Self Reflection Essay

Since as long as I could remember I have always enjoyed writing for my own personal growth, but had trouble writing for school or work assignments. As I was reflecting on some of the weekly blog assignments that I created, I noticed that I did a particular better job at the free-writing assignments than the assigned topic ones. It was also a lot easier for me to discipline my self in writing on the free writing assignments than the assigned ones.

Don’t get me wrong some of the assigned writing assignments were very meaningful and enjoyable to write, such as the Reflective Essay “Broken Down in the Army”. Writing the last section of this essay, brought forth real life emotions inside me, it clearly reminded me if being in the Drill Sergeant’s office. When I wrote and then read the following, ““I knew that I could only hold on a little while longer, but told my self once again “It’s all mental”. Finally, the moment came where I could not go on, tears filled my eyes from the pain and disgrace I felt that I was about to throw in the towel. I fell from the invisible chair and laid on the ground, like a baby in the fetal position. I had been broken.”” It literally brought tears to my eyes as I was remembering that special occasion in my life. The reason this was meaningful and enjoyable was because it made me look back on my life, and see how that part of me, has tremendously allowed me to improve my life now. In other words, looking back at this occasion allows me to appreciate the current things in my life to a whole new level.

I do believe that my writing skills have briefly improved since starting this class and for sure my critical thinking skills, which have been stretched on some of the writing assignments. For example, the rhetorical analysis was not too difficult to write, but definitely challenged me to think critically. It was for sure the hardest assignment in class, which really challenged me to think outside the box. As for the rest of the assignments I had to discipline my self to finish, but always felt a small sense of accomplishment, ones each assignment was complete.

I believe that one of the reasons that I thought the free-writing assignments were easier to write than the other assignments was because I had the choice of choosing any topic. I am the type of writer that uses writing to share life experiences and emotions with people. So if one takes a look at all my free-writing assignments, they will see that they are all set up to give advice or touch the audience on a personal level. For example, the free-writing on marriage shares some of my experience on marriage and some simple advice that would help people considering marriage. The staring paragraph states, “Marriage is one of the most important decisions anyone will ever make in their life. This choice will either fulfill ones life or ruin it. Marriage is not what Hollywood shows to be a young beautiful girl and a handsome prince charming falling in love and living happily ever after. Marriage is a serious, long term commitment, which requires a lot of hard work and dedication.” As mentioned earlier, writing is my way for sharing emotion and life experience with people and hope that through this I could help some people out.

As for the assigned assignments, I don’t really have a desire to do, but still do because it is part of the class objective. On the opening paragraph of the second post, I share what I am feeling about writing for assigned material. It briefly refers to the difficulty I am having in writing for the assigned post. The paragraph goes like this, “To find the cultural contexts of a website, when it’s sole and only purpose is to find the meaning of words, is difficult to accomplish. Answering the five W’s, who, what, when, where and why will be no easy task, but necessary in order to accomplish the assignment.”

In closing, I am completely satisfied with the way this class has instilled into me the discipline of writing. It was also very pleasing to receive credit for free writing. The one thing that I believe has improved in my writing is to think critically of my writing. The class also refined my writing skills, which is something that every writer should always be doing on a continuous basis. The overall class was a good experience that has helped me expand my knowledge in becoming a better writer.

Rhetorical Analysis "The War in Iraq"

One thing to keep in mind as reading this paper is that war has been around from the very beginning of time, and will always be around, or in the words of the great Philosopher Plato “Only the dead have seen the end of war”. The argument addressed in this picture is a metaphorically sign of United States retreating from the war in Iraq. First I will share a rhetorical analysis of the picture. Secondly, I will refer to a current argument about the war in Iraq that is going on between the legislative and executive branches of the United States Government. Finally, how this picture serves as a strong metaphor, which represents a negative opinion on the war on Iraq by some members of congress.

Here we have two soldiers in Iraq bringing down the flag of the United States right before nightfall. The two soldiers are standing at attention, each on one side of the flag pole. They are both facing each other. Both soldiers are wearing grayish camouflage army uniforms, which are referred to as ACU’S (Army Combat Uniforms). The soldier right of the picture is holding the rope that is keeping the U.S Flag from hitting the ground as the other soldier has his right arm extended ready to catch the flag. This is the brief description of the picture. On a personal note, the soldier extending his right arm ready to catch the U.S Flag is my little brother. I know that he is in Iraq because he chooses to be there and does serve proudly.

The rhetorical analysis of the picture will answer a series of questions about the picture, which is what follows. The characters in the picture are U.S Soldiers in their late teens or early twenties. Their ethnicity is Mexican American, and possibly Caucasian. On the most basic level the soldiers are working together to bring down a U.S Flag from a pole. The medium that is used to portray the picture is an article that is directed for patriotic Americans and military personnel. The historical context of the picture is current and created in Iraq. The picture reflects metaphorically on a political issue that is currently going on between congress and the U.S President on the war on Iraq, which will be addressed later along in the essay. There is no wording on the picture, but a strong image of two soldiers doing their job. The picture is laid out with the U.S Flag being in the center and the two soldiers being next to the U.S Flag, one on each side. The picture is in color, which brings out great details of the picture. For example, the darker blue sky showing that it is almost night fall, and the shadow of the U.S Flag on the gray cement type structure behind it. There is no voice used to reach the audience of the picture. The main imagery of the picture is centered, and as stated earlier is designed to capture a patriotic or military personnel audience.

The picture has a variety of rhetorical appeals. For example, pathos, ethos and logos are used in the picture. Pathos is used by introducing patriotism through the U.S Flag and the soldiers standing at attention. Pathos is also used by capturing the picture in Iraq, which spurs different types of emotions among all kinds of different people. These emotions range from disliking or even hating the war on Iraq, to fearing it. The ethos to appeal used in the picture is the U.S Flag. The U.S Flag is recognized largely by citizens as a sign of democracy and freedom. It is recognized as the American way of life, it is an icon that every American is familiar with. The logos, is obvious in the picture, which shows that it takes to soldiers to lower the U.S Flag down from the pole accordingly.

The strategy development used in the picture is relied on example or illustration by showing the audience that the U.S Flag is used to represent the freedom that American citizen’s experience. The picture once again used the U.S Flag to relate cultural resonance with its audience because the U.S Flag is a popular recognizable symbol around the nation. The picture also represents the war on Iraq. This is common knowledge that every American is aware about, which is why it is part of our culture resonance.

There is currently a huge debate in the U.S Government about the war on Iraq. Most members of the legislative branch want troops to come home from Iraq and the war to end. As for the executive branch, it is about keeping troops in Iraq until the mission is accomplished with no set time lines for ending the war. The U.S Government has checks and balances, which does not allow one particular branch in government to have full power, but forces power to be distributed equally among branches. With this said, the conflict among branches can not be easily settled. The congress solution to ending the war is to set a timeline for withdrawing troops with any bill that funds them in Iraq. The President is pretty set on not setting a time line for troop withdrawal from Iraq. He believes it sends the wrong message to the enemy, which he refers to, as terrorists. The President has already promised a series of times that he will Veto any such bill. So with this said, I have trouble understanding why congress would still send any such bill to the President.

The President and Congress both strongly agree to disagree on the War on Iraq. They both must come to an understanding eventually or the only ones to truly suffer will be the troops in Iraq. The intention of the framers of the U.S Government were for all branches of government to work together not against each other. As the Government by the People, Brief fifth edition, states, "The framers of the U.S. Constitution created a presidency that must win cooperation from Congress to get the work of government done. Law-making and policy-making powers are divided, and the politics of shared power has often been stormy. In general, however, Congress and presidents somehow find ways to collaborate and solve problems" (Cronin Ch. 10).

The picture reflects the decision that congress is stating on their view on Iraq. Congress clearly knows that the President will Veto any bill with a timeline, but still choose to put forth the effort of trying to create such a bill. They also know that they do not have enough support to override the President’s Veto. It makes absolutely no sense why congress would do this, which leads me to conclude that they are simply accepting defeat in Iraq. In other words they want the troops to come home from Iraq and the only way they can do this with their power is by completely cutting the funding from the war. Congress will not do this because they do not want to come across to the American people as not supporting the troops. By doing this congress is sending a negative signal to the nation and the world that the U.S has already lost the war in Iraq.

The lowering of the U.S Flag by the soldiers in the picture metaphorically shows the retreat of the American troops from Iraq. It shows the defeated mind set that congress has on the war on Iraq. The congress truly believes that ending the Iraq war will produce peace, but in reality, will only produce more chaos. If one remembers from the first paragraph, war is war and will always be around in some way or form.

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Work Cited:

Cronin, Tom, Jack Peltason, Paul Light, James MacGregor Bruns, David Magleby, David O'Brien. Government By The People. Brief Fifth Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall. 1995-2007.