Chapter 1 Response Emma Monfroy
I felt that this overall chapter was concise yet
informative. In a span of about ten pages it goes over a plethora of
information that would be key in a course such as ENC2135. These few pages
serve as a manual for the writing that will be done throughout the course. Consisting
of many things learned in high school but that may have gone unpracticed such
as rhetorical appeals and rhetorical situation. I found that this reading is
quick and painless if it is used more as a refresher due to the fact that the
content has been taught repeatedly, at least at my school. I particularly find
this chapter to be a smooth read because, it is very well broken up. It keeps
the reader engaged with the variety of pictures and charts.
The section
“Audience: Who are you composing for?” was my favorite. I feel that keeping the
audience in mind is the key to success for anything that is being written or
presented. However, no matter the audience it is quintessential to keep them
entertained. In the blog example where Giladhiz creates his blog he does his
best to make it stand out. Using an intriguing way to start his blog that is
intended for notonly friends and family but anyone that may stumble upon it by
saying “So, dear friends and accidental surfers, allow me to begin with the
reasons that brought me to plan and go on that trip”. I feel that it is easy to
forget to make writing interesting. Writing is often seen as boring by
students, myself included but once the effort is made and it becomes interesting
writing is no longer a chore but pleasure both for the writer as well as the
audience.
To me the
best parts of this chapter are the little reminders of things I know but at
times forget to thoroughly execute in my writing. As ridiculous as it seems
neglecting style, design, and sources either happens often or is imperfect. This
chapter serves as a memorandum and reference for the prominent details in writing
so that when I am working on a project and I want to make sure I have not
excluded anything of major significance I have a place to double check.
I agree this chapter with its many checklists can be used as a guide when writing and i have a feeling it will serve us well through the course of our 16 weeks. I learned about all the topics mentioned here in high school as well just never this in depth and I never made some of the connections mentioned in the chapter such as the one of mode and its relation to media. I also never considered the genre such a key component in writing. I loved the audience section as well and really enjoyed reading the picture of Giladhiz's blog. I feel like the chapter connected many ideas together and was a pleasant read.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that as students we can at times forget the different modes and genres available to us. Throughout high school, I only wrote when necessary and most of my assignments were research paper or other formal papers. I've dabbled in powerpoint, however there is still so much more for me to explore. I'd like to challenge myself to using different forms of media.
ReplyDeleteI constantly forgot about all of the factors involved in writing papers and how many different ways their are to get our points across as writers. It's funny to me how in middle school/ high school when we first learned about all of these conventions it felt overwhelming and like a lot of information to retain, but the textbook did a great job at keeping the descriptions short and detailed. I'll definitely use this chapter as a reference throughout the semester as well!
ReplyDeleteHi Emma
ReplyDeleteI love your analogy of the chapter as a checking list to make sure you've considered all the different aspects of writing when working on a text. You could definitely do that throughout the semester. I agree with you that audience is fundamental when writing and should not be disregarded. I enjoyed your reading response.