Reflective Statement
For me, this course ENC2135 has truly opened my eyes. I imagine many people were curious about how this course would connect to their majors before going through the course, but believe me when I say that it has completely changed how I view my major. I never would have guessed that I would learn so much about my major. It was difficult at first since I was a little lost at the beginning of the course because in school we weren't taught the fundamentals of writing. However, every assignment in this class has been like a step forward, teaching me critical writing skills that I had been lacking, in addition to improving my understanding of finance. I'll now go over how every project improved my understanding of finance and the writing skills I've learned along the way.
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The Investigative Field Essay, the first major project this semester, required us to conduct extensive research in our chosen major, in my case finance. Formulating a research question to serve as the essay's foundation was the first obstacle, that was the hardest part, but as I decided that "Thriving in the World as a Finance Student" would be the main focus of my essay, doing research got a lot easier. The other challenge was sorting through the extensive information on the topic and structuring the essay with all the information given about the Finance world. Despite the difficulties, this project opened the doors to a world that I previously did not know. Before I only had basic knowledge of finance, but this project helped me to fully grasp my major and expand my knowledge.
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This semester, the Rhetorical Analysis of Field Artifacts was the second major project. We had to choose two artifacts for this assignment: a text-based artifact and a non-text-based artifact. I chose the article "Financial Management for Organizational Success: Challenges Before Finance Managers" and the poster "Financial Management Strategies That Influence Construction Project and Company Performance." This project introduced me to the technique of comparing and contrasting artifacts, a technique I had not done before. The main goal was to conduct a rhetorical analysis of both artifacts, with an emphasis on ethos, pathos, and logos. In the poster the author made appeals to logos, supporting the material with facts and statistics. This strategy gave the poster credibility because it added visuals to support the information given. On the other hand, Dr. Kadam's paper established ethos by demonstrating the author's expertise through in-depth investigation and evaluation. Furthermore, referencing reliable sources increased the arguments' credibility. The article's legitimacy was further increased by the use of peer review, a technique used often in writing.
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The third project was the project that stood out more to me, it was the Multigenre Persuasive Campaign and Rhetorical Rationale. The focus of this project was not so much writing, but sending a message through short texts and visuals. This project was on the more creative side since we had to use ethos, pathos, and logos to create a poster, infographic, and photo essay. First, we needed to find an issue and an audience for this issue, I used “Struggles with Budgeting and Saving in Young Adults and Newlyweds”. In the poster, the idea was to create one sentence that captured the attention of the audience, as well as a captivating visual element. Then, in the infographic, the idea was to give information about a topic in my case “Key Factors Contributing to Budget Struggles”. I used short texts, images, and colors to inform my audience and capture my audience’s attention to this particular topic. Lastly, in the photo essay, the idea was to make a realistic story with images and short explanations to teach people what can happen if the issue that is being talked about is not addressed. It was a fun and creative way to use all the techniques we have learned throughout the course.
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In conclusion, I can honestly say that this course has helped me with my writing skills and also, helped me express myself in different ways. I had no idea how much of an influence it would have on my writing and financial knowledge. Each assignment improved my learning, even when confronting some early difficulties, such as formulating research topics and evaluating various sources. My comprehension of finance has improved thanks to the Investigative Field Essay, and my ability to evaluate texts effectively has been enhanced by the Rhetorical Analysis assignment. I was forced to become more creative in communication because of the Multigenre Persuasive Campaign project. This course has been a journey for me and has helped my future career.