When I write a paper, I tend to convey my ideas as if I am talking to my audience, whether it is the general public or something more specified like teens. I use to ask myself questions like “why do I need to explain myself more, isn’t what I’m saying enough for my readers?” Writing a paper in college is very different from writing a paper in high school. In high school, I used to complain about writing 1-2 page papers for my classes. Now, I write 3-4, 5-6, or 7-8 page papers that are usually due in about a week or two. This semester when my class and I would do our first draft, we would pair off into groups and review each other’s work. Doing this, made me realize the range in our rhetorical sensibility. One would fully understand how to use the different rhetorical strategies and some didn’t. I was the one who didn’t know how to properly convey the rhetorical strategies in my writing. But when I was reading my peer’s work, I was impressed with how they would use the strategies to their advance. When backing up their resources, my peers used the strategies to help support their claim and it made sense. The strategies made their claim make sense to the people who didn’t have any prior knowledge about their topic. When I would read my sources for my papers, I would download it as a pdf and take notes on the side. I would also reread the articles to make sure I understand the topic. When I draft my papers, I start with the introduction because it allows me to write out all of my ideas and claims for the essay. I would then write the body paragraphs. Sometimes when I am writing the body paragraphs, my ideas would change and I would have to change the whole look on my paper and start over. When I write papers, my goal is to make sure my audience understands what I am trying to express. I was told to write as if my audience has no prior knowledge about the topic. This really helped me write some of my research papers because if I pretend my audience doesn’t know about my topic, I would be specific on how I explain my reasons and or claims. To make my papers engaging I try to use language that is based on my audience. For example, when I write to teenagers, I am not as formal as I would be if I was writing to adults. Writing to me is very important because it demonstrates different opinions and viewpoints on how people see things. It helps humans communicate their problems and solutions. I think that my writing has developed and grown over my first semester in college and I hope it continues to grow throughout my college career.

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