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Cale Eastin
English 250
Secton SD
Assignment 5
Futhey
11 December 2015
Semester Reflection
Reflecting on the fruits of ones progress is one of the most satisfying feelings. Looking
at how far one has come from when they started gives a boost of inspiration. It suggests that
anything can be accomplished or improved if the time and effort is put in. Even if not much
progress is made over the course of a period of time, one can observe what was done during that
time and analyze what did not induce progress and what changes could be made to account for
that. English 250 provides material and incentive to consider the improvements made and the
difficulties encountered throughout its coursework.
Perhaps the most important skill developed from participating in this course was
reviewing the importance of observing the multiple viewpoints existent in an argument. Despite
knowing this concept before attending this class, participating has further refined the skills
necessary for analyzing arguments. Arguments run off the principles of rhetorical devices such as
logos, pathos, and ethos. An argument can only realize its full potential by utilizing each of these
devices and making sure their logic is not skewed by false instances of them. Knowing these
rhetorical devices is helpful no matter what side of an argument you are on. One can quickly
understand the importance of fully analyzing each side of an argument due to these devices. If
one takes them into account, it is easier to find flaws and logical fallacies in different viewpoints,
or maybe even discover some common ground between said views. Of course, simply having the

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skills to observe and analyze arguments will not be of much help if those skills cannot be
properly constructed and conveyed.
Taking into account ones ability in writing, oral, visual, and electronic communication
can mean the difference between successfully displaying a viewpoint and having ones work
written off due to its poor structure and execution. The oral skill would probably need the most
improvement out of these communicative skills. This assumption is due mostly to reflecting on
the performance of assignments three and five. Assignment three revealed more practice may
have been the key to avoiding to avoiding an awkward rambling of repeated information in the
second slide. The problem with assignment five was the amount of ums that occurred during
the speech. Besides oral presentation, the other types of communication were either presented or
analyzed quite successfully this semester. The reason for this may be because more thought
process and brainstorming was dedicated to other types of communication.
Most of the thinking done in this course was directed at the writing side of
communication. Written work provides a certain sense of permanence that oral in particular does
not. When ideas for analyzing or portraying a topic come to mind, it is useful to write them down
in a sort of list or summary in the paper, and then one can come back to further elaborate on the
short notes of ideas. Though not as professional as a pre-structured outline, it seems to provide
just as much usefulness. Concepts can also arise from group or instructor discussions. When
practicing presentations with peers, even if the subjects arent the most interesting, ideas for
organization, critical thinking, and presentation can be generated listening to others presentations
or feedback. Ideas generated while in the writing process can vary from extra details that may
add a bit more understanding to the current thought to significant points that may create an
entirely new viewpoint or interest more audiences that may not have cared as much at first.

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Knowing who makes up the audience can significantly adjust the presentation of ideas in
an argument. Sometimes one may need to add more viewpoints to a thought in order to maximize
their potential for listeners. In another sense, including certain statements may severely alienate
audience members from the proposed idea. Along with considering what may be acceptable to
talk about to the audience, it may also be useful to consider how much the audience knows about
the topic beforehand. If one is presenting a highly-specialized topic to an audience comprised of
people with general knowledge, more background and detailed explanation may be needed to
effectively drive a point. If the audience is a group of peers in the same field as the topic, then it
can be assumed that less background information is necessary.
Over this semester, the processes of communication have become more clear and refined.
The consideration of viewpoints, audiences, rhetorical devices, has been revealed to be even
more important than was previously assumed. No matter what career one is aiming for,
communication in some volume will be required for it. There are often viewpoints on arguments
not specified because other sides are more common or vocal, and one should not observe a
situation based on only one or two stories. Even when the writing for a presentation is done,
the work is not necessarily finished. With the influx of ideas present in the world today, any
argument and its details can and will expand over time and will require revision. When one
thinks of the word argument, they may picture people spouting information and insults with
little progress being made. However, this, like the concept of an argument, is only one view on a
subject. A wide spectrum of ideas exists and it is crucial to understanding the thoughts of others
and to reaching a mutual conclusion.