Reflective Journal: Development of Public Language & Writing Skills

This reflective journal documents a student's learning journey, beginning with an initial positive impression of public language and its societal role. The journal explores the decay of language use, the importance of effective argumentation, and the skills required for public relations writing. It delves into the concepts of ethos, pathos, and logos, analyzing their application in various articles and speeches. The student reflects on the principles of writing, the diversity of writing types, and the impact of organizational writing. Furthermore, the journal examines the application of technological innovations and social media tools in enhancing writing capabilities and promoting businesses, referencing a case study on scarecrow marketing. The final reflection focuses on the use of technology in writing and promoting goods and services, with case study analyses highlighting the importance of public relations in the digital age.

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REFLECTION

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Week 1
The very first week has been so attractive and interesting that it created such a positive
impression on me that I became much more inclined towards the classes. The public language
has been playing such a vital role in the society and how the language differs along with the
people we interact and on the situation has also been revealed. The understanding of the
language has been presented in a wide and broad manner which helped me in getting the
knowledge of language importance and the impact that it has on the other person. Though the
language has been decaying in the present generation and the generation has been reducing the
exploration of the new words in English language. The decay has resulted in the limitation of the
use of words and these limitations has been impacting the kind of words that is being used by the
people at large and thus, the overall impression of the language has been decaying. The
politicians and the great personalities has not been utilizing the new words provided by the
English language which has been supporting the fall of the language. I have gained the
knowledge about how a language could be in a nation and the impact that it has on the overall
country has also been understood. Language changes along with the people with whom we
interact and this should be kept in mind as the effectiveness of communication depends on the
language we choose to interact in.
Week 2
Question1
In the second week, I came across the topic of making effective arguments. Effective
argumentation requires to understand the subject matter before resolving a conflict. Written
arguments must demonstrate the individual beliefs of a person and strong personal convictions.
With this I understood that when a person acquires knowledge about diverse topics, they develop
their own thinking and ensure that their arguments reach a conclusion. However, choosing the
correct topic and defining the right audience makes the argument valid. Nevertheless, an
argument must not involve in logical fallacies as it might only help in winning the argument and
not justifying the topic well.
Question 2

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In this week, I understood about the concepts of being a writer of Public Relations. I
came across the foundation skills required by a writer to undertake public relations writing
project. In the Part One of this section focuses on the way a writing should be continued in a
professional manner which must represent the conventions of a good writing. The writing must
also emphasize on the specific topics, for specific organization or a specific audience. Therefore,
a strategic planning and purposeful writing will be able to attract the attention of readers. I
believe ethical writing makes the writer be aware of their responsibility to themselves and
towards the society. From the Part Two, I understood that organizations derive opportunities to
present their ideas, opinions the avenue of writing. From the Part Three, I understood that public
relations writers are able to present their views by way of the media internal to organizations or
controlled by them. In order to prepare the writers skilled and knowledgeable in the field of
writing public relations, they are require to understand about the standards associated to various
media tools. I identified that the book comprises of many writing avenues where it deals with
either digital media tools or the traditional print and broadcast media. It can be concluded that
writing skills require the knowledge of various media tools and code of conduct in order to be
future ready in the field of public relations writing.
Question 3
The following research conducted in this article made me understand about how social
media can both be beneficial as well as a threat to organizations. The article highlights that social
media can an effective way for ad campaigns but on the contrary, these can suffer criticisms
from the public. But public relations officer must anticipate the immediate reactions and
situations before launching an ad campaign on social media.
Week 3
This third week has brought in the concept of ethos, pathos and logos in the writing and
the various articles provided helped in understanding the application and the use of each of the
types of speech in the correct and suitable scenario. The first article by Breitbart explores the
Trump’s decision on recognizing Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel which reflects the
courage and the determination that the president has been carrying in his personality. The article
also marks the distinction of Trump from all other presidents and leaders of USA that is he

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accrues some special courage and has the guts to make free statements. The speeches and the
quotations provided in the article clearly signifies the courage of the president. The article has
also provided with the issues and the wrong statements which has been made by him which
makes the article perfect one. The concerned article has been utilizing the logos perspective
where the entire writing has been supported with logic and reasoning. The second article which
was by ABC News has been reflecting the darker side of Trump’s leadership and this has been
done in with the emotional touch as the article provides the exclamations made by the common
people too. The emotional impact on the people has been reflected in the article and this reflects
that the pathos has been applied in the concerned article. The entire acknowledgement of the
articles has been quite productive for me as it provided me with a wide scope of understanding
the pathos and logos application and the effect and impact that the two has on the audience. The
application of both the categories of writing or speech has been quite fruitful for me as it
provided me with an opportunity of understanding the variability in the speech which could
impact the audience so regressively. Understanding of ethos, paths and logos has been quite
interesting and the use of each of the speeches could be made in the suitable scenario which
could actually provide with a wide range of diversity and the accuracy in meeting the target. The
application of these variety of elements in my speeches and language would help me in making
my speeches effective as well as more productive and thus, gain in building the public relations.
The enhancement in the communication skills and the writing capabilities would prove to be
productive to my career and the benefits that would be gained through it would be long lasting
too.
Week 4
On going through the four weeks of classes on, each week has provided with some new
ways of out looking the language and this helped me in gaining the importance of the language.
The writing variability and the writing skills which has been provided in the week four has been
broad in nature and it actually helped me in realizing the diversity that exists in the art of writing.
The discussion that has been provided on the principles of writing has helped me in
acknowledging the values and the ways that needs to be maintained in the writing and the
benefits that the writer could gain through following the principles has also been learnt. The
entire week has been progressive in nature and the various types of writing such as free writing,

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creative writing, functional writing, writing in order to influence others, improvising writing
skills, etc. all has added on to the diversity of writing and this helped me in understanding that
the language carries a wide perspective and the writer has to be specific about the result that he
wants to gain from his writing. The writer needs to select the kind of impact that he wants to give
on the reader and the target readers, this helps in selecting the exact and accurate type of writing.
Effective writing is another form which needs to be followed by the writer while choosing any of
the types of writing, the effective writing has to be specific and the language to be used in order
to make the writing effective should be chosen as per the kind of audience that he is targeting.
Some rules and guidelines has also been revealed in the concerned week which helps in
channelizing the writing to the correct path and this has provided me with a realistic writing and
reduce the number of fallacies in my writing. The entire week provided me with some of the
most required and the necessities of writing and the consideration of each of the elements could
provide the writer with accuracy and specifications in his writing. The week also provided with
the knowledge of organizational writing which includes the difference in language and approach
such as news letter writing, magazine, corporate report, blog, Wikipedia, flier, brochure, public
relations advertising, speechwriting and many others. These explanations provided a wide range
of knowledge on writing capabilities and the areas that needs to be concentrated while writing
each of the sections.
Week 5
The concerned week has been quite wide in nature and it has initiated the application of
the technological innovations in exploring the writing capabilities and the areas which could
actually utilize writing in its part in order to gain more identification and expand its market. The
exploration of the article provided with some of the most effective and most fruitful social media
tools which could be utilized in order to gain in the marketing and promotional activities. The
social media tools such as the Facebook, WhatsApp, twitter, etc. all has been favoring the
writing capabilities which could actually help the business to expand and grow widely. The week
has provided me with the introduction of the new era to technology and the social media
application which could accelerate its working along with providing a platform to other
businesses for placing their products and services in front of the customers. Building up the
public relation is an art and the art of writing provides a platform for creating and enhancing the

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public relations. The various social media tools provided in the article has actually helped me in
selecting the most convenient and the most effective tools for building up my public relation
through social media tools, the language and the way of expressing the content needs to be
accurate and the words selection should be done in an effective manner. The public relation is a
difficult task to build up but once it gets built up, the sustainability of the same needs proper
watering and care. The case study of scarecrow has been most effective one and as per my views
the choice of the organization has been quite adequate as it provided the audience with a realistic
a factual data which reflected the negativity of utilizing the processed ingredients in the food.
The short films that has been presented to the public through games and videos has actually been
effective and it could be claimed to be an effective tool to be utilized by the business sector to
add on to its customer base. The technological application in the process has been wide and this
has added on to my knowledge and experience of public relations. The vital points that needs to
be considered in building a public relation and for sustaining it has been acknowledged and this
is expected to prove quite fruitful in future.
Week 6
The sixth week has been quite interesting and much updated version of the technology
use in the writing and the way these technological innovations has been supporting in the
enhancement of writing skills as well as the use of writing in promoting the goods and services.
The digitalized world has been favoring the promotional activities of the various products and it
has actually been beneficial in enhancing the sales figures of various companies. The case study
analysis of the public relations has been quite effective and it provided with some fruitful results
too. The application of the social media techniques in the promotion and advertisement of the
products has been rightly recommended by the researcher and the content of the social media is
based on the writing skills. The description of four award winning public relations campaigns
has been provided with wide scope of exploration and it helped me in realizing that the writings
skills could actually provide the promotional activities with immense publicity. The social media
content which has been favored by all the other technologies too, such as fixing of time, display,
etc. could provide the business owners with positive and wide range of success. The week
provided me with immense knowledge on the technological implication in writing and how the
technologies could be explored through making the right use of writing skills. This provided me

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with a wide scope of writing and the future of writing which made writing habit a reliable one.
As writing as a wide scope in future which would be technology based and thus, the
improvement in the writing skills would add on to the career scope too.
Week 7
Letter to the CEO of XYZ Company-
Respected Sir/Ma’am,
The article highlights on an association named Forget Me Not Australia which deals with
protection of children and keeping their families together for the betterment of the children. It
partners with organizations in Nepal, Uganda and India to gain local knowledge on delivering
utmost care to the children and their families. The initiatives are focusing upon 5 most important
aspects of protecting the interests of children namely, rescue, prevention, reuniting with their
families, advocacy and research. Forget Me Not Australia has been prevalent in the above
mentioned countries tackling with the issues faced due to child health risks, child trafficking,
child labor and poverty. It is often identified that the countries like Nepal and India have high
rates of orphans comprising of approximately 80% of them living in orphanages due to
abandonment from parents at infancy or their incapability to raise the child. However, many
organizations in such countries take the advantage of the families in need by alluring them that
their children will be admitted to good schools and lead a better life. Countries in Uganda and
India suffer from extreme poverty and children are deprived of basic healthcare and education
facilities. The increasing concern has given Forget Me Not Australia an opportunity to challenge
such issues and support such underprivileged children and their families.
I would also like to highlight on the fact in the current scenario, Forget Me Not is doing an
excellent job in facing the challenges of rescue, reunification, family tracing of orphans, and
healthcare facilities with the help of a dedicated team of social workers who are connected to this
cause from a very long time. The organization has been efficient and recognized for its
commendable efforts in making significant differences in the lives of orphan children and their
families. According to their belief, children deserve love, care and affection and orphanage is not
what they deserve at the first place. From the Nepal archives, it is evident that the rate of children
trafficking has been reduced to a significant level by the implementation of Change Agent

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Program in the rural and remote areas. In Uganda, Forget Me Not Nanna Project works with
grandmothers and funding for construction of ‘Home for Life’ for orphaned siblings have been
immensely helpful to secure the lives of the children. In India, the project HELP (Health,
Education, Livelihoods & Possibilities) has gained the momentum that has resulted in building
shelters for women and girls to sleep safely in, construction of public toilets and facilitating safe
practices of child birth. The education initiatives include opening up of Bright Futures Study
Centre in 2014. The Livelihoods initiatives has facilitated vocational training for the youth and
parents for better job opportunities. The Possibilities initiatives has helped the people of the
community to live a better life.
Currently, Forget Me Not is raising funds in Australia from the corporates and
community supporters to support the initiatives in Nepal, India and Uganda. The emerging
concerns have helped people gather courage to fight against them and therefore, Forget Me Not
is on a mission to nurture and resource the thriving communities and lead towards a better future.
Week 8
Question 1
With the gradual increase in the knowledge on language and writing skills along with the
technological applications and exploring various tools of technology and media promotion, it has
been quite interesting as well as knowledgeable in person. The media activism in the digital age
has provided with some of the most relevant and accurate information on the use of technology
in the media activities which has been known for accelerating the business sector as well as other
sectors. The exploration in communication and its history has provided with a wide knowledge
on the kind of techniques that used to be utilized in the previous era and what its impacts has
been. This has provided me with the information on the reason for the gradual increase in the
technological sector which has provided the present generation with a wide and broad way of
utilizing the concerns. The gradual change in the journalism and its working activities has been
the consequence of the technological innovations which has provided a broader concept to the
developments and the need of changing the media activities has been the result. The media
activities has been explored in the writing which has added on to my knowledge of benefits of
technology and the transformation that has been provided by it. The consequences of the

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application of the technology and the transformation in the journalism and other media activities
has added on to the elements that could be utilized by the business sector for promoting and
reaching to the people at large. The ease of reaching to people at large and the platform where
the audience or the customers could be provided with wide information on the products and
services has been favoring the growth of the entire industry. I have gained the diversity in the
technology information and knowledge throughout this article and it has been quite informative
too.
Question 2
Week 9
The ninth week has provided with a wide scope of learning which explored the western
strategic communications techniques and the skills that are required for it. The entire article has
explored the western communicators’ skills and the techniques along with its benefits which
could be gained through its use. The working of the western communicators has been quite
smooth and easy which could be applied in the day to day communication in order to gain the
fluency in the work. The technological impaction has been such that the people are carrying a
perspective of being replaced by the technology in the coming years and this would make the
people useless and unemployed. The technological innovations has been quite helpful for the
world but the flow and the pace needs to be controlled so that a balance could be maintained
between manual work and the machinery works. The intercultural competencies has been quite
wide and if it gets utilized accurately then the output could actually be beneficial for the people.
The entire week has provided me with a wide range of knowledge on the intercultural
competencies and it has been channelized in a manner that the western communicators could
actually explore these learning’s and apply it in their personal as well as professional life. As I
have understood the concept of intercultural competencies it could actually provide the people
with a wide scope of enhancing the learning capabilities and the perspective of the people would
also be changed. A positive attitude could be built up which would provide the people with a
smooth environment. The intercultural competencies could actually be helpful in gaining an
acceleration in the industry which could provide the economy of the country impacting the world
economy to grow and develop immensely. The competency rate has to be maintained that is the
balance is required which has been suggested by ubuntuism. In order to become more competent

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it could be done through adding on more skills and criticizing nature in the person which would
transform or channelize the path towards perfection and thus, the competency would be
increased. The increased competencies would actually provide with a scope of enhancing the
actions and thus, the communications would be enhanced too.
Week 10
The comic of Toby Morris carries a strong and hidden message which is the reality of the
society and this needs to be understood by the people. The characters that the comic represent
two different child one who has every comfort of life while the other is the one whose parents are
trying hard to provide their child with everything as possible. These situations has been
representing the fact of life which states that the one who has the power of money could actually
enjoy success while the one who works hard and equally feels for his family responsible has to
serve the other. The inclusion of this story in the primary section would actually help the
students and the children to understand the hardships that their parents go through and this would
make them responsible. The inclusion would actually provide the students with the facts of the
society and this would help them in building up their personality and thus the areas which they
need to work on would be clear to them. The path would be channelized and thus, the focus to
their destinations would also be clear and determined. The child would get to know the traits that
he needs to follow in order to reach to the high point of success and thus this would be the
benefit of the inclusion. Though the cultural and the values of the society would also be provided
along with it, but it would also depend on the child’s perspective as to which content appears
attractive to him. It’s a request to add on the comic in the primary section syllabus, Kalinda
Brovich, and provide the students with all the facts and let them choose as per their point of
view.
Week 11
Question 1
Question 2
Week 12

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On acknowledging the article on professional communication techniques at workplace, it
has been realized that the tools and the features of workplace communication has been quite
effectively mentioned in the article. The specification of the communication going wrong and the
personality traits has provided with a wide concept of how the difference in personality impacts
the words and the speeches of the person. On acknowledging the differences I have cross
checked myself and this provide me with information that my personality has been such that I
have been quite helpful to my group in the public communication classes and this has helped me
in realizing that I have been quite soft spoken and been an understanding guy. The capability of
building a network so that in future I have the wide range of people to approach to has been
adequately present in me and this has also been the consequence of my helpful nature. The
communication issues has been existing in me as I have realized that the use of exact words and
expressions has not been done by me in an accurate manner which resulted in conflicts and
arguments. The application of the personality traits has been identified to be enhanced within me
so that this would help me in acknowledging the person accurately and thus, providing the
people with the exact and the required words. This would make me communicatively enhanced
and thus gain in my working and personal life.
Week 13
The learnings from week 1 to week 12 have been insightful and created a sense of
positive influence on me that helped me to actively observe the subject matters. I was able to
understand the importance of public language better as it helps us to gain knowledge about
different other languages and several unutilized English words. As opined by Richards (2015),
language plays an important role on how we interact with others it also helps them to frame
effective arguments. During the second week, I came across the concepts of being a public
relations writer. As suggested by Theaker (2016), a writer of public relations not only has to
present a good piece of writing but also provide with specific topics to discuss upon. As a career
option, it can be opportunistic but requires the writer to have a sense of responsibility in their
writing and not attract any kind of negative criticism. Therefore, as mentioned in week 3, a
writer must understand the concept of ethos, pathos and legos thoroughly in order to enhance
their communication skills and writing abilities for a better career. The fourth week made me
understand the importance of language in the career development of a writer. The learnings were

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helpful in focusing on the necessities of writing and consideration of each element. However,
during the fifth week, I became aware of the technological innovations that can be utilized in the
field of writing. As identified by Khan (2017), with the advent of technology, organizations and
individual writers are promoting themselves over social media platforms thereby enhancing their
public relations. But if we look at the upside of implementing technology in building public
relations, Valentini (2015) suggest that it has provided with certain advantages associated to it
making it easier to reach out to the masses. The sixth week was followed by the fifth week is it
clearly defined the enhancement of writing skills by way of using technology. In the seventh
week, I was required to write a letter to the CEO of a commercial company to promote about
Charity organization named Forget Me Not Australia. The writing style utilized in this letter was
formal and clearly defined its objectives and capabilities to serve the society. Hence, as per
Krippendorff (2018), it can understood that a writing requires to have the right content and right
way of expressing the ideas to promote it. Apart from writing, journalism is also a field which
has transformed with the technological advancements. Therefore, it explains about the broader
concept of communication between people and how it has gradually changed from the past to
present. After this insightful learning from eighth week, I came across the topic of western
strategic communications techniques that helps a communicator to understand on the
intercultural competencies and how it is helpful for enhancing communication. From the case
studies in week 10, highlights the fact that when a person has the power of money, people are
able to taste the success. However, it depends on the perspective of a person whether to take it
positively or negatively. By the end of teachings in week 12, I understood about the impact of
personalities on words and speech of the person. Therefore, it can be summarized that, all these
weekly learnings are related to the profession of writing in public relations and would be
immensely effective in enhancing an individual's personal and professional life.