One particular rhetorical form vital to me this semester was diction, and growing my skill set in its regard. One’s style, or diction, can have incredible effects on how a reader comes away from a work, and working on establishing said effects on my writing was important to develop for me as a writer. Understanding said changes in diction within the source based essay in particular allowed me to have an overview on how successful writers utilize style to their advantage, and how it can be replicated in my own writing.

The source based essay was started simply by finding sources that we found interesting. Settling upon the 1619 Project as my topic, it was evident that various successful styles and diction could be utilized to speak towards the topic. Objective, academic writings such as “Four Centuries of Black Economic Progress in America: Ideological Posturing versus Empirical Realities.” within the Independent Review had a significantly more scholastic and formal writing style when compared to say “Down the 1619 Project’s Memory Hole.” in Quillette, which was argumentative and clearly took a bias/side on the matter. Taking time to research these various styles also helped inform my own decisions as to how I wrote my source based essay, “A Critique on Criticism: The 1619 Project”, using a mix of educational rhetorical analysis while also doing my own opinion based analysis as well. 

Perhaps equally as important as a rhetorical form was genre, and the over-compassing method that this term applies to class and our assignments as a whole. A significant amount of time was spent defining what genres were, its association with rhetoric, and how it can be used to our advantage. I utilized my understanding of genres for my composition project, creating a formal opinion editorial and an informal poster in contrast. Through understanding genres (alongside the various examples I looked through from successful reporters/creators), I was able to successful utilize both diction and genre for my work.