The first major assignment for this course focused on analyzing the rhetoric of an author. In other words, how an author presents, conveys, and strengthens an argument. I wrote about "We Have Ruined Childhood", an opinion piece by Kim Brooks.
One of the goals for this course is that "students practice critical reading strategies", which I feel is extremely applicable to this assignment. By analyzing the rhetoric in an article, I looked at how effective Brooks is at conveying her argument. In a world of sensationalized media, I found this to be extremely helpful outside of class. Even though I am not going to be writing it down, I will use the methods of analyzing rhetoric when reading online articles. For instance, looking at the ethos built in the article may give an idea about if the person is qualified to speak on the subject. Being able to recognize exigence gives insight into the motivation behind an article, which can in turn expose certain biases.
This was our 2nd writing project, which was a definitional argument about a word or phrase. In this paper, I looked at the term GMO and discussed how it is used, misused, and what effect this has on our society.
definitional argument GMO.docx
From my personal experience in this course, a large portion of the writing process takes place before a draft is ever written. When writing the definitional argument, the term GMO was not assigned to me. After thinking about certain terms that I hear often, I settled on GMO because it was something which I believe is misused. After I decided on a word, I began researching the ways in which other people use this term.
This allowed for me to analyze how people use the word in other articles. For example, is it being used correctly in reputable sources? I found that the meaning of the term was extremely vague even in articles about GMOs. I found this to be applicable to content outside of my article. It is important to understand the meaning and implications of a term before reading an article to prevent any misconceptions.
My third project was a research paper revolving around digital literacy among Northeastern students. Looking back on it, this paper was the most difficult, with extensive research and detailed revisions. We formed groups for this project, and the three of us chose to write about how the comment section of an article influenced readers' opinions on the subject. Even though this was the most time consuming, I believe it was the most relevant and rewarding paper of the course. We designed an experiment and made conclusions based on our data; which is extremely applicable to my major. As an engineering student I think that the knowledge gained from the writing process of this project is invaluable.
Our last writing project was an op-ed. This is centered around a problem at Northeastern University, and includes a proposed solution. For my op-ed, I wrote about the First Year Engineering Learning and Innovation Center (FYELIC) and the ways it can be improved.
It was nice to write in an op-ed format, since most of my papers have been directed to a more professional audience. The audience of this peice was the readers of the Huntington News, a publication specific to Northeastern students. The audience has an impact on the writing conventions and style, and I found it refreshing to direct my argument to other Northeastern students. Being able to apply research from outside Northeastern to come up with a proposed solution is something which I can see myself doing in the future. The op-ed format mobilizes students and gives them a chance to explore means to create change in their learning enviroment; something that I believe every student should learn.