ERH 102
David White
5/4/17
Title
Throughout this process, I have learned a lot about how to write academically. In high school and ERH 101 I was very good at writing the standard five paragraph essay which has been drilled into me since junior high. The research and almost puzzle like quality of creating arguments is much more rewarding than the previous ways I have been taught to write. Instead of the mundane five paragraph essays, these arguments seem to mean something and must capacity to mean something to someone else. Therefore, I believe I have learned a greater appreciation of rhetoric and its power within our society, its ability to give people a voice, and show how people think or what they care about.
One of the most interesting things I have learned this semester is how Rhetoric can illustrate how different people think. Writing from the opposite viewpoint was a challenging task but it reinforced the idea that all arguments have solid points to consider. There is always a reason people lean toward one side or the other which is something most people do not like to admit. Creating room for both sides in the argument helps strength your position, something that is not seen in the stereotypical five paragraph format. Understanding the difference between academic writing and just writing for a grade is something I have not really understood until now. While I might not be able to craft an extremely strong argument yet, I understand the importance, something that at the beginning of project one I thought was an afterthought. In this project, we had to argue for the opposite view of a law or civic issue. I choose the oil pipelines President Trump enabled with a series of executive actions. Unlike ERH 101, this project taught me skills that I truly believe I will use later in life, mainly finding a common ground to work from. Creating a strong argument is probably the first lesson in an English class I have taken seriously.
Giving people a voice and a platform to display their ideas is something I did not understand Rhetoric could do. While most of my writing experience has been through the five-paragraph format, the ability to craft my essays to fit my topic was a welcome change. A five-paragraph essay format is mainly used to analyze a certain topic or idea, like a novel or theme. The format is an introduction with a thesis and/or antithesis, three paragraphs constructed out of points from the thesis, and a conclusion paragraph. This was the format I wrote for six years, not adding anything to the topic, just analyzing and making observations. The skill of crafting a paper around an argument not only makes for a more enjoyable writing experience, but also lets the writer tell his ideas and attempt to convince an audience, not just inform them. This skill is something I know I will use later in life and is something much more powerful then I believed an English class could teach me.