I've really enjoyed this gateway course, because it has allowed me to explore both my writing and myself as a writer. In regards to my writing, the emphasis on revision in this class has helped me understand that nothing will ever be a "final draft". Revision was very interactive and conversation-based, instead of the usual fill-out-feedback-worksheet-that-will-probably-never-be-looked-at-again method. The minor in writing blog also helped me feel closer to both my immediate classmates and the other minor in writing students in past cohorts. With more engaged feedback and collaboartion, I felt as if I could better evaluate and reflect on my writing through this course.
In regards to myself as a writer, I really enjoyed that the first project for this class involved answering the "Why do you write?" question. In other classes I've taken involve writing, a focus is played on the content of my writing. In contrast, this project involved a focus on the writer of content instead, and allowed me to take a step back from my content and analyze myself as a writer. The second and third projects for this course involved manipulating an argument by repurposing and remediating. By changing elements of the rhetorical situation, I explored how elements of my writing change.
In my repurposing project, I restructured my argument and presented it to a different audience. In my remediation project, I re-presented an argument through a different medium. By presenting a similar message and tinkering with rhetorical elements, it was easy to see how those rhetorical elements affect my decision-making. For example, it was interesting to see how my word-choice and argumentation changes when I shifted from an argumentative essay to a satirical video in my remediation project. To see these changes, click on the "Remediating an Argument" button below. Also, please explore my other two projects which are linked below: