Caroline Twitchell

English 1010

Susan Baldwin

12/9/21

To whom it may concern,

This class has elevated my writing ability through many of the learned threshold

concepts. The two I will focus on in this letter are concepts one and two. Concept one teaches

that language and writing is a medium for individuals and communities to create, inspire, and

become something other than they are. Concept two says that rhetoric is the method of studying

how language impacts us.

These concepts have been prevalent in our class projects. I have seen concept one present

in our flash narrative final. I chose to write a story based on a real experience where I was able to

help a dear friend overcome an addiction. I wrote the story so the reader may feel inspired and

empowered to face their challenges and overcome them. It has inspired me to always remember

to seek good support and be brave in facing my struggles. The second concept was obvious in the

rhetorical analysis as I analyzed a text, looking for how the author was trying to influence how I

felt as the reader. I learned to discern his appeal to logos, ethos, pathos, and kairos and described

how it impacted me as the reader.

These concepts of observing how language manipulates the reader has proven to be a

habit used daily. In listening to the news or political podcasts I’ve made an extra effort to observe

how they use language to influence the listener and what thoughts they inspire about their

opposing parties. I have intentionally tried to find when the speaker is using pathos or ethos to
inspire emotional responses or when they are appealing to logos to make their argument valid. It

has been a great learning experience to see how others choose to use language, and it has made

me more aware of how I use my language.