The Experiences of The Unexperienced

Wow, what a semester I’ve had. My first semester in college as a matter of fact. And to tell you the truth it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. But then again, these days nothing really ever does live up to its expectations. And here at the end of it all, I have to say with all honesty that one of my favorite classes had to have been my English 111 class. I’m not saying that just because I know my professor will be reading this. I’m saying it because it’s the truth! Throughout my life writing and reading have been big passions of mine. And the reason I liked the class so much is that my Paul (my professor) didn’t just teach the class with a knowledge that he earned in his own schooling, but he teaches it with a knowledge gained in having a passion for all that he learned.
During his classes he taught us all how to not just read but to analyze all that we read. We analyzed so much that by the end of the class I couldn’t read the ingredients label on a soda can without looking for ethos, logos, and pathos. (That is an exaggeration of course, because I don’t think it could be humanly possible to put ethos, logos, or pathos in a list of ingredients). But that’s beside the point. The point of this story is that the things that he taught me will always be helpful even if I didn’t think it would be when we started the semester. But some people will be thinking “how could it ever be helpful to ruin a good story by always looking for all those rhetoric devices?” And for those of you with those questions I can answer them with these two simple ways. First, you could always read the story just for your enjoyment and satisfaction then go back and reread it looking for the rhetoric devices. And second, you could just get really good at finding them that you can notice them right away while reading and enjoying your story. But of course this al also beside the point.
Being in this class has helped me be more aware of the thing that I read and the meanings behind them I can now look at any story I read and find a whole new meaning to it. I might even just find a meaning that the author didn’t intend on being in the story to begin with. Its fun finding hidden meanings in texts. It can always give you a new outlook on a lot of things. But whether or not I look for rhetorical devices or not it’s always fun to just read a good story from time to time. It’s fun to just escape my own life for a while and live the life of a young wizard going to a magical school, or a scientifically enhanced soldier given special armor to fight the Covenant forces in the depths of space. And sometimes it just a good way to pass the time!