TOW #28: Reflection

            As the year comes to a close, I look back on my TOWs with great accomplishment. Mostly this accomplished feeling is due to the fact that every TOW is in fact, this is there because almost every Sunday I would remember at 9:55, and usually not any earlier, that I had to post to my outstanding blog for AP English. Looking back on my TOWs in depth though, I can identify multiple aspects in which my writing and approaches have progressed. In the beginning, a lot of my analysis was forced and I utilized more examples than actually analyzing what strategies I was finding in the text or visual. As time progressed though, I noticed that I began to analyze the text and pictures more and really begin to focus on the deeper meaning and the message the author truly wanted to convey. Another part of my TOW writing that progressed was the range of rhetorical strategies I noticed and discussed in each post. Back in the earlier days of these posts, I usually geared my writing toward ethos, pathos, logos, and juxtaposition. Towards the end of my TOW posting experience I began to notice and apply a large range of devices. I feel that this progression was the most vital aspect that changed in my writing because it showed how my ability to observe and point out a variety of rhetorical devices in various amounts of texts and then form an effective analysis advanced over the year. I would say I am now able to identify at least one or more rhetorical devices in almost any text or visual put in front of me. Regardless of all the progress I feel that I have accomplished over the course of this year, there are still a few areas in which I still need to build on. I feel that I need to more concisely tie my ideas together and form a more coherent analysis. Also, I can see in my writing that I sometimes rush into the first device or point I see and run with it. The issue with this is that the rhetorical device that is most evident may not always be the best one to use, thinking more in depth about my selection of devices would benefit my writing and create an overall better piece. While although some of my best effort may not have been contributed to my TOWs they were an important piece of this class. The TOWs provided a way for me to constantly remind myself of the rhetorical devices and their effects, and also allowed me to be exposed to a vast majority of texts and therefore be more prepared the day of the exam. Even when I was struggling to finish my blog posts at 9:59, I knew that the repetition of the blog posting was helping to keep my brain working and discovering new ways to approach different texts. For the most part, I feel that the TOWs did benefit my experience because they taught me to keep my eyes open for rhetorical devices, even in the simplest ways.

Goodbye TOWs, it was a great time while it lasted!! (I can't say I'll definitely miss it though...)