About the Author Travis

     At the beginning of this of this course, I thought I was reasonable prepared to take on any writing part the class had to offer.  I feel that my previous writings in high school are far better than the papers I have been doing for this class.  Topic selection has been a difficult choice because I was used to being given a topic and now I have to choose a topic and not do the same thing as someone else.  My rough drafts are a basic idea of what I want to do with the paper and how I want to lay it out.  I have learned to revise my rough draft and change a lot about it before rewriting a final draft.  We do a lot more revising and peer editing groups so it allows for more feedback to come in and give me ideas for what I should do.  I value bringing in outside personnel and their opinions into my paper to help go along with the point I try to get across.  Bringing in information other than myself, I think, helps make a better and stronger point.  The persuasive tool in ethos, pathos, and logos are confusing to me and if I understood them better I think it would further improve my writing.  Seeing other examples of the project I work on is a big help, because I can learn from their paper on how to get a point across and what areas to focus on.  I’ve been trying to use the rhetorical situation to my advantage, but I do not feel I understand it well enough.  Picking topics that appeal to audiences, like my Nike Final Draft  project one paper, I think are easier to write on.  I honestly do not know what to write about for project three.  A problem I would like to write about for our future projects is the use of steroids or underage drinking.  I would like to write to my former teachers in high school to show them that I have gained more tools and have become a better writer.  Since I want to be a lawyer, I can see using the rhetorical situation could come in handy.