From creating my two works this semester for English 2150, I have gained a lot of powerful insight. With my analysis of Black Mirror, I found it very interesting to really look deeper into what most people just believe to be an interesting artsy show on the future, whereas in reality, actually has rhetoric which is applicable to the present day. I feel like I have gained the skill to truly analyze something for what it is worth, and no longer do I think that certain pieces of work have no meanings, I always look into logical fallacies when I recognize them being used. I no longer let any detail go to waste, whereas in the past I would dismiss the little details, which end up being the most powerful. When I watched the episode, I honestly just thought it was cool to imagine a world in the future where per say did not have to worry about dating, that a so-called system would match us together and take the stress out of dating. When I rewatched this episode after doing research on Black Mirror itself, I realize now that it is not the future, or not the distant future at least, but it really depicts what is going on in society today with online services providing people with anything from long lasting relationships to quick hookups. It made me think how some of the relationships represented Tinder hookups while other seemed like long lasting relationships on something like eHarmony or Match which were toxic.
In my work on Stromae’s Carmen, I could learn firsthand how it was to analyze a song which is not something I have done before. I remember last semester people analyzed songs and I wondered how to do it with such little writing present and with a constant chorus the amount of distinct writing is even smaller. By doing research on Stromae the artist and his particular genre of music I could formulate opinions with evidence on the meanings and underlying rhetoric within his song. Watching the music video also helped greatly giving me a visual analysis of the song itself which gave a visual to the words and meaning hidden within the song. I am glad I had the chance to analyze one of my favorite musical artists in an essay, as I have known his songs to have great meanings and have helped people out of dark places.
This semester I had very different issues to those I struggled with last semester. I wrote a lot this semester but I wrote in a sense that did not make sense to accomplish the intended purpose of the writing. I always had an overgeneralizing voice or couple of sentences in both of the works I have completed this semester. I make too many overgeneralized claims with a voice suggestive of me playing God in the essay. I realized I was doing this when Professor Graves highlighted it in both of my works for the annotations. Upon realizing I was doing this I quickly fixed this as it does not add any meaning to my essay or the central claim of what I am trying to get across and it seemed as though I was talking down upon the audience. I promptly adjusted my language to properly address claims and I added evidence to support them to enhance my logic and credibility in making the claims I have. I also struggled a bit with proper organizational issues how I would have irrelevant information that would have to be deleted as it was just there as nothing more than filler. An issue I struggled with last semester in English 2100 which I believe to have carried over would be that I would write separate paragraphs addressing the same concept. What I mean by this is one paragraph would describe all aspects of something and the background information and the following one would be all about the analysis of whatever was in the previous one. I have learned the best way to solve this is to make direct comparisons. I still believe it is important to give the reader background and context on whatever is being talked about in the essay but when stating important details analysis should follow the sentence or few sentences directly after. I honestly believe this is something Professor Graves would label as high school english and writing, which is why it is an old bad habit I have when writing an analytical paper like the two we had this past semester and last semester. While old habits do in fact die hard, I will continue to work on this and will eventually grow out of the way of writing that was drilled into my head in public school.
I am honestly proud of both of my works. In assignment one, I am proud of myself for taking a look at a very popular Netflix television series and showing to readers how it is not exactly what it seems. I had no idea so many underlying messages existed within the show. And I am proud of myself for analyzing music for the first time, and particularly a foreign song. I discovered Stromae when I heard one of his songs which I quickly assumed to simply be dance music, but when I learned that while the music was lively upbeat and happy, the lyrics were very dark. I learned a lot about one of my all time favorite musical artists and why the lyrics are what they are. Stromae strives to tell people he understands their issues and it is all fine so life should be enjoyed. I am unsure of what challenges I face as a writer, I do feel like I need to get my organizational skills better for English 2850 and provide quick accurate analysis as a Business major. I do feel my ability to analyze a work has improved significantly which gets me kind of angry at times, as it almost takes away the element of surprise. Now when watching any form of media I recognize logical fallacies and tropes and I can almost always assume what is to follow.