Taking Stock In Your Writing - Paper 2

Leah Nieman

English 101 – 5:30

Sonia Begert

11/4/2015

Taking Stock in Your Writing: Paper #2

1.        How did you go about analyzing the text? What methods did you use—and which ones were most helpful?

I analyzed my paper rhetorically. The methods I used were to: have a questions about the ads I was analyzing, figure out the claim each ad was making, support evidence to confirm the claim of the ad, choose two different ads that provided counter-arguments, point out how the ads are proving their points and the visuals they used to attract the audience, give quotes to prove the message the author was trying to prove, and how the ads appealed to the readers emotions. After going through all these methods, the ones I found that really helped me with my paper would be to have questions, use visuals to describe authors point, and how each ad appealed to the audience. Those three methods helped me provide enough information for my analysis.

2.       How did you go about drafting your essay?

I drafted my essay according to the English textbook, “Everyone’s an Author”. I first wrote out my thesis, found evidence for my paper, wrote down my sources, and drafted an opening and conclusion. After doing this I was able to start my paper with a plan in mind and where I would be going with it.

3.       How well did you organize your written analysis? What, if anything, could you do to make it easier to read?

I tried to organize it well. I included transitions and I feel like everything flowed. I think if I would redo something to make it easier to read it would be to summarize the first ad more.

4.       Did you provide sufficient evidence to support your analysis?

I think I did. My two sources came from the sites behind the ads that I looked up on Google Images. Also, some information I gave (Example: Smoking used to be associated with high class) came from my grandparents and their stories and also I saw this to be true through old television shows.

5.       What did you do especially well?

I don’t really know exactly what I did “especially well”. I guess the part of the paper I’m proud of would be where I describe the second ad, where the man is inserting cigarettes into a gun as if they were bullets. I feel like that area was written well and easy to understand.

6.       What could still be improved?

I think my conclusion. I tried to answer my questions that were in the beginning of my paper through my conclusion, but I think I could’ve been more clear.

7.       Did you use any visuals, and if so, what did they add? Could you have shown the same thing with words?

The visuals I used were the advertisements I was analyzing, if those count. I did write the paper though to be sufficient enough to be without the ad visuals. I feel that my description is very detailed and easy to follow and picture.

8.       How did other readers' responses influence your writing?

I got some great feedback. Their responses especially influenced my original title for the paper, showing me that how it conflicted with the rest of the paper.

9.       What would you do differently next time?

The thing I would do differently is pick both my ads from very credible sources. My second ad was from a media designer, not a company or campaign. I feel as though this dampens the impact of the ad slightly.

10.   Are you pleased with your analysis? What did it teach you about the text you analyzed? Did it make you want to study more works by the same writer or artist?

I am pleased with my analysis. I learned much while writing it. For instance, before the analysis I did not know about some events going on in the 1940s, but now I know about how they were learning about cancer, and how that was a period of time where much change was arising. I did peek my interest for that era of time, and I feel like I will be looking more into the 1940s.

11.   What are the transferrable skills you can take from this into other writing situations?

The questions on looking “critically at your rough draft” in “Everyone’s an Author” will absolutely transfer to other future papers of mine, because the questions were excellent.