One of the most influential experiences I have had in class, was listening to your lecture on close reading. Before that lecture I had no idea what close reading even was, and I certainly had no experience in it. At first I couldn't do it, it was so hard for me to understand elements of the text that are underneath the surface. But after practice I started to get the hang of it, and this changed my writing completely. It changed my writing because it changed my reading comprehension. I was now spending a lot more time whenever I read because I was looking to identify certain rhetoric that could be a symbol or metaphor referring to a bigger theme. Every single word or phrase now seemed so important to me, as it can posses visible and invisible significance that contributes to the overall purpose of the text. Because of this I could better understand the purpose and arguments of rhetoric used. I then could apply the same strategies that I now see into my own writing, improving my ability to produce stronger rhetoric.