Reflection On WRI 111: Rhetoric Of Remember

Roman Wilkinson

Professor McPeters

The Rhetoric of Remembering

28 April 2023 Critical Reflection Essay Spring semester 2023 was going to be different. For starters, I was finally able to pick the main classes I wanted and needed to take. One of those classes was my WRI 111: Rhetoric of Remembering. I had signed up because some friends that previously took Rhetoric of Remembering suggested it due to them receiving a high grade. As a result, my expectation coming into this class was that it would be easy to get an A. However, what my friends failed to tell me, at least explicitly, were the many ways the course would strengthen and fine-tune my writing abilities. Throughout my schooling, I initially was not a strong writer. But, after taking

Though I became a better writer, I still had some issues. With my improvement, I only became a better academic writer, leading to my personal and creative writing abilities becoming nearly nonexistent. While taking WRI 111, I was able to learn new learning styles and simultaneously address some of my writing flaws. The design of the class to promote writer improvement through brainstorming, small-group engagement, as well as providing opportunities for reflection has allowed me to develop my writing. Brainstorm, in any course plays a critical part in shaping a student’s learning. Personally, for me in WRI 111, brainstorming through our readers' notebooks and class discussions helped improve my writing by hearing my classmates’ ideas and implementing them in my own work. Prior to the course, in all of my English-oriented classes, students were never required to write down daily activities in a notebook. As a result, our writer notebook took me by surprise and I thought to myself, “What is the point? This seems redundant and a waste of time.” However, I was mistaken. Almost instantly I saw the impact of the writers' notebook in class.

Going into this class, I expected to just receive a high grade; however, I gained many more things. I was able to identify things I still struggle with in my writing. Tone and writing to my audience is the main skill I needed improvement on. On the first assignment, the personal narrative, I struggled in making the audience feel my story instead of just hearing it. Although I received feedback about my lack of tone from my peers and Professor Cindy, I did not put it into full consideration as my individualist writing mentality from high school carried over into college. It was not until after the second assignment, the memorial project, that I began to let go of the individualism approach. I earned my lowest grade on an English paper since junior high. As a result, I began to seriously reevaluate my approach to WRI 111. I began to take more care and diligence in class, my writing, my reader’s notebook, and my engagement with the class. Finally, I was able to see what this class was all about. It was never about a hearing good, academic paper. Sure, that is a part of any English-related class, but this was not Professor Cindy’s main focus. Instead, the class prioritized hardening students’ writing ability in and outside the academic profession. Through the class’s intentional format to promote brainstorming, small-group engagement, and reflection, I was able to overcome my inability to adapt to