TOW #28- TOW Reflection

Over the course of the year, my TOWs have definitely improved in their level of analysis. For example, in the beginning of the year, my TOWs focused on minimal rhetorical strategies used in the text, and I solely wrote to answer the questions. However, towards the end of the year, I was able to identify the more important parts of the text to analyze, and I wrote my responses more cohesively. Additionally, throughout the year, the analysis in my TOWs has transitioned from purely observational comments (for example, in one of my summer TOWs, I wrote, “Langston Hughes’ essay, Bop, is entirely a conversation between the narrator and the character named Simple,” and I did not analyze the effects of this, etc.) to more analytical comments (for example, in my last TOW, I identified the author’s use of irony and then analyzed its effect on the writing). I think I have mastered being able to identify and explain the effect of an author’s use of different rhetorical devices. However, I could still strive to improve my analysis of the overall consequence of an author’s use and effect of rhetorical device on a larger scale (as opposed to just saying how the use of a particular rhetorical device adds to the ethos, for example). These TOW assignments really helped me practice my analysis skills throughout the year, even when we had passed the analysis unit. They helped because, during the analysis unit, you got to actually practice at least once a week the skills you were learning in class, and when we were not on the analysis unit, you got to still continue practicing and improving your skills. This was very beneficial especially at the end of the year because I did not have to review old styles of writing as much right before the exam because it was what I had been doing all along. Therefore, even though I was not always fond of writing the TOWs at the time I was writing them, I think they definitely paid off in the end, and I would do them again if I were taking the class again.