Jacob Shuford

Final Reflection
I feel like, when I came into this class, I was a decent writer. Not great, but decent
enough. This class has taught me a lot about writing, and I am very grateful to have been able to
take it. In some ways, this was one of the easiest classes that I have ever taken, but on the other
hand, it was a little difficult.
In general, I had never really written anything in English classes other than English
related things, so having to write things with a focus on just my major was a new experience for
me. Overall, it was likely a very good experience for me, as Im going to have to write within
my field in the future.
When I think about it, there isnt any single project that I have done this semester that has
really required more critical thinking than the others. In general, the projects were pretty
engaging and thought provoking. In all honesty, I had never had to write formal papers on nonEnglish related topics before, so these projects certainly required a different approach than in
past English classes. Each of these projects has required a significant amount of research, but
again, it was different than previous English classes that I have taken. This was all very pointed
research, and it required reading a lot of background information that I wouldnt necessarily have
needed were I writing about another topic. The rhetorical device that I saw most often was the
usage of logos, which, being logic-based, is extremely common in science. Ethos was also used
quite often, as the authors would always try to establish their credibility, an important thing in
science. Other than those uses, though, it was hard to find many interesting rhetorical choices in
articles just due to the fact that they were purely informative.
Nonetheless, I did my best to use some rhetorical techniques in my writing, but it did
prove difficult every now and again. Logos, ethos, and pathos are all pretty easy to use, but it is
difficult sometimes, especially when its not an emotionally charged topic, to use pathos. The
other bit of information that I used quite a bit was to change my writing style based on who I am
writing for. My multi-modal ethnography had a completely different style of writing than, say,
my rhetorical analysis.
Over the course of this year, I would say that my writing has changed, but not by some
huge amount. The changes have been small, but fairly numerous, leading me to become a better
writer overall. When I used to write papers, I didnt really think about rhetorical strategies much,
mainly as I didnt really know much about them. That has changed now, though. Now, I think
about what strategies a piece can use beforehand, and it makes the writing process even easier
now. Also, my works now are a bit better structured, I believe, and I am more confident about
writing. This is a good thing, as I used to hate writing, and was fairly bad at it a few years ago.
This class has helped me get even better than I was, and that is something that pleases me
greatly.
My writing process is now a lot different than it used to be, as well. In almost every class
that I had taken before now, the first draft needed to be an absolutely complete draft, and
honestly, my final draft was never very different from my first one. Now, though, my first draft
is more of an outline, really. Its just some ideas on paper. Honestly, its a lot easier to get

Jacob Shuford

started on a paper, if only because I dont really have to write it all at once anymore. Being able
to use a skeleton-like first draft allows me to now build up ideas quickly and efficiently, and that
makes my job a lot easier. Whipping up a first draft is extremely easy thing to do now, and I
enjoy the trepidation that I used to have.
Writing is pretty important to biology, and I learned even more about that whilst writing
for this class. Whenever any scientist discovers something new, they must record it and write
about it in a format so that others can easily understand what they have discovered. The typical
sort of writing done by anyone in the biological community isnt very fancy, though, as it is
mostly just to inform others of a discovery. No rhetorical concepts are really used in a lab report,
anyway. Its just pure information and observation. Nevertheless, it is important for the writing
to exist in the first place, as it is necessary so that others can replicate experiments to verify their
results.
Reports on labwork arent too bad to write, but there is a lot of pressure on students
writing them. In the higher level biology courses as well as in a research lab, a large amount of
emphasis is placed on accuracy and quality of work. If anything, these reports will be an issue
due to how much is in them and the pace at which they are to be written.
The rhetorical analysis didnt really teach me too much, as I have written them before.
Of course, the idea of a rhetorical comparison was a bit new to me. By looking at how two
different authors writing in two different genres wrote, I was able to appreciate the scope of
writing in biology, which I had never really thought of before.
My composing in the mini-ethnography was way less formal than I was used to writing,
as my website is intended to be for the average person. As such, I attempted to keep it simple
and personable so that it would be easily accessible. Of course, I may have made it too simple,
but the intent was merely to give really base-level information.
Research-based argumentative papers hold a special place in my heart, as I love to argue.
Im not a fan of heated arguments, but I do like calm debates with facts. Research based
argumentation is a very important concept, I feel, as it allows individuals to voice their opinions
in an academic space, as well as use facts to support it. Without argumentation, not as many
topics would be debated or settled today, cementing its importance.
In all, I think that this class has been very good for me, and I am very glad to have taken
it. In all honesty, I wasnt sure how I was going to feel about it at first, since English wasnt
really my cup of tea. Luckily, it was great, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.