How I Have Grown as a Reader, Writer, and Critical Thinker

How I Have Grown as a Reader, Writer, and Critical Thinker

Introduction

While growing up, I used to hate reading, I wasn’t a big fun, and my parents used to force me into reading. My parents promised me something if I read to them. As I entered my teenage, I began to read more. In high school, I started reading more books and writing a lot. But the writings neither follow any structured format nor did the subjects critically choose. As I joined the campus, my journey as a reader, writer, and critical thinker escalated, particularly over this semester. I believe throughout the semester, my growth as a reader, critical thinker, and writer has grown tremendously. Immense growth is evident through the construction of my essays, critical thinking, improvement in the habits of minds such as managing impulsivity, and thinking flexibility. Moreover, my growth as a reader, critical thinker and writer has been immense throughout the semester, as shown in growth in processes such as writing and improving essays, utilization of rhetoric devices, and improvement in the knowledge of conventions such as understanding various writing formats. To effectively illustrate my growth, the paper presents the growth in four different dimensions, including the growth in processes, rhetorical knowledge, knowledge of conventions, and habits of minds.

1. My Growth In Processes

Processes refer to the collection of closely related work tasks or actions done in response to a particular event of the project to achieve specific events at the end. The bullet point I’m focusing on is the essay writing and improving the essay writing.  Over the semester, I have learned several things, including how to composite and locate better research via the use of several resources found in scholarly articles, the university library, and the textbooks. I also learned how to cite research articles, quotations, examples properly within the research article, and documenting it following the MLA standards. I have learned how to write and improve the essays. Through reading the Subjects and Strategies textbooks, I leaned about nine various methods of writing an essay, and the way the different writing styles affect the overall tone and theme of the article when appropriately utilized.

Essay writings were a little bit tricky to me since I was supposed to comprehend what I needed to write about as well as the style to write in. Through the course in the semester, I learned nine different methods of writing an essay including, argument, definition, classification/ division, process, narration, proposal, cause and effect, compare/contrast, and exemplification.  I experienced challenges while trying to find the appropriate subject matter to write about for the essay assignments given to me by the instructor. The moment I got the subject matter or the topic of the essay, everything became a little bit easier.  First, I produced a rough draft that the instructor and some classmates would go through comment if my writing is in my best form. Although most of the rough drafts needed improvement, my final drafts were satisfying to me as they gave me good grades.

1. Rhetorical Knowledge

Rhetorical knowledge refers to the ability to act and analyze the comprehending audiences, contexts, and purposes in developing and understanding texts. Through rhetoric knowledge, a writer can adapt to various contexts, audiences, and purposes. Rhetoric knowledge comprises the utilization of rhetoric devices. I have grown in ethical knowledge throughout the semester as evidence through the use of rhetoric devices.  The bullet point to represent the rhetorical knowledge is the logos and ethos advertisement task.  Rhetorical knowledge enables individuals to understand the audience they are writing for them.

I believe with the logos and ethos ad task; I showcased the rhetorical knowledge. The rhetoric devices are a means of persuading the audience.  To convince an individual prior knowledge of what he/she knows is necessary to enable you to expound on other features or things that will attract the individuals. While selecting images representing logos and ethos, it is critical to ensure that they appeal to all audiences. For example in representing ethos, I selected an image that showcased a physician promoting a certain brand of drug. The choice of such an image was informed by the audience the ad targetted.  In this case, it appeals to individuals who seek to purchase an earplug but not yet decided on the brand to buy. Incorporating the physician on the image and ad adds its credibility. Choosing a physician plays a key role as the individuals are likely to purchase or listen to products related to the medicine prescribed by the physician. If, for instance, a non-physician like a football player promoted the ad, it would have minimal impact.

Before this semester, I came across the rhetorical knowledge, but I was not capable of analyzing them. Through the assignment, I was capable of analyzing images in terms of logos and ethos. Through this, I was capable of analyzing scholarly articles and peer-reviewed journals for their authenticity. Learning and establishing ethos enables an individual to learn his or her targeted audience. With established rhetorical knowledge, the audience can support the action an individual does or what can say — knowing what the audience already knows to persuade them via rhetorical devices such as ethos. I firmly believe it’s very critical to understand the audience one is dealing with or writing to since the future references roots on  the central purpose the researcher needs the audience to learn.

1. Knowledge of Conventions

In academic writing, knowledge of conventions refers to guidelines supporting the way of referencing and citing the supporting evidence. The guidelines ascertain the audience and readers of your work are capable of finding and evaluating the sources of your research evidence. I believe throughout the semester, my knowledge of conventions has immensely grown. The bullet point to showcase such growth is the formatting. Over the semester, I have learned various kinds of formatting styles every writing requires. Before the course, I used to take all writing for granted since I never knew their full purpose. I did not consider any form of formatting before. In the semester, I did a couple of assignments that required specific formatting styles, such as MLA. I did receive instructional assistance from the instructor on MLA citation and referencing.  The instructions enabled me to create a logical and coherent research paper. On class presentation, I learned to format the paper in PowerPoint form to summarize critical attributes and research findings. I learned to utilize speaker notes and footnotes for additional quotes and information. Through the knowledge of conventions, I’m capable of understanding different formats of writing, which is very crucial for me in undertaking my future research. Clear formatting styles, quotes, and information from other authors are cited, enabling me to avoid plagiarism and maintaining education with integrity.

1. Habits of Minds

The habit of mind refers to the ability to behaving or reasoning in a rational manner when confronted with challenges or problems and providing solutions that are not known immediately. Employing the sixteen habits of minds enables an individual to come up with superior, quality, and more significant results. I believe throughout the semester, I have experienced immense growth in the habits of the mind. Before the semester, I was not capable of dealing with distractions and transferring what I learned in one context to the other. The bullet point to showcase this growth is thinking flexibility and managing impulsiveness.

The course in the semester enabled me to manage my impulses through challenging negative thoughts and taking action. For instance, while I was editing the recommendations my instructor gave me for the improvement of rough drafts, I ended up spending one hour browsing Facebook. Before the course, I thought sitting for two hours was unbearable and had to browse. But after learning, I began breaking down my editing tasks for thirty minutes and then five minutes break. I believe this concept has enabled me to grow since, during the writing and improving my essays; I avoided distractions in my break by planning short relaxing activities and setting alarms. In the future, such experience will enable me to remain motivated and diligent while undertaking the tasks.

Conclusion

The paper sought to document my growth as a reader, critical thinker, and writer throughout the semester.  I firmly believe that I have grown as a writer, reader, and critical thinker over the last semester, as evidenced by improved knowledge of conventions such as formatting, habits of minds such as managing impulses and thinking flexibility. I have been able to learn how to write and improve different academic research papers, analyze rhetorical devices, and improve in general processes. Thus, the semester has been of great benefit to me as far as my growth as a reader, writer, and critical thinker is concerned.