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One thing I liked about our course was the number of assignments we had and the time in between each of them. I felt like the big assignments were spaced out enough to where it didn’t feel like we couldn’t keep up or that we didn’t have time. One thing that I thought could have improved is the amount of hands on activities we did. I personally am more of a hands on learner and felt that it could have helped me. One teaching method that I thoroughly enjoyed was how we read any article we were analyzing out loud as a class. I found that by hearing it out loud I got a better understanding of the overall message. 

The writing process is a universal process that I feel allows you to produce the best writing that you have the ability to compose. It is very useful outside of English class, and even outside of school. Writing papers is something that has become a regular occurrence in my life and this process is something I have been using for every single one. I have already used the writing process outside of English class. I have used it in my UNI class, criminology class, and my political science class for my major. When I use the writing process, I create a rough draft, revise, have someone else look over it, and then create my final copy. 

I think the hardest assignment for me was the rhetorical analysis. It took me a while to understand what exactly we were supposed to write about and I had trouble putting a focus on my article and figuring out how to formulate each paragraph and it was also kind of confusing in regards to the thesis and what I was supposed to write for that. I feel like my writing has improved a little in that I know how to tie my paragraphs together easier and also learned how to shorten my lengthy sentences a little bit and just overall the structure of my writing and to make sure each paragraph has a main point. 

It is important to evaluate sources because you need to make sure the sources you are using are credible. You also want to look at who they are written by and when the time period is so it can be revenant to what’s going on during the world at this time if that pertains to your specific essay or reading. One thing I was reminded of was that you also have to check who published the source as well to make sure its a scholarly source and not just some random site or some random person claiming to know all this information when in reality they do not. This may change the way I read an article in the fact that I am going to pay closer attention to the sources listed and the evidence that’s listed in the article and then make sure to research my sources and fact check them to see if my article is going to be reliable and on the web it will make me more aware that I can use media bias to check some of my sources to see if they are legit and help me to be more aware of the endings of the website listed like to make sure it says .gov or .edu or something scholarly rather then a random one like .com or something like that. 

Technology isn’t the cause of our addictions, it’s ourselves. It’s the 21st century addiction, not cigarettes. I agree with the argument in my original article and chose to expand on it in my infographic. They say that the more you sit in front of a screen, the more your brain feels the need to have it. You also become socially isolated, leaving technology to be the only form of interaction you get, with people through a screen. I further expand on my argument in my infographic through facts like what percent of teens would admit to having an addiction and the mental affects it has on people. To further the information given in the original article in my infographic, I provided ways you can rid your addictions .

Potential Counterarguments: That in some places like the desert, they might not be close to any body of water so would it take longer for them to have access to these resources and is that fair to them just because of where they live. 

I found this image on the article I did my rhetorical analysis on: “It’s Hard to Be Hungry on Spring Break”. The audience of this article was the universities and people involved in universities. The author wanted to connect with them and make them think about how some students really struggle when dining halls close for breaks. This image depicts a student with an empty tray trying to get in the dining hall there is a gate around it. This is definitely using the rhetorical appeal pathos. It wants to make the reader feel the helplessness the student is feeling when they can’t get access to food. This image uses contrast in the way it uses light and the colors (particularly the student’s bright red pants against the plain colored setting). There is a visible barrier that both blocks the student from the dining hall and separates the image into two sections. One one side we have the student and light and on the other side we have the dining hall and darkness. This image portrays beautifully how hard it is to be without food when you are a student at a university that promised to keep you fed. It brings the reader into the situation more because they have a visual representation of the problem. 

In my article, the author uses a lot of descriptive words to introduce the quotes. This is one of the main ways he uses pathos in this article. He explains how the quote was said in regards to feelings and facial expressions which made the article feel a lot more personal. I really liked that he did this because it is one thing to read the quote but it is another to know the feeling behind the quote. It is more relatable. I don’t think I will be able to use this technique in my paper unless I’m quoting how the author wrote the introduction in the article. I can use other words besides “write” or “said” though that are more descriptive. 

I personally think that peer editing can be more helpful than help from your instructor if it is taken seriously. I feel that your peers tend to be more open and honest about what needs to be changed or taken away while an instructor may try to sugar coat it. The most helpful advice that I get is when people tell me if something does or does not make sense. Although it may make sense to me, do you believe that the reader will think it makes sense? I think the least helpful advice is advice on spelling and grammar because the computer does that for you, it is a waste of time on the editors part.