My Response to the Curious Writer Reading

I really identified well with this reading because I was a debater in high school and already know something about crafting an argument and defending it. However, I also felt that I learned some new things from this reading.

One of the most interesting sections of the reading to me was the part about logical fallacies. I saw that as particularly applicable going into the first draft of my argument essay, because it caused me to think about how I will need to construct my paper in order to avoid them. Also, it helped me group the basic arguments I will be making and see where my additional research should lead me and where I need to find additional evidence.

Another part of the reading that I felt particularly applied to my own writing was the passage about writing for different types of audiences. It was instructive for me to consider the kind of audience I will be writing to and to think about the types of sources and writing styles that will help me to reach that target audience. I thought the parallel to advertising was especially good and helped me think about “advertising” to my target audience instead of just writing for the sake of writing.

I also connected with the section about revision--I have always approached revision as kind of a “clean-up” the way the students in the cited survey did, and it was new for me to think about revision as “re-seeing” the essay and actually re-forming thoughts and ideas to reflect growth. I see that as fitting for this class, given the fact that we will be turning in a final portfolio at the end of the semester with revised copies of each unit project. Now that I’m considering revision in a more desirable light, I’ll be prepared to hand in something that’s genuinely improved over the first draft, and not just a “cleaned up” copy of the original.