA, because that is what all the teachers told us to prepare for. APA

format punched me in the gut. I spent all of my English 101 class trying to learn it, but

finally a strong sense of how to do it by the end of English 102.

Being a sleep talker, I think I could literally be able to cite APA in my sleep.

APA I think was so difficult for me because it required me to cite almost the

complete opposite way that I was taught. Not only do you have to make cover pages,

letters, headers, and make sure all those are completely correct, but you have to make

sure all the sources are cited a certain way, and if they’re not, then they are completely

wrong. Not only that, but if sources are missing information that is required to make the

citation 100 percent correct, you have to go through the APA rulebook and find how to

adjust the citation to their particular standard.

Now that I have APA down, so to speak, I actually prefer writing essays with that

type of format. Sure, it takes extra effort and does not save me the time that I

desperately want, but the essay visually is more pleasing, and APA makes sure there

are little to no confusions, because of how much depth you have to go into and how

particular you have to be with citing.

 3

I have also learned how to be a better peer mentor, in the ways of reading and

editing essays. Because this class made us get into groups and edit each other's

essays, I was able to see common mistakes in other’s essays, making it easier to catch

them in my own. I also taught someone in my group the grammatically correct

difference between “there is” and “there are,” so being able to teach someone else that,

makes me feel like I’ve learned the material through and through.

Furthermore, I have learned the importance of having multiple drafts. Starting

with a shitty first draft where we are able to submit a page of ideas for our writing, along

with whatever may help us in the essay writing process, I found it a lot easier to write

essays.

Not only were essays easier to write, they had more organized ideas and details

too because of the fact that I had to go back and look at all the steps, and always be

planning ahead in my writing process. Planning ahead in writing always makes a big

difference, because you have an idea about what you’re going to say, and it helps stem

ideas off of your other ideas. By the end of that, your paper has pretty much written

itself.

I have had to write essays in the past for grade school, but the draft process

wasn’t as helpful because college drafts are meant to make you think about your essay

and help you come up with valid ideas. The difference from high school is that teachers

want something you’ve spent a lot of time on and is basically a pre-essay. The college

way helps more because when students have more ideas for their essays, they are less

likely to plagiarize in the long run.

 4

Through essays that we had to analyze and annotate as homework and then

discuss in class, I have also learned a more effective way to use Aristotle’s modes for

persuasion; ethos, pathos, and logos. Originally, I thought you were supposed to use

ethos, pathos, and logos back to back.

Now, I realize that the tool for persuasion is more useful when you spread out

ethos, pathos, and logos, while also making sure to mix some together. There are no

set boundaries or rules for using these modes, and that might have been the one part of

English 102 that has changed my persuasive or argumentative essays forever. Being

able to see the highlighted forms of the three tools, made finding them easier and my

brain was better able to understand the uses for it.

Because of all that I have learned from English 102, I feel more confident in my

writing than I ever was. I have also learned how to use these tools in a way that doesn’t

just relate to English, which best proves what I’ve learned from this class. I’ll be using

these argument tactics for the rest of my life.

Reflection of Henrich’s Thank You for Arguing, Chapter 30

Thank you for Arguing has been one of the best books I’ve been forced to read,

and growing up in public school, I’ve had a lot of assigned readings. The book ends not

with a complete wrap up of the book, but instead an 11-page addition to the concepts

that he covered throughout the book.

One point made is make sure that instead of talking about your values or the

values the person may have, make sure you are able to back up your argument by

being deliberative in every point you make. This is helping to make sure that your

argument is credible and not just coming from an untrustworthy adversary.

 5

Another point made, was to use future tense. I do not agree with this because I

have always been taught to write in past tense because I am studying journalism and

mass communications. I get his point that he wants his argument to be more deliberate,

so the audience can sense that you know what you’re talking about and you’re made

out to be more of a credible source, but seeing writing in future tense can be more

confusing and less comfy when looking at the point of view of someone from the

outside.

Another argument made, which I think almost everyone can agree with, is

acknowledge both sides of the arguments. I didn’t think he would actually have to put it

into the book, but some people don’t finish middle school, I get it. I agree whole

heartedly with showing both sides of any argument. By doing so, you can put yourself

into their shoes and help the other person understand why they are wrong, very

manipulative by the way, yet it also humbles the arguer because you can't be right for

every reason. You will always be wrong for a few.

Heinrich also goes over the wording choices in your arguments. For example,

invective language. Invective language is words or phrases that are meant to be

insulting or abusive. In Latin, Invictus means “attack words,” so the meaning fits.

Although you shouldn’t directly insult the other side or try to insult the other side

deliberately, I believe that a little sting is good here and there as long as it works with

the ways of satire. I realize it may show signs of seriousness, but if the tactic is used

correctly, then using comedy as a ways to make people laugh and have lighter hearts,

then maybe that might be your best chance of winning people over.