Week 1 1/14/16 Prior Experience

Since I received my regents diploma, also known as the high school diploma for New York, I have taken a single writing course. This course offered no college credit, however, it did help understand and prepare me for success within a specific area. The course was in the field of technical writing, and I was afforded the opportunity to write a publication for the U.S. Air Force. However, I have taken a vast amount of ethics and philosophical based courses, so I am familiar with the persuasive and argumentative styles of rhetoric.  In the aspect of technical writing, I learned how to compose technical manuals and instruct users in a professional setting. This writing style was a foreign concept before spending countless days and hours perfecting it. I believe it is comparable to rhetoric because in both styles of writing you are educating individuals.

It has been over six years since I have graduated high school, but I have taken a writing based course every few years before attending Saint Louis University. From English and science to logic and philosophy, I learned how to compose essays and research papers ranging from a few pages to fifteen in length.  Each course prior to this semester has instilled a unique perspective on writing. In the logic and philosophical courses we would formulate an argumentative based topic and complete standard drafts and finals. In an ecology course a few years back I had to compose a persuasive essay about fracking totaling fifteen pages! In logic I proposed a research paper discussing morality without religion. I believe that writing has come naturally to me, but I find myself struggling with format more than anything. I believe it can be difficult to organize writing in order to achieve the perfect flow of words. I often notice that I veer off topic more than I should, but at least I notice! I tend to also struggle with paper length. Depending on the topic I may convey the requirements in too few words, or too many.  

Compared to college, high school writing was simple. During my years, I was assigned basic writing topics. I believe the longest paper that we had to complete was five to seven pages. It’s been a few years since then, but I believe college is more difficult because more is expected of you. However, in college you often have a choice in what you write about as opposed to high school where our instructors informed us of our topics. The course load was easier in high school, and the grading rubric was more lenient versus college level writing where courses are more difficult, grading is stricter and papers are longer in length. Regardless of course level or title, I found that my writing is met with positive reviews and feedback. There is the potential that people are just being kind or that my writing really is the bees knees. Despite any idea that I may formulate involving my writing style and ability in terms of rhetorical efficacy, I have received a majority of A’s in these writing intensive courses.