Undertaking the writing 39A class was an exciting decision as I have always loved writing and in some cases, I even referred to myself as a writer. Hence I believed that I would have an excellent ten weeks in this class and i would not have any reason to have poor grades. However, contrary to my beliefs I realized that the course involved a lot of research and interpretation of various texts that were given in class. I also realized I had to establish a connection with the text that I was reading to be able to produce a quality draft. The course was demanding in that I had to revise the drafts that I was given in class consistently. Moreover, I had to learn how to write formally for most of my writing was based on informal writing language that I have learned for a long time. Despite the sacrifices and late nights that I put up with to do my assignments the knowledge gained will be useful in all aspects of my life.

Firstly, the writing 39A class enabled me to gain knowledge of writing a quality cover letter. The assignment that we were given on selecting a job opportunity and writing a cover letter to the human resource manager facilitated the writing of the skill. At first, I wrote the normal cover letter which focused on introducing myself and then stating my skills. However, the teacher requested that I do some revisions on the cover letter. The teacher stated that a cover letter should make the employer understand the value you are going to bring in their organization. Also, to verify your skill it is advisable for one to highlight a specific event where you managed to portray the stated skill. This makes your desired employer gain confidence in you and makes you a desirable candidate for the open position.

I also learned how the audience addressed determines the choice of words used in specific writing. The latter was accomplished where we were required to analyze a study that was done to determine the differences in performance of CEOs depending on their gender. At first, we were to do a critical analysis of the study to identify how effectively the authors presented their case. I had a difficult analyzing the content for at first I did not even understand the whole study. This was because the study used many analytical terms that were unfamiliar to me. But after careful reading, I realized that I had personal opinions concerning the study.  Also, we were then required to re-write the whole study as if you were presenting to a general audience. In writing the study I layman’s language, I was required to use terms that easily understood the readers and ensured that it had very few technical terms. The audience that a speaker addresses determines their speech techniques, the tools they will use in their writings and any relevant example that they deem fit. This ensures that audience attention is present and that they can directly relate to the speech provided.

Nevertheless, creating persuasion in writing is crucial as it appeals to the audience to listen and understand the information the speaker is portraying. However, at first, I did not understand the concept of persuasion for I always believed that s long as a writer is funny or impressive the readers’ would read it. However, the class taught me that a good writer needs to persuade the readers to subscribe to the writer’s beliefs. The latter can be done through the incorporation of ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos aims at stating the credibility of the speaker and the information is given. The speaker needs to declare their qualification for the readers to believe and understand that they have professional knowledge of the topic they are addressing. Pathos deals with capturing the emotions of the audience and then directing towards the understanding of the study. Logos states the statistics and facts that exist concerning the particular topic of research. Incorporating the three techniques of persuasion makes it possible for different audiences to be attracted to the speech given or the reading provided as it keeps them engaged throughout the period.

The speaker or reader needs to be careful with the way they portray the techniques of persuasion. In re-writing the academic research on CEO performance, I had a hard incorporating pathos for I did not understand how I was going to capture the audience’s attention on the matter. In the long run, I decided not to use it for I felt I might contradict the information that I had already presented. This shows understanding the deeper meaning of the persuasive concepts is necessary for the three techniques that may not necessarily be used in the same text. Writers and communicators need to understand the information given deeply and decide how they will effectively apply the persuasive techniques. And to implement the texts effectively the speakers and writers should directly relate to the content and understand its purpose.

As earlier mentioned I believed that I would not have a hard tie navigating in this class as I was already a self-proclaimed writer. However, after the course, I can now report that my grammatical skills have greatly improved. There are some grammatical errors that most people may deem as normal, but as a writer, one sees through such mistakes. I can quickly identify grammatical errors that have been in writings that most people ignore. This has made me proficient in my writing as I am able to write grammatically free errors. I realized that when a person gives a text that contains a lot of grammatical errors it at times loses the meaning to the audience presented. The latter is because either the text does not make sense to the reader or it is tiresome to continue correcting all the errors that are present in the text. Even in speaking it is vital that a person uses the correct grammar or else the audience present will interpret the information given wrongly. Grammatical errors can cause significant distortion of the text, and hence they should be avoided at all costs.

Moreover, the use of personal experiences is essential in maintaining the attention of the readers or the listening audience. Sharing personal experiences is helps in establishing trust between the reader and the speaker.  This makes the audience understand the pure intentions of the speaker and enables them to be willing to open up about personal issues or even analyze their situations depending on their circumstances. This gives an opportunity for the writer to receive questions and also motivate the readers to understand their opinions concerning specific issues. I intended to use personal experiences in my speeches and writing for I believe it will help in creating rapport between the audience and me. Also, it will help the audience have a deeper understanding of the topic I will be discussing in a gathering. My writing will be based on more personal issues for I understand the consequences and pain or various actions and I can clearly articulate them verbally or on a piece of paper.

The writing class 39A has turned out to be the most challenging class I have ever undertaken; however, it has molded me to be a better student and writer.  The knowledge gained in this class will be applied to all other courses. This is because the analytical skills acquired are necessary for determining the factor that I need to use in calculations. The grammatical skills are essential for doing all my assignments to ensure that they are of high quality and can easily be read by the tutor. I believe that every knowledge gained through the tough assignments you gave me and the revisions I was continuously making have made me an excellent student and writer. I aim at becoming a holistic student that will appreciate the hard work I have achieved in this class.

Finally, the skills gained will later be used in my professional life especially in the preparation of a quality cover letter that will be impressive on my employer. Moreover, the presentation knowledge will be helpful when I will be presenting information in class and also in the workplace. The skills will be used in persuading clients and other professionals to subscribe to my ideas. The persuasion skills will ensure that I do not forcefully force people to believe in what I believe in but willingly through the presented facts and statistics; they will believe in what I will be saying.

In conclusion, I will always be thankful for taking the writing class 39A due to the valuable lesson I have gained. Despite the sacrifices, I have made, and the many times I slept late I can confidently say it was for a good cause. The teacher was willing to help for they responded and gave me feedback top every assignment that I did. Whenever I had any, and the teacher was unavailable, I consulted my classmates who generously provided the information they had concerning the issue. The assignments brought us together and enabled us to help each other in our areas of weakness. I believe I provided quality assignments that were thoughtfully done and extensive research done on every topic and hence I deserve an A in my assignments. Thank you to all the people involved in this course for molding me to be an excellent student and writer.