The college admissions process is a competitive and anxious affair, that many students put a lot of time and effort into. An application process that consists of a variety of essays about oneself, might appear to be simple and easy, as there are a variety of common themes and structures one might formulate upon. Yet, the ultimate goal is to separate yourself from others. Referring back to Kerry Dirks essay, rhetorical situation is arguably a key component in the application process in regards to essay writing. Each essay has a word limit and a topic question, and when brainstorming writing ideas, many students including myself look back on other successful college essays. I purchased a book full of diverse college essays, I then analyzed the tone, the layout of the essay, and the message perceived upon them. Also, when looking back on previous works, it is important to consider the rhetorical action; what does your overall writing tell the reader? When incorporating this thought process into my writing, I was able to tell a short story about my service to the community and then reflect upon it using an appropriate tone in order to convey a message of growth and value I gained from my work, and how I can apply such knowledge in a college environment. Looking back to Dirks elaboration of rhetorical location, this idea of audience ties in greatly to a college application. One must answer the question in proper tone, such as being enthusiastic and informed when talking about why you want to go to a school, as I did with USD. I wrote about certain statistics and values that intrigued me and the variety of opportunities given, all writing with an enlightened tone that I thought would represent my feelings towards the school the best. As one can see, the college admissions process lacks a sense of interpersonal recruitment. Saying this, college essays should have a unique outcome that make you different and attractable to a university, yet in order to accomplish this, rhetorical writing strategies must be considered and factored into the writing process.
Conner, you do a pretty good job engaging with Dirk’s definition/terminology. As you revise the post, bring in specific details about the way you worked within the boundaries of the genre in your own essay.
Congratulations on the use of Dirk’s rhetorical situation, action and location concepts. The post is very well written with good use of register. For next time it would be nice if you shared your experience relating to the college essay with greater depth.
This was very well written, the vocabulary was very strong and your writing is effective and sophisticated. Your connection to Dirk’s writing was well addressed and truly connected the two topics of genre and college admissions very well. However, there is a lack of your own experience in the admissions process that you should add to this writing.