Personally, I found the emphasis placed upon stakes to be one of the most interesting aspects of this course. I have never taken an English class before that asked me to truly consider the importance of my writing outside of simply getting a good grade or learning more within that class. I would therefore like to discuss the overall stakes of this class: what I should take away from it and why that is important. As of right now, I am intending to major in microbiology, and although there is some potential for change, I can say with absolute certainty I am not going to suddenly switch my major to English. However, I believe that the four outcomes are applicable to many aspects of “real life” outside of an English, academic setting.

For example, imagine I were to have a doctor’s appointment scheduled for today. I would go in for a routine checkup and wait patiently for my usual practitioner. If she were to hurry in ten minutes late, she would likely offer an explanation along the lines of, “Sorry for the delay! It’s been a busy day, but you should be out of here in no time.” I would undoubtedly be shocked if instead she were to say irritably, “God, that last patient took forever. I’ve been swamped all damn day and I can’t wait to get the hell out of this place.” While both of these sentences convey basically the same meaning, within such a professional context the informal tone and vernacular of the second explanation would seem highly out of place. Understanding and adhering to various expectations dependent upon the situation is just as crucial for literary success as navigating daily social situations is for interpersonal success.

Likewise, the ability to synthesize multiple sources is absolutely essential for being an informed citizen in today’s world. I must be able to evaluate sources and choose reputable ones over clearly biased news agencies, just like I would look for a scholarly secondary source rather than a blog post or unofficial book review. Primary sources are just as significant, if not more so, outside of the classroom as they are in it. The meme I saw or ten second sound byte I heard might be completely misrepresenting a situation, and by blindly accepting its opinions without comparing it to primary source evidence, I could be allowing myself to be duped. Moreover, just as outlined by the second outcome, it is important that I am then able to pick apart the sources I do find and critically analyze them to form my own perspectives.

I am not a very combative individual, but I will certainly argue for a better deal when the situation is appropriate, or make my case to my siblings as to why I should get the best piece of pie after dinner or the preferred spot in the car during a long road trip. The ability to persuasively produce a complex claim is a necessity within many more serious ventures as well. When I applied to various universities last year, I repeatedly defended the argument that I should be accepted. I had to follow a line of inquiry that looked at my accomplishments and their relation to one another, give plentiful evidence to prove the university should care about having me at their institution, and present this all in a clear, cohesive manner. I made a similar argument when successfully applying to a study abroad program for the summer, I will make it again while applying to scholarships over spring break, and I will continue to do so as I move on to looking for research, applying for graduate schools, searching for a job, vying for a promotion, and so forth.

Revising, editing, and proofreading might initially appear to be solely applicable to writing. However, such an understanding of these skills would be overlooking the importance of mental and vocalized editing in daily conversation. For example, when I am tired and grumpy in the morning because I stayed up late finishing a lab report and I do not want to have to walk to class in the rain at 9:00 A.M., it takes a lot of restraint and internal proofreading before I can let myself respond to my roommate’s chipper, “Good morning!” without coming across as unduly rude. On those days that I fail in that worthy endeavor, hasty and vocal revision is called for in order to smooth things over. Occasionally, I will not immediately realize that I need to rephrase a statement or clarify my position on a topic, but a peer is often able to see the flaws in my conversation and point me in the right direction. The importance of this capacity to accept mistakes and develop suitable approaches for remedying them cannot be stressed enough.  

It is unlikely that I will be taking many more English classes, but through my work and writing in this class and my portfolio reflection on said work and writing I feel that I have gained appreciable skills which I can apply to numerous areas of my life.