Reflection Of Writing: How To Prolong A Horses Life

My first fall semester of college has been an interesting one. I have acquired a significant amount of knowledge and skills. The most notable of my new-found knowledge? It would have to be writing skills. I now know about critical thinking, and how I do it daily. Putting thought into my writing and word usage is becoming second nature, I’ve become the questioning three-year-old, even outside of a school setting. Which makes me more likely to win an argument, who would have thought that an English course could teach you how to win arguments. In class, we followed a simple, yet effective, learning process; how to influence an audience, strategies for proof-reading, how to write an effective essay, and think critically about writing. Each of these

Our first essay was a simple how-to explanation. The goal was to influence the audience to do something the way you wanted them to. The class could choose their own topics, me being an animal lover chose the topic of “How to Prolong a Horses’ Life” (Jones 4). This was our first essay for the class, I was a bit nervous about what was expected of me. But, the instructor was helpful and I relied on a handout that was printed for us. The handout consisted of questions to ask ourselves while we were writing. A few examples of the prewriting questions are, “What does it mean? What are its components?” (Jones 3). Using the prewriting questions helped me be more specific in my

The process of reaching this final step was a bit challenging but, when you get a hang of it, it becomes a simple task to always think critically. When you are thinking critically you are less passive and more aware of your words, and the effects your words have. In class our instructor had us analyze a song of our choice, I thought the request was a bit odd. I now understand that the goal of the assignment was to get the class to see beyond the surface and think deeper. The song I used for this assignment I initially thought it was about a breakup, but then I watched the music video and broke down all the lyrics. By examining every detail, and having feedback from the class, I then realized the song was about drug addiction. The song uses the lines “and I don’t feel right when you’ve gone away” perhaps meaning she has gone away because of the drugs (Jones 16). Thinking critically changes the whole meaning of the song, as with everyday