Throughout the course ENC 2135, I expanded my knowledge on writing effective,

persuasive essays, learned how to persuade an audience through the use of multiple genres, and

communicated with peers over essays and discussions. I got better at analyzing articles, essays,

and photos. I also learned how to form proposals which are important in the field I am attempting

to go into. Throughout this class, I often had to go back and revise before turning work in. This

prepared me for the future where I will always need to go back and edit my papers before I title

them as “complete.” I was exposed to many different genres in ENC 2135 that I will remember

when working with writing from here on out. The main idea I will take from ENC 2135 would

be to go over every set of instructions before an assignment and continue to check back on the

directions whilst working and finally reread all of the instructions again before turning in an

assignment to make sure nothing was left out.

The final project of this class, the portfolio, encompasses three works that I would label

as important during this course and any future courses I will take. My first choice was to revise

our Investigative Field Essay because the topic I wrote on is something that is an issue today and

important to me. Living a few blocks away from downtown, there are days you step outside and

can tell the air quality is not too great. I believe this issue can and should be fixed before it gets

out of hand. Including this in my portfolio allowed me to go back to a paper written a while ago

and use my knowledge I had gained after the submission to revise it. The second choice I made

was to revise my Thinking Visually assignment. Looking back at this assignment allowed me to

analyze how photos placed in articles can alter an audience's point of view and also provide more

emotion and information on the matter. Photographs are often used in articles which come up a

plethora of times in one's life, so being able to revise this assignment seemed important for my

future. The third and final choice I made for this project was to revise and go over my Discussion
Board Brainstorm. When coming back to this assignment, I realized I did not value my peers'

feedback as much as I should have. Revising it allowed me to dive deeper into why they chose

the audiences they did and the best ways to reach them.

When moving on from the course, I plan to take many writing strategies with me to help

with future essays, reports, and proposals. Creating an outline that is in depth but less than a draft

is something I plan to do with every writing assignment that comes up. When making an outline

I am able to get my thoughts all together and in order so I don’t start my draft with no real

direction. Another strategy that proved to help my writing is peer reviews. Peer reviews allowed

me to get a different perspective on my papers with feedback so I knew what didn’t make sense

and what was useful to an outside eye. Knowing my audience is vital when composing an essay

especially if it is persuasive. In any future courses or jobs I have I will take my audience into

consideration before even starting my work. Knowing who my essay or proposal targets will

allow me to hit every point needed and explain enough but not over explain a topic.