Advice to a New Student

I would give several advising points to a student entering the course in which I am currently completing.

First, come with an open attitude. Don't enter this class with strictly the goal to achieve an A. While that may be the case for other classes, it is not for this one. The reality is, you WILL have to compose many creative pieces. And simple enough, without caring, trying, and openness, it is not possible to achieve a good grade, as that wouldn't lead to influential writing pieces. So it is important to come to class with a certain mindset: you must be willing to put some time and effort into what you will turn for grades--there IS no "easy way out" here. You must do the real thing--work.

Second, Don't focus on the details. Geoffrey is a logical professor, and he too is a person. He will understand if you did not have time to read an article and don't contribute to a discussion. He won't call you out for not bring your "Everything is an Argument" book. He won't hold it against you if you are behind on your drafts for your essay. He wants you to learn, and gain experience and knowledge from the course; he doesn't want you to stress out. If you do your part in paying attention and following the most directions you can, it will be reflected in your writing, and he will notice it.

Third, take advantage of what Professor Bateman offers to you. He does not say "I have office hours" for no reason. If you have time during the quarter, and more importantly, if you think it will help you, make sure to set up an appointment to meet with Professor Bateman; whether it is to review an essay, or just to make sure you are on the right track. It shows you care about your progress, and it truly helps you learn. Being at DU, this is a major advantage. In most public schools, you would be setting up an appointment with a grad student, or a TA. Be aware of your opputunities here.

What I have Learned this Year as a Writer

I can confidently say that I have largely improved my writing skills this quarter. While dedicated and secure about my abilities to succeed in almost anything I put my mind to, I must admit that I was somewhat doubtful about my capabilities to produce formal writing. Insecure about my vocabulary, and constantly comparing my writing pieces to others with more experience, I almost shied away from writing all together; accepting that "It's just not my thing." In fact, that is what I did in high school. Being intelligent, and motivated to get good grades, I took the easy way out when I wrote essays, still achieving As on almost each one. I did not try hard though. I did not spend time pondering ideas and strategies. I didn't hold must trust in my ideas, nor my abilities to represent them. I believe the reason for all this uncertainty was the fact that I didn't have anything to base my writing style on. I didn't think about accomplishing anything through my writing, beside the purpose. If I were writing a persuasive essay,for example, I would stick to the point, not attempting to use any abstract thoughts, or put things into perspective. This writing class however, taught me a lot. Not only was I open to ideas, truly wanting to learn, but the class also introduced me to concepts which I could base my writing on. "Rhetoric" was a word I had been aware existed, but did not know what it meant. Now, it is constantly on my mind when I write. I can see a clear improvement in my writing from after I have been introduced to rhetorical concepts this year. So to me, rhetoric shapes my writing. It gives me a means to evaluate my own wring pieces, on my own. While I usually had people review my essays and listen to their input, I can now go through the process using myself as the editor. This makes me much more capable and certain in regards to my writing abilities.

Proposal for the Public Good

I have finally begun working on my proposal. I had a very difficult time in the beginning, as I had no idea what I wanted to propose. I care about the environment, so I wanted to propose more mass transit in my home city of San Diego. After thinking about who I would write to and what about, I figured I would write to the mayor and include the recent expansion of the interstate 5. I am very against this recent construction, as it definitely promotes more driving; therefore more pollution from automobiles into our atmosphere. San Diego is a beautiful county, mainly because of the weather and clarity of the air. It appears very clean. But, is it? The continues expanding of suburbia near where I live is ultimately going to create an area in which nobody desires to live-let alone raise their children. I did some research and found that, to my surprise, San Diego has a large amount of mass transit. And, fortunately, the amount of citizens using it has risen dramatically these past years. The only issue , is that San Diego is extensively divided up by highways and it is literally impossible to build mass transportation that leads to everywhere. Hopefully, people will keep increasing their willingness to use the mass transit that IS provided, as global warming messages keep waking us up.
Because of my research, I decided that the idea was not one I wanted to pursue in my final paper, so I chose a different topic.