BECOMING A

WRITER
Kirsten Pollock
Introduction
■ I was nervous before starting this
class for summer semester because I
never thought of myself as a writer.
While completing different types of
writing throughout this course, I
noticed one thing in my work; I was
becoming a writer. I discovered that
while working on this self-study
portrait, was that my voice is
powerful, and I write using the
rhetoric pathos. Doing this project
has helped me go through my work
and shined a light on the progress I This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

have made within the last two

months.
CONTENT
- The three artifacts I choose are ones that
show my progress throughout this course.

- My Favorite Quote/Phrase: shows the

reader that you can express yourself using
someone else’s words and why the writer
chooses certain words in their quote/phrase.

- Early Morning Scare (flash narrative):

shows the reader how I felt in an experience
I went through.

- Colorblind (rhetorical analysis of a song

lyrics): shows the reader what kind of
rhetorical devices the artist used in their
lyrics and why they used them.
My Favorite Quote/Phrase
Purpose – To express myself through someone else’s words and analyze the
emotion/feelings in the words that the writer uses.
Audience – Professor and classmates Quote
“I started my life with a singe
Context – Breaking down how a writer can make you feel by using certain absolute: that the world was
words and how they make an impact on your life. mine to shape in the image of
 On this assignment I wrote two  My writing style shows in my highest values and never be
given up a lesser standard, no
paragraphs. In the first paragraph I this piece because it’s my
matter how long or hard the
explained where the quote came from personal view on the
struggle.”
and why the quote was important to subject. When I wrote this
me. In the last paragraph I went into you can feel how My Writing
what I thought Ann Rand wanted the important this quote is to When I was 23, I was feeling
reader to understand when she uses me through my writing. let down and defeated I wasn’t
those words in her book. The type of in a better situation. I was
style I used on this subject was feeling stuck with a job I didn’t
like and wouldn’t be able to
personal. I talked about how I felt
progress. At that moment when
reading the quote and gave personal I read this quote it reminded
background to my story. I used pathos me that you must continue to
while writing on this subject to show work towards your goals and
my professor and classmates that this some goals will take longer to
wasn’t just a quote to me, but also a achieve.
quote that has made an impact on my
life.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed
under CC BY-NC
 FLASH
NARRATIVE
Early Morning Scare Purpose – To create a flash narrative on a significate
The footsteps were right by the door and that’s when moment that happened in my life using sensory details
I felt the first tug on the door. I was getting ready for and dialogue.
Audience – My professor and classmates
the second tug on the door when a soft feminine
Context – To show how you tell a story using narrative
voice said “HEY! Are you okay in there? It’s Betsy
techniques.
and I’m working with you today.” I immediately let
go of the safety handle and opened the door.  This assignment started off Since my writing style has so
Standing there was this beautiful woman and I rough but ended up being much to do with emotion this
blurted out “YOU DIDN’T ANSWER ME WHEN I one of my favorite assignment brought out my
assignments. This paper creativity. I used a lot of
YELLED! I seriously thought I was going to be
allowed me to tell a story sensory details, imagery, and
murdered!” She looked at me so sincere and said “I
in so much detail by using pathos so my audience knew
am so sorry I didn’t hear you yell. You must have dialogue and sensory exactly how I felt. You can tell
been so scared! Are you okay? Do you need to sit detail. from the beginning to the end
down for a minute?”. Immediately my eyes started how scared I was the moment I
 In this writing I used my voice
to water, and I said, “No I am fine, I’m just so happy as much as possible. This gave thought someone was in my
that I’m going to live another day.” She let out a the readers an insight on how I store, to when I was relieved
small giggle and grabbed my shoulder and said was feeling when I was scared that it was my best friend
“YUP! You are going to live another day!” in the morning and trapped coming into work. This was by
inside a freezer. Using far the moment I knew I could
dialogue throughout the story write.
moved the plot along and set
the tone for my story.
Purpose – To critically think
why the artist chose their lyrics
and how their lyrics influenced
the audience.
Audience – Professor
Context – Show how lyrics
and audio can create emotion
and give meaning without
intention.
RHETORICALLY
ANALYZING SONG
LYRICS
 For this assignment I chose the song
Colorblind because it has a lot of
emotion throughout the lyrics. This
kept me on track being able to use
my own writing style. Throughout
the paper I used evidence of lyrics
he chose to explain my rhetorical
choices. I included my own personal
voice so the readers could feel the
emotion behind the song as well. I
think because I used evidence and
my own opinion throughout the
paper readers could feel the emotion
behind the song, without knowing
every verse or hearing the song.
COMMON THEME
The three artifacts I chose for this
assignment have the same audience and
purpose, which is to create a story and
analyze each topic that was assigned. I
notice that my strongest piece was one
where I could be creative and talk about
my experiences and use sensory details. I
feel more comfortable when I could
choose my topic and the situation was
personal to me. I noticed not only in the
three pieces I chose but also other
assignments I have submitted that my
writing style is based off emotions. I like
the reader to understand how I feel
throughout the whole piece. I think it
makes all my writings have meaning and
you can tell that each topic has made an
impact on my life. I tend to rely on
pathos on all subjects and use
descriptions to get my experience across
to readers.
 In the beginning, I questioned if I could become a
writer when I started this course. When I started
this assignment, I asked myself if I have become a
writer yet. Could I write? Am I writer? Well I can
answer all those questions now with YES! This
assignment helped me answer all those questions,

I became by going through all my work and seeing all the

changes through each piece. I became a critical
thinker, I created pieces of work that have meaning,

a writer. and learned that I enjoy writing. I can now say with
a doubt, that I have learned how to create
meaningful papers and how to analyze papers,
lyrics, and images. I loved this assignment and look
forward to writing more with the knowledge I have
gained from this assignment and class.

Turns out I became a writer.