Inquiry One: Writer's Reflection

When sitting down trying to begin this paper, I realized I did not know where to start. After accepting the fact that rhetoric is everywhere in out daily lives and everything can be argument, it was intimidating to begin to sift through all these examples and make them into one coherent paper! I chose my topic because it was a clear example to me of a time where I was persuaded, and I felt that I could apply the principals of rhetoric to it.

Not entirely sure where to begin, I started with what was most familiar to me, my narrative about my first encounter with the video. During the revision process when reading over my paper, I remembered a comment about how the end of my paper strayed from the original narrative seen in the beginning. I therefore decided to add the final paragraph so readers could see the conclusion of my experience with the video and its lasting impact on me. I know that as a reader, I would be disappointed if something I had read did not have a conclusion of sorts, so I learned from this and will make it a point to ensure that my narrative stays strong throughout the entire essay. I also learned to pick a few moments from the video to analyze, as it can be easier to stray from a detailed narrative if there isn’t a clear focus.  I tried to explain the impact of the different types of rhetoric the filmmakers used on me, the viewer, and the rest of their audience. By adding examples such as “Watching them in the video showing footage from their trips to effected areas, of their speeches at assemblies, and of some of the children who suffered, portrayed Invisible Children as a trustworthy informant and is a good example of ethos” I hoped to demonstrate what the film was showing to persuade viewers. I wanted to be able to explain why their campaign was so successful in term of rhetoric.

I learned a lot from doing this assignment, and just rhetoric. I learned to really value the process of peer revision and reflection in writing. I was definitely a writer who previously hated peer revision and would write one copy of something and make little to no changes. I am also now more aware of the rhetoric present in my life, and how it can be applied to really anything and everything.