George Chang

12/6/2022

English 101

Final Reflection

Key terms or concepts: What terms (such as discourse communities, for example) have

you learned in this class, and what do they mean to you?

Throughout my ‘New Genre Analysis’ assignment in this course, I have learnt multiple terms

that have stood out to me such as discourse community, genre, and sermon.

Discourse community: The discourse community consists of people who speak the same

language, share the same values, and have similar beliefs. The members of a discourse

community use language as a tool to express their ideas, beliefs, and values to one another.

Genre: A genre is a writing or speaking style used to communicate a specific message.

Genres have distinct structures, designs, contents, and language features that make them

effective for communication within the discourse community.

Sermon: A sermon is a genre used within the religious discourse community to communicate

a message and create a sense of community among its members. Sermons have a certain

structure, design, content, and language features that are essential to the success of this genre

within the religious discourse community.

Readings: What things have we read that stick out to you? Why do they stick out?

What knowledge have you retained from these readings?

One of the key concepts that stand out to me from my readings on the genre of sermons is the

importance of structure, design, content, and language features. These features are essential to

the success of this genre within the religious discourse community, as they provide a platform

for the speaker to communicate their message and create a sense of community among the
members. From my readings, I have retained the understanding that structure, design,

content, and language are all essential components of an effective sermon and that these

components must be tailored to the audience and the overall message of the sermon to be

successful.

In-class or online activities: What in-class or online activities have we done in which you

think you learned something?

One of the in-class or online activities that I think I learned something from was analyzing

examples of sermons. During this activity, I was able to analyze the structure, design,

content, and language features of sermons and how they are used to communicate a message

and create a sense of community within the religious discourse community. I learned about

the genre of sermons and the importance of structure, design, content, and language features

for effectively communicating a message through this activity.

In my opinion, practicing persuasive writing and watching/analyzing the film “thank you for

smoking” was a great way to significantly improve my writing skills and how to perceive

persuasive contexts. Understanding the context clearly helps me to be able to pick up on the

techniques that were used in a context which allows me to improve my writing skills in the

future. Carrying these sets of skills of “argument” and “negotiation” around can benefit me in

many ways, for example, as a business major I am able to use this writing skill to somewhat

persuade the target audience in the market.

Writing Process: Describe your writing process. What can you say about this? What

works and what doesn’t? What technologies do you use and why?

My writing process for the genre of sermons typically involves researching and analyzing

examples of sermons to understand the structure, design, content, and language features that
make them successful. I then use this research to outline the main points and arguments I

want to make in my sermon. I use technology such as text editing and presentation software

to create visuals and structure my sermon in an organized and visually-appealing way. I find

this process to be effective in creating engaging and meaningful sermons that resonate with

the audience and further the message of my religious group.

Major Assignment: Reflect on your major assignments (Literacy Narrative, Rhetorical

Analysis, & New Genre Analysis). What did you write about and why? What did you

learn from writing it?

For my New Genre Analysis assignment, I wrote about the genre of sermons and how it is

used within the religious discourse community. Through this assignment, I learned about the

structure, design, content, and language features of sermons and how they are essential to the

success of this genre within the religious discourse community. I also learned how the genre

encourages a certain way of thinking within the discourse community and helps to create a

sense of unity and solidarity among the members. Writing this assignment has given me a

better understanding of the genre of sermons and how it is used to communicate a message

and create a sense of community.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned throughout this course is rhetorical analysis. This

project that we did was a very effective writing practice that enhanced my ability to analyze

the text thoroughly. I was able to identify the 3 persuasive appeals, pathos, ethos, and logos

more accurately which helped me clarify my understanding of the purpose of the context.

Self-Assessment: Assess your work in this class. What have you done well and what can

you improve on in the future?

Throughout this course, I was able to learn what interests me the most which is persuasive

writing. In the beginning of the topic, I was extremely curious about how the author used

effective techniques to maintain the reader’s attention. I believe that I have taken as much

knowledge towards persuasive writing as I can. A general mistake that I often make is how I

structure my essay. I would often struggle to separate paragraphs clearly and effectively

(especially in the literacy narrative assignment) which often times may confuse the reader.

In addition, I believe I have done a good job researching and analyzing the genre of sermons

for my New Genre Analysis assignment. I understood the structure, design, content, and

language features of sermons and how they are essential to the success of this genre within

the religious discourse community. In the future, I would like to improve my understanding

of how the genre encourages a certain way of thinking within the discourse community and

helps to create a sense of unity and solidarity among the members.