During this course, I learned about language differences, rhetorical analysis, using rhetorical strategies in my own writing, how to research and find sources, and many more. The skills I learned throughout the course have significantly benefitted my writing and analyzing skills. The course also allowed me to accept language differences in writing and learn that it is not always required for writings to be in proper English.

Beginning the semester, in the first phase, we discussed language differences and how people’s language differences affect them. This phase allowed me to achieve the first learning outcome of the course, which was “Examine how attitudes towards linguistic standards empower and oppress language users.” We read texts such as “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, which expressed how the author spoke many different types of Englishes with different people around her, and how her mother was treated poorly because English was not her first language. We read “Nobody Mean More to Me Than You And the Future Life of Willie Jordan” by June Jordan, which spoke up against racism and discrimination and advocated for the rights of Black English to be accepted as a real dialect. We also watched “Why I keep speaking up, even when people mock my accent” by Safwat Saleem where he expressed how he was insecure about his accent and others mocking him then how he overcame his anxiety and continued to do what he loved. I also wrote a WLLN which expressed my own experiences with language and literacy and how they impacted me, which was by learning a second language, Arabic at a young age through hearing family and friends speak it and watching TV shows. “There are many ways to learn new languages. For me, it was by hearing other people speak both my first and second languages” (Mohamed).

Phase 2 was focused on rhetorical analysis and allowed me to achieve the following 3 course learning outcomes: 1. Explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations. 2. Develop strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing. 3. Recognize and practice key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations. I achieved the first outcome because we read texts and filled out analysis handouts, and the second and third outcomes because I used the analysis techniques to improve texts and include more strategies in my own writing.  We talked about the 3 main types of rhetorical strategies: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos, which each appeal to a reader’s specific type of emotion. An example of my use of Ethos and Pathos is the meme below where I used emotion and humor to appeal to my audience, and an example of achieving my learning outcome of use of Logos in the course is in my researched essay where I used many citations, facts, and statistics to appeal to reason.

During this phase, I developed skills on how to strategically analyze strategies used by authors in texts that we read and analyze how authors used these strategies in their texts/speeches and what they try to achieve by using these strategies. Learning to analyze these strategies also taught me how to use them in my own writings to appeal to an audience and portray a certain message that I am trying to portray in my writings.

Phase 3 was the researched essay, and this phase allowed me to compile all of the skills and techniques that I learned in the previous phases into creating my own paper that made use of the strategies that I learned. During the beginning of the phase, I learned about how to find credible sources through either the CCNY library or online and how to use techniques when searching on your browser and via the library to filter out sources that are most relevant to the topic that I am trying to research. I also learned how to synthesize sources, which is to compare multiple sources and analyze how they either support, extend, complicate, or challenge each other. Using the techniques of searching for sources and synthesizing between sources along with previous rhetorical strategies that I previously learned significantly helped me write my research paper in a way that portrayed the message of my persuasive essay in a strategic way that was tailored to my intended audience. I also made use of citations in my essay. During this phase, I achieved the following 4 learning outcomes: 1. Understand and use print and digital technologies to address a range of audiences, since I used digital technologies in my research essay. I found articles such as “Effect of ethanol–gasoline blend on NOx emission in SI engine by Conte et al and “Source: Performance and emission assessment of diesel–biodiesel–ethanol/bioethanol blend as a fuel in diesel engines” by Shahir et al which supported me in my research as I was able to use them to gain insight on my research topic. I needed to filter these sources by reviewing the conclusions made by the research articles were accurate and aligned with what I was seeing in my own research and that they made sense and that the authors of the articles themselves are credible.

 2. Locate research sources (including academic journal articles, magazine and newspaper articles) in the library’s databases or archives and on the Internet and evaluate them for credibility, accuracy, timeliness, and bias, since I used sources from the library and internet in my essay. 3. Compose texts that integrate a stance with appropriate sources, using strategies such as summary, analysis, synthesis, and argumentation and 4. Practice systematic application of citation conventions, since I composed my research essay with all of these components. Overall, the research essay allowed me to achieve all of these outcomes since it involved many techniques and strategies that we learned throughout the course.

Peer feedback was also a significant part of this course that allowed me to learn to analyze and constructively criticize others’ works and also receive feedback on my own work from another perspective. Receiving feedback from peers was very helpful in revising my work and making sure it is suitable for others to read.

In conclusion, throughout the course, I gained many skills that have been very valuable in developing my writing skills. I liked that although this is an English course, it was not specifically focused on English entirely, and discussed accent differences in English and also other languages. The course not only developed my English skills, however, also made me more aware of the language-related issues that we discussed and were portrayed in texts such as Mother Tongue and Safwat Saleem’s TED Talk. Feedback given by peers and my professor throughout the course on texts that I wrote was also very critical in the improvement of my skills. 

I achieved all 8 of the intended course learning outcomes throughout the course between phases 1 and 3. Examining linguistic standards in phase 1, reviewing rhetorical strategies, developing the use of revising, editing, drafting, and rhetorical strategies in phase 2,  and sources, stances, and citations in the researched essay in phase 3. Overall, since the beginning of the course, the skills learned were applied to assignments done later throughout the course, which is a great thing about this course.