When I first entered english composition 1101, I expected this course to be manageable. As an outstanding english student at Clarke Central high school, I believed that I had enough knowledge to excel in this course with no challenges. Dr. Catherine Rogers was able to knock me off of my high horse and make me realize that I has a lot more to learn about reading and writing. She is very comprehensive and analytical, which caused her to give me a c average on my midterm assignments. I put the blame on myself because I believe that I should have been more open to Dr. Rogers’ methods with pre-writing and revision. Now I think highly of reading and writing. What I have learned about the rhetorical situation is that it is very fundamental and useful when it comes to reading or writing a text. The rhetorical situation applies to the audience and purpose of a text, which create creates a rhetorical response. Also, it …show more content…
Catherine Rogers has taught me so much about using enthymemes as thesis statements to organize my essays. Enthymemes are mostly used in argumentative essays because the are argumentative statements. They influence the audience to make assumptions. Furthermore, enthymemes are attached with a text’s claim, reason and evidence. An argumentative essay includes information about enthymematic reasoning and creates an enthymematic thesis. I can now use enthymemes to express an argument or justify an argument. The relationship between reading and writing is magnificent because they are one and the same. A great consistency of reading can permit someone to become a great writer. While reading a variety of books, he/she learns about text structures and language that he/she can transfer to their writing. I believe that reading gives me knowledge, which I can use to create narratives, argumentative essays and analyses. While in college, I plan to read extensively and develop a love for reading and writing, which I will have to use to be successful in my
“The Rhetorical Situation” by Lloyd Bitzer discusses what a rhetorical situation includes for a situation to be identified as a rhetorical situation. Bitzer states that a rhetorical situation occurs when an issue has the possibility of being changed in a positive way. Bitzer discusses that a rhetorical situation must include rhetorical exigence, audience, and constraints. Rhetorical exigences must be receptive of positive change and can only be changed through discourse. Bitzer explains that discourse is a type of social practice or a way of thinking.
The rhetorical situation is made up of a few elements such as the audience, the issue, and the constraints. Bitzer described the rhetorical situation as “a complex of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or potential exigence, which can be completely or partially removed if discourse, introduced into the situation, can so constrain human decision or action as to bring about the significant modification of the exigence” (Bitzer 6). In this essay I will explain in depth how the rhetorical situation works as a process. The main three parts of the rhetorical situation is the exigence and/or issue, the audience, and the constraints. I will also talk about the influence that Bitzer holds with the rhetorical situation, and
Zarefsky broke this long definition apart and repackaged it into a function statement that a rhetorical situation is a situation in which people’s understanding can be changed through messages (Zarefsky 9), and four components, namely the audience, the occasion, the speaker and the
I now know that I am capable of writing anything I set my mind to, before I used to struggle coming up with a topic to write about and now the topics are quick to come up with which is great because it means less time being wasted doing absolutely nothing when most classmates are already on their final draft. What I thought about reading before entering college and what I think now about reading is still the same, I still don’t enjoy reading as much as I should in order to succeed in college. Strategies that i’ve learned and improved in writing are many, as
The primary aim of English 1101 is to prepare the student to effectively communicate, and identify or create new knowledge in various spheres of life. English 1101 assisted me to have control over the writing conventions through extensive writing practice or reading, guided by evaluations and feedbacks from my course instructor. The course contains several topics namely; effective writing processes, rhetorical organizations methods, academic writing formats and styles, critical reading skills, researching, and citing the researched sources.
Keith Grant-Davie's essay on rhetorical situations is an in depth explanation of rhetorical situations. A rhetorical situation is when a rhetorician or writer wants to change the way an audience see's or understands something by using discourse. Grant-Davie describes the four main parts of a rhetorical situation as being the rhetor, an audience, exigence, and constraints. The rhetor, is the speaker or producer that is trying to get an idea into the audiences head. The audience is anyone who is taking in the material that the rhetor is advertising. Exigence is the "problem" that the rhetor is addressing; the whole reason discourse was brought to light. Finally constraints are the boundaries the rhetor follows to butter up the audience. They
In Keith Grant-Davie’s, “Rhetorical Situation and Their Constituents” he explains the rhetorical situation “as a set of related factors whose interaction creates and controls a discourse” (350). Essentially the rhetorical situation is the events
In Bitzers piece “The Rhetorical Situation” a rhetorical situation is described to be composed of three different key concepts. The first being exigence, exigence being the reasoning behind why the situation is happening in the first place. The second is the audience, which is who it is directed towards. The last point is constraints, anything that would influence the situation that is taking place. The Charleston Animal Society has a website with lots of information about their organization which is an example of a rhetorical situation
As the Fall 2017 term comes to end, I look back on what I have accomplished in this class. English 102 – Composition II was one of the most challenging and toughest class I have taken at UW-Stout, but feel as though it has helped me to improve my writing skills. Even before the semester started the feeling of anxiety had taken over, as writing has never been my strongest skill, but stayed positive and confident I would be successful. Much to my surprise, my instructor, Michael Critchfield quickly addressed that this class would not be easy and amazingly changed my views of writing throughout the entire semester.
In his article, “The Rhetorical Situation,” Lloyd Bitzer defines and elaborates on rhetorical situation. He writes, “Rhetorical situation may be defined as a complex of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or potential exigence which can be completely or partially remove if discourse, introduced into the situation, can so constrain human decision or action as to bring about the significant modification of the exigence” (6). To put it simply, a rhetorical situation is some response to a certain situation (Bitzer 3). Bitzer also explains that there are three parts to any rhetorical situation: the exigence, the audience, and the constraints. These three components exist before any discourse is created or presented (6.)
Proficient writing is an essential skill in all aspects of academic and professional achievement. English 101, Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric, provided the framework to good writing, teaching me composition and rhetoric fundamentals, polishing up my grammar and style, and expressing a clear message. English 102, Composition, Rhetoric, and Research, continued to build on the skills I learned in English 101, focusing on the subject matter research process and employing various rhetorical and literary devices to better express a clear message to the reader. The course also improved my critical thinking capacity, allowing me to culturally evaluate my target audience, present logically flowing arguments using appropriate language and structure, and critically reviewing my writing projects for content and expression. Every writer inherently knows there’s always room to improve and I hold fast to this mindset in all academic, professional, and personal writing projects. English 102 has both challenged and inspired me to grow into a much better writer than before I began the class, providing the necessary skills to be not just a good writer, but a great writer.
When reading a text, there are many ways to gain a deeper understanding of the text. One of the methods a reader can use to increase their understanding is rhetorical reading. Rhetorical reading “involves more than ‘agreeing’ or ‘disagreeing’ with the text. Instead, readers must read thoroughly and think critically to understand how an argument is working.” (Heasley et al. 89). Rhetorical reading requires the reader to focus on the text and pay close attention to the rhetorical situation. The rhetorical situation consists of the writer, reader, text/purpose, and context. “When you think about these elements and pose questions about the options available to you as a writer, you are analyzing your rhetorical situation” (Ede 51). Gaining an understanding of each will enable students to recognize if a text is or is not responsive to its rhetorical situation.
My experience into English 111 not only left me anxious, it became a self-revelation. My learning capabilities were challenged because writing did not come natural and the possibility of becoming a prominent writer were going to take a lot of time, effort and hard work. In spite of not knowing what to expect, I entered into this new semester pumped up carrying an “I can do this” attitude and feeling confident.
I am a science major and I have always minimized English Language courses because I thought I was already very good at writing. I did not think I would ever really need to use what I would acquire from such a course. When I came to Montgomery College and I was going to take the course English 101, my expectations were that I would have no difficulty scoring good grades in the course and I would learn nothing really helpful from it. This is because in high school, I put very little effort into my English class, but I had impressive scores in writing. I began to understand that I am not as good as I thought I was at writing when I started taking english courses in college. During my previous English course, English 102, I was able to improve certain aspects of my writing which I am glad for. For instance I am confident that my essay structures are well built. But some things in writing remained a challenge for me. I am glad that I am taking an English course that would permit me to work on things I thought I was already good at like awareness in writing essays and proper use of grammar and punctuation
Of the many expectations I have of English 1101, three are very important to me: improving my vocabulary, communication skills, and the ability to enhance my writing skills. During college the most fundamental class will be English. English will help me with all subjects in my curriculum, by building better communication skills, and will help with me with everyday life. In today's world of increased communications, particularly of a digital nature, writing skills are an important aspect of expression on a personal, professional and educational level. People send written communications more frequently and quickly than ever in the form of text messages, emails and social media updates.