Conclusion

ENGL 470 has taught me many valuable lessons on how to effectively communicate in the workplace. I know that my knowledge on building each of these documents will greatly assist me when I enter my professional career. Through my other courses as an English major I have had extensive practice in identifying the persuasive appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos. However, this class was the first time that I had to implement that knowledge in creating a document for professional communication. I have gained knowledge of various organizational strategies and rhetorical techniques that I would not have otherwise known. I know that if I accomplish my goal of working in the publishing community that I will need to be able to recall these skills of compiling the different modes of communication. 

This year I completed my independent study, Rhetoric of Civic Engagement. For the last two semesters I have been working on a statement to serve as a reinforcement to the Longwood community, and more specifically students, about the importance of fostering relationships with Farmville residents as well as continuing current and creating new partnerships. This began in my English 305 Rhetoric of Apology class where I analyzed a lot of different apologies, one being the statement of regret for the institution’s actions during the civil rights era put out by Longwood and President Revely in 2014. From this, I wondered, why has there not been anything put out by students? That I began to work on this pledge and then this semester I have been doing this as an independent study; it has evolved from an apology to a statement of regret, and finally, into a pledge. I will include the pledge below for reference. The skills I learned in ENGL 470 worked side-by-side with the knowledge I needed in order to present my final pledge to Longwood students and the Farmville community.