Corrin Motyka

ENW 100

Cover Letter

My English classes in the past have always been more literature based. Class consisted of

poetry or short stories and we would discuss the satire used or the different metaphors present.

We would be tested on what foreshadowing was or the difference between allusion and illusion.

It is rare now to find a class that is purely writing. Therefore, it was somewhat of a struggle for

me at the beginning of the semester.

The first paper we wrote was probably the most enjoyable for me. At first, I was unsure

about what to write about. Once I decided on New York City, I knew it would be a challenge to

descriptively describe the city. It is such an iconic place and because I went to school there I

really wanted to make it come alive. This assignment forced me to go above and beyond and

think about every tiny detail, from the clothes on my back, to the taste of the subway station in

my mouth. I had to pay close attention to describing the setting and my environment so that the

reader could vicariously experience the sights, sounds, and smells through me.

The Rhetorical Analysis essay was a little easier for me. As I explained, my previous

English classes revolved around the use of literary devices. While my previous experience was

not the same as what we learned in class, I was able to apply what I already knew. I enjoyed this

assignment because we were able to choose from a variety of TED Talks. Ever since I read the

book “Hillbilly Elegy” written by J.D. Vance in my junior year of high school, I have always

been fascinated by the opioid epidemic. It was interesting to me to learn more about it from other
experts. In this assignment, we had to pay particular attention to Ethos, Logos, and Pathos.

Watching and analyzing my TED Talk was useful because it prepared me for the next assignment

where we had to create our own arguments.

The Multimodal essay was probably the most challenging for me. The first challenge was

choosing a topic that I was both interested in that had a lot of scholarly articles to support my

argument. I remember watching the NY Jets play the Washington Redskin on youtube. I

remember seeing some fans in native headdresses. In the social political climate we live in, this

immediately sparked my attention and I decided to write about the controversy of having Native

American mascots. I enjoyed learning more about the Native American culture and I was able to

learn about the many injustices the Native American community has faced. I had to make sure to

implement the same rhetorical devices that we had analyzed in the second assignment into this

one.

In just a few months, I feel that I have become much more confident in my writing. This

class included so many different types of writing and I feel that I was able to improve and

develop in each area. The topics that I have written about have helped me to become more

cultured and educated. For each paper I was able to choose topics I was interested in and

therefore it wasn’t a chore to write about them. For someone taking this class, I would just

recommend to choose topics that interest them because if it interesting to you then writing 5

pages is easier.