At the beginning of this year I was junior who had not finished their English requirements. As I sat in class on the first day and we did introductions I was a little embarrassed to hear that I was the only non freshman.  That was in part why I was a little afraid to talk in class or participate in discussions. But as the year progressed I started to talk more and more as the other students in the class started to talk to me. Eventually I became friends with some of them, but unfortunately I also still do not know some of the others names. Hopefully you (Ms. Villegas) have seen how I had progressed throughout the year from not talking and participating, to being a more involved student in the classroom. I was a little sad to see the class end, just when I was starting to enjoy participating in class.

As for the academic part of this class, I have learned a lot as it pertains to English.  I am a predominantly scientific person who does not enjoy writing or reading. I went into this class hoping to get a “C” or at best a “B”. But after the first two papers I wrote I ended up getting an “A”, then another, and another. I got “A” s on all my papers except for one (it was my fault because I did not turn in a rough draft) so I actually feel it is a possibility that I could actually get an “A” for the class. For me this possibility is completely unheard of. Because of this reason I feel I have taken a lot more from this class than I have from previous experiences in other English classes.

I have learned a lot from this class such as, everything is a text, and how to form a effective argument through the use of ethos, pathos, and logos. Since we explored the topics of how to form an effective argument, I find myself examining all sorts of arguments to see if they effectively used the rhetorical appeals.  I have even started evaluating television shows and movies to see if they use the rhetorical appeals in getting their message across.

If I were to give students advice who were in the same similar situation as me, I would advise them of a couple of things. The first thing I would tell them is not to wait to write a paper the night before it was due. All the editing and peer reviews before the final is due are quite helpful. Take into consideration what other readers have to say, since outside eyes tend to catch what you would miss. Another helpful hint I would give is to not take the preliminary work lightly, it could be the difference between an “A” and a “C”. The last and most important thing I feel a student should learn is to make friends and participate. The class is much more enjoyable when you have someone to talk to. Also it helps when it comes time to edit a paper if you can email someone in the class who will edit it for you and help you improve your paper.

Overall I really enjoyed this class, much more than other English classes I have taken in the past. I felt this class really gave me more confidence in my writing while teaching me more about college level writing. I would definitely recommend this class to others ( even though it is a requirement to take) because of the important information that every college student should learn in order to improve their writing.

The image depicts an ash tray in the form of human lungs, so that the user can clearly see what the tar from the cigarette is doing to them. The argument that the image is trying to send, is that smoking is bad and causes cancer of the lungs so they should stop smoking immediately. The intended audience of this image is anyone who smokes or knows someone who smokes. The kind of rhetorical appeals that they use to argue their point of view is mainly pathos and ethos. The ethos I feel is the writing on the ash tray which depicts that this item is backed by a credited organization that has done its research on the topic.  The pathos is the visual shock value the picture has from showing the smoker what is actually happening to them each time they smoke a cigarette. The picture is very effective in that it clearly shows that smoking is bad and gives the visual of what is happening to that person at that very moment they are smoking.  I do not feel that picture failed in anyway since it established two very important points, credibility and message. I feel this shows how society has reached a point where talking about how smoking is bad, is no longer enough. Its time to show these smoker what that cigarette is doing to them right there and then.

On the Show “30 Days”, the main character Morgan Spurlock decides to go 30 days living on minimum wage. The purpose of this is to show the television audience, mainly people around the age 18 to the age of 30, about how the majority of the nations residents live. The argument that the show is trying to make is that people who work and live on minimum wage are almost incapable of being able to live on that much money.  The rhetorical appeals that he uses to argue his point are mainly pathos and logos, with a little bit of ethos. The ethos that he uses is I feel when he explains the whole concept of the show. I feel this is ethos because he is actually going through what he is explaining so he has a personal experience with every topic he talks about. As for the logos, he uses a lot of facts and statistics such as the stat about the poverty levels, and the laws that are in place concerning minimum wage. The appeal the show uses the most is pathos. Pathos is apparent in almost all aspects of show, since the show is about connect with the silent majority of the country. Also the strong emotional scences where the people have stress related breakdowns use pathos so that the viewer can feel emotionally connected with them. In the end I feel that the argument was effective, in that they showed the viewers what it is really like to try and live on minimum wage and how it is almost impossible to do so without difficulties.