Hey, my name is Ahmed Alshaibani. I am currently a student at Wayne
State University. Throughout my high school career, I was faced with
the challenge of writing quite a few essays. I had a lot of practice
writing research papers, reviews, and summaries. Coming into this
class, I wrongly believed that I knew how to write good, in-depth
papers. Within a few days of attending my Introduction to College
Writing class, I realized that I was sadly mistaken. My writing skills
lacked many basic aspects that would help me appeal to readers and
particular audiences. I knew nothing about analyzing a piece of
literature. I took everything at face value. I did not know about the
whole art of rhetoric and fallacies that enhance a piece of work. This
class made me realize the importance of studying writing, because it
allowed me to pick up key techniques that are necessary for allowing
my work to be understood by the right people.
Before this class, my version of analyzing was simply summarizing. I
was mostly used to writing reviews. I would read a piece of writing
and basically restate what the author was saying, but in my own words.
I didn’t really search for any hidden messages or deeper meaning in
the text. I wouldn’t notice the author’s techniques for persuading me
to think the way he wanted me to. I took everything at face value.
This caused me to miss a lot of key information that the writer had
presented. Not knowing these techniques as a writer really hurt my
work. Without the skills I’ve acquired, I would not have been able to
target the specific audience I sought-after. I would also write simple
papers that lacked interesting qualities that would fail to capture my
reader’s attention. Another habit I had was that I would not revise my
papers. I’ve learned the importance of revising my work and receiving
feedback from others, after all two heads are better than one.
Through this class, I’ve been able to develop many procedural skills
including my revision and prewriting skills. I now value the ability
to more thoroughly be able to reach a very specific target audience as
opposed to the general public, as I was used to with high school work.
Through the use of logical points, my papers became infested with
logos, allowing me to establish a sense of ethos with the reader.
Through the use of the rhetorical techniques I’ve acquired, my
writings have become much more persuasive and interesting. I am able
to reach my audience and get my message across more smoothly. This
class allowed me to take my writing to a whole new level.
Another big advancement in my writing was the ability to notice and
apply rhetorical skills. Ill be honest, coming into this class, I had
no idea what the word rhetoric meant. Now I’m able to recognize
rhetorical skills used by author and I am able to use it in my own
work. More importantly, I’ve developed the ability to have a clear and
focused purpose behind my papers. I’ve been able to pick one very
specific topic and elaborate on it in order to get my point across.
For example, in project one, I was able to very thoroughly analyze the
Adidas We Are All Originals campaign by going in depth about the
techniques they used to persuade the audience to buy their products,
such as when I stated, “Adidas successfully argues this point by using
a mixture of celebrities and athletes along with various random
individuals, showing that the company has fashions for all walks of
life, and we should be proud of the things that make us different”
(Alshaibani). This in depth analysis allowed me to see the true
tactics used by these companies to convince consumers to buy their
products.
I was also able to thoroughly emphasize and use pathos and ethos to
appeal to the general public in my redefining of the word chivalry. I
will hopefully be able to successfully reach my target audience
through these skills and help them understand the urgency of
redefining the word to fit with modern times. In my story I said:
“Looking at men today, it is very hard to deduce a definition of what
a “man” is and does” (Alshaibani). That statement allowed me to
capture the attention of my target audience, and keep them clinging to
my every word. In my evaluation of the history of fuel efficiency
standards, I was able to establish ethos in my writing by
demonstrating my knowledge of the subject matter and elaborating on
the history of events regarding fuel efficiency standards.
With all these powerful writing techniques, one must also be very
cautious. Though many people will use them to help others, many will
also use them to pursue hateful agendas. The pen is truly mightier
than the sword. Never did I think that people would stoop down to the
level of absent-mindedness that we are today. We have traded actual,
valuable, meaningful information for a bunch of polished, useless
crap. Through the use of rhetoric, news stations and reporters have
falsely convinced our American public to believe irrelevant
information is relevant. Though rhetorical techniques, one is able to
effectively persuade others about important, relevant topics. Rhetoric
is very useful, but when in the wrong hands, is dangerously and
ignorantly misused. It truly blows my mind. Pop culture does nothing
beneficially informative through their use of rhetorical technic. Who
truly benefits from knowing what a certain celebrity is eating, or
who’s pregnant, or who’s using ecstasy? They make the general public
believe this information is important and is something we need to know
in order to survive. What it really is can be summarized in one word:
disgusting, it has turned society into a bunch of zombies. “Follow
what the cute girls on TV say, because they’re smart” is what they are
screaming at us. However academia is, in a sense, more psychologically
productive. They feed the mind with useful information and skills,
which are turned to advancing one’s skillset. Rather than being fed
garbage and irrelevant facts. It has taught me the true secrets to
writing. I’ve learned (and still am leaning) the arts of the world of
persuasion. Based on my knowledge, I’ve learned to start by
establishing credibility, using logic, and appealing to the reader, in
order to provide reassurance in the author’s opinion and position on
the certain topic in discussion.
Through future writings, I think I would like to be able to target an
audience of people who are around my age, so that they can better
relate to my writing. As I plan to go into a future in the medical
field, I will need the ability to successfully write reports on topics
that will allow patients to understand and relate to.
State University. Throughout my high school career, I was faced with
the challenge of writing quite a few essays. I had a lot of practice
writing research papers, reviews, and summaries. Coming into this
class, I wrongly believed that I knew how to write good, in-depth
papers. Within a few days of attending my Introduction to College
Writing class, I realized that I was sadly mistaken. My writing skills
lacked many basic aspects that would help me appeal to readers and
particular audiences. I knew nothing about analyzing a piece of
literature. I took everything at face value. I did not know about the
whole art of rhetoric and fallacies that enhance a piece of work. This
class made me realize the importance of studying writing, because it
allowed me to pick up key techniques that are necessary for allowing
my work to be understood by the right people.
Before this class, my version of analyzing was simply summarizing. I
was mostly used to writing reviews. I would read a piece of writing
and basically restate what the author was saying, but in my own words.
I didn’t really search for any hidden messages or deeper meaning in
the text. I wouldn’t notice the author’s techniques for persuading me
to think the way he wanted me to. I took everything at face value.
This caused me to miss a lot of key information that the writer had
presented. Not knowing these techniques as a writer really hurt my
work. Without the skills I’ve acquired, I would not have been able to
target the specific audience I sought-after. I would also write simple
papers that lacked interesting qualities that would fail to capture my
reader’s attention. Another habit I had was that I would not revise my
papers. I’ve learned the importance of revising my work and receiving
feedback from others, after all two heads are better than one.
Through this class, I’ve been able to develop many procedural skills
including my revision and prewriting skills. I now value the ability
to more thoroughly be able to reach a very specific target audience as
opposed to the general public, as I was used to with high school work.
Through the use of logical points, my papers became infested with
logos, allowing me to establish a sense of ethos with the reader.
Through the use of the rhetorical techniques I’ve acquired, my
writings have become much more persuasive and interesting. I am able
to reach my audience and get my message across more smoothly. This
class allowed me to take my writing to a whole new level.
Another big advancement in my writing was the ability to notice and
apply rhetorical skills. Ill be honest, coming into this class, I had
no idea what the word rhetoric meant. Now I’m able to recognize
rhetorical skills used by author and I am able to use it in my own
work. More importantly, I’ve developed the ability to have a clear and
focused purpose behind my papers. I’ve been able to pick one very
specific topic and elaborate on it in order to get my point across.
For example, in project one, I was able to very thoroughly analyze the
Adidas We Are All Originals campaign by going in depth about the
techniques they used to persuade the audience to buy their products,
such as when I stated, “Adidas successfully argues this point by using
a mixture of celebrities and athletes along with various random
individuals, showing that the company has fashions for all walks of
life, and we should be proud of the things that make us different”
(Alshaibani). This in depth analysis allowed me to see the true
tactics used by these companies to convince consumers to buy their
products.
I was also able to thoroughly emphasize and use pathos and ethos to
appeal to the general public in my redefining of the word chivalry. I
will hopefully be able to successfully reach my target audience
through these skills and help them understand the urgency of
redefining the word to fit with modern times. In my story I said:
“Looking at men today, it is very hard to deduce a definition of what
a “man” is and does” (Alshaibani). That statement allowed me to
capture the attention of my target audience, and keep them clinging to
my every word. In my evaluation of the history of fuel efficiency
standards, I was able to establish ethos in my writing by
demonstrating my knowledge of the subject matter and elaborating on
the history of events regarding fuel efficiency standards.
With all these powerful writing techniques, one must also be very
cautious. Though many people will use them to help others, many will
also use them to pursue hateful agendas. The pen is truly mightier
than the sword. Never did I think that people would stoop down to the
level of absent-mindedness that we are today. We have traded actual,
valuable, meaningful information for a bunch of polished, useless
crap. Through the use of rhetoric, news stations and reporters have
falsely convinced our American public to believe irrelevant
information is relevant. Though rhetorical techniques, one is able to
effectively persuade others about important, relevant topics. Rhetoric
is very useful, but when in the wrong hands, is dangerously and
ignorantly misused. It truly blows my mind. Pop culture does nothing
beneficially informative through their use of rhetorical technic. Who
truly benefits from knowing what a certain celebrity is eating, or
who’s pregnant, or who’s using ecstasy? They make the general public
believe this information is important and is something we need to know
in order to survive. What it really is can be summarized in one word:
disgusting, it has turned society into a bunch of zombies. “Follow
what the cute girls on TV say, because they’re smart” is what they are
screaming at us. However academia is, in a sense, more psychologically
productive. They feed the mind with useful information and skills,
which are turned to advancing one’s skillset. Rather than being fed
garbage and irrelevant facts. It has taught me the true secrets to
writing. I’ve learned (and still am leaning) the arts of the world of
persuasion. Based on my knowledge, I’ve learned to start by
establishing credibility, using logic, and appealing to the reader, in
order to provide reassurance in the author’s opinion and position on
the certain topic in discussion.
Through future writings, I think I would like to be able to target an
audience of people who are around my age, so that they can better
relate to my writing. As I plan to go into a future in the medical
field, I will need the ability to successfully write reports on topics
that will allow patients to understand and relate to.