Ahhmandah's Blog

Before starting the English 111 course, I did not have any knowledge of rhetoric. I remember the very first assignment was to read about it and I thought I would end up hating this class. After a few weeks, I began to understand the concept of ethos, pathos, and logos and could soon identify where each had been used and the reasoning.

Looking back at my first Inquiry, it is clear that I was still learning how to use the many different aspects of rhetoric in my own work. In the paper, I was constantly using sentences in terms of “I“ or “me” when it was not appropriate. My conclusion for this Inquiry states, “So, as you can see advancements in our technology have many pros for us, but only if you use it responsibly and at a minimum,” and only this. If I were to go back and revise this paper now, I would be sure to add more supporting details to the conclusion so the paper would end in a better way. When I look back and try to figure out how to add more rhetoric to this paper, even now it seems like a difficult topic to do so with. The only thing that I see that could really be added is showing how technology affects particular groups specifically.

The paper that I feel shows my improvement in the use of rhetoric the most is the second Inquiry. We were to choose an ad, commercial, or song and describe each aspect of rhetoric that was used from the ethos, to the pathos, to the logos. My choice was the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BCSPCA) commercial about animal cruelty that featured Sarah McLachlan. In this Inquiry, I began by stating the different statistics mentioned in the commercial, which was the logos. Logos had a very small role in the commercial, but was still present. I then went on to state McLachlan’s credentials, which counted as the ethos. Finally, the pathos referred to all of the pictures, the music selection, and even McLachlan asking the viewers to “be an angel” for one of the animals.

Another part of this course that helped me understand rhetoric was the fourth Inquiry where we were instructed to take the third Inquiry and turn it into a Power Point presentation or a Public Service Announcement. By creating a Public Service Announcement, I was able to see every little aspect that must be considered in order to have effective rhetoric.

Overall, I feel that the English 111 course has helped me tremendously by improving my writing skills. These skills are very important to have in college and I will carry them throughout the rest of my college career.