Rhetorical Response

Writing my first essay in this Rhetoric course was not very easy for me. I started off by reading the paper a few times which was about televisions negative influence on children. I felt like I understood the paper, but apparently not. I could come up with a million positive reasons on how kids can benefit from TV, but apparently he meant it was good for them in moderation. I mainly directed my writing towards the parents. Basically stating that it's their fault, and they should just learn to use parental controls. I grew up watching a lot of television, I'm not obese and I'm also in college so apparently no restrictions on television in my home worked out just fine for me. I'm not sure if I agree on limitations with TV, which is probably why my writing on this subject was so poor.
If I could rewrite my paper now I'd keep reading the paper over and over and not start writing until i really understood the paper. Obviously you're not going to write that great of a response when you can't even make up your mind or stay firm on your opinion. The writers room is somewhere I'll probably be a lot this semester considering that I still have a lot to improve on. My huge down fall is coming up with a good thesis. If you cant come up with a good thesis it's not a good start to your writing. I also tend to ramble and not state facts. More research is probably needed. Though this paper wasn't my best work I know I'll get better in time.