When I started the RCL class, I thought that it would be an English class with a couple of papers and a couple of projects. I expected to read some books and analyze them and move on. I never really discussed how rhetoric affected civic life.

I previously thought that rhetoric was only something that could be used in books. But through this class I can see that it’s about making an argument through writing or speech; some images can even make arguments. I previously thought of civic life as being a “good citizen” by voting or recycling. But I learned it’s more than that; civic life involves establishing a community and changing society for the better. This can happen through voting or through recycling, but the society is what ultimately benefits from civic life.

I did not expect to learn about how rhetoric and English plays a role in human society, but I can say with confidence that I have learned a lot about rhetoric’s role in today’s world. I never really thought of TV shows to be rhetorical, but after preparing my speech and paper about 13 Reasons Why, I learned a lot about the impacts of the different rhetorical devices used in TV shows. Hyperbole, for example, was a huge factor in creating 13 Reasons Why into a stagey melodrama that affects societal views on suicide.

I think that the second project, where we had to thoroughly research a topic, made me more aware of civic issues in our society and the shifts that we have faced throughout history. Although smoking, my topic, is something that I have grown up learning about, I found it very beneficial to learn what drove the societal shift away from smoking, as well as the shift back to e-cigarettes.

I am extremely excited about our last project. This has taught me a lot specifically about civic life at Penn State. Our project is about inclusion of transgender students in college dorms, and I find it very beneficial to see the rhetoric made about transgenderism, as well as how our culture in State College handles inclusion. I never really thought that rhetoric would apply to a topic like transgenderism, nor that transgenderism is a part of civic life.