Ahh what a semester it’s been with us challenging a bunch of reading norms. Attitudes toward linguistics have had a big effect when it comes to language users. This had the ability to both empower and discourage language users. The attitudes have been very split when it comes to the linguistic standards. There has always been the ability to hinder the creativity of the writing of an individual as there are so many “rules” and things that are seen as wrong when it comes to the linguistic standards. Yet with that comes the ability to create a more articulate writer. They have the ability to teach an individual how to write in such a manner that everyone could understand and could ultimately be seen as a professional and more overall articulate. One thing I noticed during this semester which I didn’t know before was that it’s actually okay to go against the language norms. I learned that going against the language standards will convery who you are as a person without an individual meeting you. It allowed me as the writer to become more creative overall with my writing and allowed me to show feelings and emotions through my writing that I wasn’t able to show previously. Through this semester I was really able to challenge those standards and really push my overall writing to be better. 

When looking at writing and reading there is often a really close connection between the two.Yet when we take a deeper look we get better insight into just how strong that connection really is. One example of this would be when looking at something like a bibliography. We can get two different perspectives depending on whether we are reading it or the person that’s writing it yet the connections between the two are very similar in the way that the story plays out. This is also shown as different genres of reading and writing have the ability to provide different rhetorical situations to be present.  With the variation of rhetorical situations it can be hard to identify which rhetorical situation is taking place based on the type of reading or writing piece that’s at hand, yet this is something that I have gotten stronger with as the semester went on. For example when the semester first started I really struggled with writing from my perspective. Then as the semester had continued I was able to get better with it and this was apparent when I wrote my perspective essay for phase 2 part 2 I was really able to put my perspective on paper and really gave the ability for my perspective to be understood and my emotions to be felt. 

A big objective that I had achieved during the semester was my ability to work with others and apply their feedback. Throughout this semester I gained the ability to strategize when it comes to drafting, revising, editing and collaboration. So boom one thing that I had struggled with in the past is actually LISTENING to feedback when given to me. Like don’t get me wrong I always seemed to listen to the feedback that was being given yet I wasn’t really understanding the feedback that was being given and I believe that the lack of understanding was key to my struggles in understanding feedback. So I believe that the peer review groups that we had throughout the semester really helped because of the fact that I was able to get feedback from not just one person but multiple people. What this meant was that I was getting an array of things that can be changed and that are great for my work. The feedback was also very constructive as there’s been times where there was just a small mistake and my writing wasn’t put to shame for that mistake. This help of feedback was really present when we did the activity where we handed our thesis for our research essay around the class and did a mass peer review. I was able to get a crazy amount of feedback and literally ALL feedback was helpful. With comments such as “this is great but go into greater detail” and “explain who the city leaders are and why this could be important to them”. This feedback had helped me change my thesis statement go from broad to specific and that really helped the direction of my research essay because of the fact that my broad thesis in all honesty would’ve had my research essay in 10 different places but with my specific thesis I was able to get a direction and stick to that direction and stay on topic. I learned different ways of editing from others in my groups, things like different ways of wording things or different ways of arranging my work, all because I opened my mind to constructive criticism and the class mates really helped with that transition. 

I believe that I have achieved the ability to compose text that integrates a stance with appropriate sources to a great extent. Argumentative essays have really been one of my strong suits as it’s just enjoyable for me to write with the aim of proving a point. Yet one of the places that I struggled with was using sources within that writing that can have the ability to completely back up my argument. When it came to my research essay this was something that I had to come to terms with because of the fact that it was going to be needed in order to keep my essay in line. So what I did when I started my research was that I just started taking key notes that I found in the article and using those notes I would determine whether the reading was appropriate for my research essay or not. This is a tactic I used and it was REALLY helpful to me because it allowed me to organize my thoughts for my overall essay. Then what I liked is that through the research process Professor Miller had given us small assignments that allowed us to get a full analysis of our sources being used. This tactic was really helpful because with that analysis I was able to swap out some weaker sources for some stronger ones making my overall research essay a really strong piece of writing. Using argumentation I was really able to get my stance on MTA and its economics across to the reader. 

Last but most certainly not least…my ability to use my writing to address a range of audience. Now this was something that I truly struggled with as I was somewhat stuck in the mindset of everyone is going to understand my writing. Well this semester I found out that’s far from the truth and that writing is tailored to a certain audience based on things such as topic, tone, language, ect. One example of this is at the beginning of the semester while writing my narrative it was in my mind that everyone is going to read this and rightfully so I believe everyone could understand my Narrative. Yet as the semester continued I began tailoring my writing toward the audience that I WANTED to understand and that made a big shift in my overall writing mindset.  One example of this would be both my research essay and my rhetorical writing from Phase 2 part 2 because I wrote with language in those pieces that only a certain audience would understand. For example in my writing for phase 2 part 2 I used more casual and black slang just as if I was telling a story because I wanted people to not only feel the emotion that was happening at the time but also I wanted a certain group to read it and really have understanding of what was being said I wanted them to FEEL what I was saying and the slang that was being used has done just that. Then with my research paper I used more of a stern tone in order to pinpoint the problems with the MTA systems and then provided sources and even some changes that can be made. This was a big development for me as a writer because of the fact that this is skill that I can use not only in classes but also outside of school on a day-to-day basis and this has really developed me as a writer and really made me a stronger writer because I now have the ability to write and tailor my writing to a certain audience of people. 

And that’s a wrap… Thank you for such an amazing semester I learned so much and grew so much as a writer and as a person as I’m now a better listener and to go along with that I’m now a better editor and more open to any type of constructive criticism that’s going to be given in the future.