My thoughts on ENGL 108

Though I was initially dreading the thought of taking English 108, I now realize why it is required of me by Purdue University. I really appreciate both the skills that I acquired, and the methods that were executed in order to instill those qualities. Much to my chagrin, this class has served to stretch me in my writing abilities and the abundance of work has forced me to rise to the occasion. For this I am grateful.
When I began the class, I had never heard of the terms ethos, pathos, and logos, let alone did I know what they meant. I have been able to effectively apply these concepts in order to more effectively express myself and persuade my audience. The class discussion has been an excellent tool to make me more aware of other’s views on important and popular subjects. Also, the peer critique is great, because it allows for a second opinion on my writing before I turn it in to be graded, and it forces me to have something written several days before the deadline. One more thing that I liked about the class is that I became less uptight about my writing assignments. During the first part of the semester, the thought of having to write these blogs used to ruin my weekend. Now, it has become the norm and something I take in stride.
Though this class has taught me a lot, there are a few small things that I would suggest for improvement. First of all, and I don’t know if this is even possible at such a large university, but more one-on-one time with each student discussing how to improve each individual’s writing would have been very effective. Possibly it would have been helpful to devote one or two class periods to having scheduled ten minute sessions with each student. I felt like only problems that were shared by several of us were addressed. Secondly, though our blogs were read, they were never critiqued, thus, I felt like there was no point to writing them, because it did not provide for improvement in my writing style. Also, it would have been extremely helpful for my grades to have been posted online as they are for all of my other classes. Lastly, I felt like the objectives of this class could have been accomplished using less explicit materials. In conclusion, thank you Prof. Severe for all of your much appreciated and excellent efforts!