Chapter 1 Response

After reading this chapter I realized that choosing a genre is an important and rather strenuous task, as one needs to execute the process to their own liking.  In my own personal experiences, I was never given the opportunity to explore the various genres offered, as I was always told to write a certain way in order to receive passable scores on either the AP and AICE examinations.  Therefore, this article on genres and the different ways to relay your central message to the audience was very intriguing to me.  Additionally, this chapter further enhanced my knowledge on the three rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos.  My tenth grade AICE English Language class briefly explained these devices, so I was always very eager to learn more about using these appeals within my own ideas and the variations within each.  Thus, these appeals will help correlate the various forms of media layouts used to capture the readers’ or the audiences’ attentions which, in my opinion, is an important attribute to have within a writing assignment.  

In addition to rhetorical devices, I found the explanation about sources to be very valuable as I have learned throughout my writing career that sources enhance one’s own essay, as well as, keeps readers engaged.  Unfortunately, I have not had many opportunities to conduct research so I am hoping this class will help me strengthen those invaluable skills.  Overall, this chapter has enlightened the limited conceptions that I was once taught to adhere to, making me very intrigued to begin embedding these new strategies within my own writing.