TOW #27: TOW Reflection

Reading goals: identify what I have improved on and what I need to work on in my previous TOWs

Writing goals: refrain from only answering the questions; elaborate on them

     The first TOW of mine that I chose to take a look at was my very first: "Overpopulation is Not the Problem" by Erle C. Ellis. Upon reading this TOW, I noticed that I mentioned rhetorical concepts (ethos, pathos, and logos) instead of actual rhetorical devices. I also typed everything out as if I were fulfilling each TOW requirement like a checklist. When I looked at my TOW from the second marking period, "The Scream" by Edvard Munch, I was glad to see that I wrote about many rhetorical devices in visual texts, like color scheme and imagery, and I focused on expanding ideas on how those devices helped Munch achieve his purpose. My third and most recent TOW, "Castles in the Air" by Emily Nussbaum, was from The New Yorker, which demonstrates my progression through more challenging pieces. This particular piece was kind of tough because I was not sure about the purpose Nussbaum had in writing it. However, when I thought about the intended audience, the purpose came to me easily. My TOWs have progressed in such a way that I stopped worrying about satisfying the requirements and started worrying about writing a better blog post.
     Looking at my more recent TOWs, I think I have mastered identifying rhetorical devices and connecting them to the author's purpose depending on the particular piece I choose to read. In addition to this, I think I've gotten better at making my posts seem more interesting and involved as opposed to the more formulaic way of writing I had in the beginning of the year. I still think I need to work on keeping them concise, because I think I went well over the desired word count a good number of times, and I could always work more on making my own writing effective and achieving my own purpose. Overall, I think I benefitted from writing TOWs because I was able to practice my writing every single week without having to write a full out timed essay. I think I definitely got better at writing and reading because of the skills that I improved by writing TOWs.