This reflective essay evaluates my progress throughout the year by examining completed assignments: an informative review paper, a sustainability PSA, and a research presentation. Aligned with course objectives, these tasks have shaped both my personal and academic development. Through introspection, I address challenges, refine skills, and gain insights, highlighting their impact on achieving the course’s learning objectives.

Writing Self-Assessment

Throughout the course of the semester, we have learned and practiced a variety of writing approaches, each tailored to specific contexts and objectives. From crafting informative review papers to advocating through Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and articulating stances in position papers, as well as delivering research presentations, our course has been rich with diverse writing experiences. The aim of the self-assessment is to address the learning outcomes and personal growth attained throughout the course, and this introspective analysis will provide valuable insights into the effectiveness and nuances of each writing approach and strategy, and their applicability in future academic endeavors.

The first style of writing we attempted was the informative review paper on Henrietta Lacks’ pivotal contribution to research, particularly in the creation of the polio vaccine, which was a deeply insightful yet challenging endeavor. When writing about her story, it not only required an understanding of the scientific breakthroughs but also of the structural racism that often goes overlooked. In writing this, I wanted to emphasize that Henrietta Lacks’ case was one instance of many egregious injustices experienced by marginalized communities in pursuit of scientific progress, echoing other experiments such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. In the initial drafting process, highlighted by the planning in Homework Post #4 on my site, was extremely helpful in laying the foundation for the nuances and strategies that would be needed to write a paper involving the persistent structural racism within science and research while remaining objective. The peer review, cited above in the first cover page image, helped me neutralize controversial issues and concerns while effectively connecting HeLa cells/Henrietta Lacks’ story with my topic Moreover, feedback from an external source aided in the course learning objective as it helped acknowledge mine and others’ range of linguistic differences as resources. Furthermore, in writing this paper, and after receiving peer review, I learned that it was especially crucial to provide as much background information and context to maximize the average reader’s understanding. One of the most pressing considerations of writing this paper was trying to find a balance of presenting information in a manner accessible to both the general public and experts. I found it crucial to choose language that not only conveyed the scientific intricacies in effective layman’s terms but also that sensitively addressed the broader social and ethical implications of Lacks’ story. The overall process of writing the informative review paper reaffirmed the ethical responsibility inherent in communicating scientific knowledge to a wider audience.

The sustainability project and crafting a PSA video advocating for sustainability through office adaptive reuse allowed me to explore an intersection of writing processes. Creating the video as a group allowed me to experience the development and engagement in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes. In collaboration on the group aspect of the PSA video, there were not any real challenges encountered, but I did learn the importance of communication and coordination to efficiently create an effective project. Just as with the informative review paper, I was tasked with not only conveying information effectively but also taking a stance and raising awareness about a pressing issue. Homework Post #6 served as an extremely useful catalyst for planning the project, and finding visuals and examples in which adaptive reuse was successfully implemented, which would serve as the basis for future applications. The TedX video was a very useful video in the information-gathering steps of creating the PSA video, since it was one of the few resources that went in depth discussing the benefits and applicability of adaptive reuse. The visual aids chosen for our SPSA video were particularly selected in order to provide a bright contrast of the possibilities that adaptive reuse can provide in New York City and create a more vibrant seen that viewers would identify with. For instance, we included images of how a building by Tribeca in downtown Manhattan was transformed from an unused space to a recreational lounge. As I delved into the intricacies of the topic, I found myself drawing parallels to the challenges faced in discussing Henrietta Lacks’ contribution to research. The experience of crafting a persuasive argument for sustainability required a delicate balance of conveying complex concepts in a manner accessible to a diverse audience. I learned a lot about sustainability practices that I had never even heard of, and the pressing need for the implementation of such methods. The experience enabled me to effectively communicate the importance of sustainable practices, while applying the skills learned from writing the informative review paper for the subsequent task of writing a position paper advocating for funds from Governor Hochul’s funding. In adapting my target audience to my sustainability plan and supporting my position paper thesis, I used a variety of strategies, such as citing existing forms of sustainability efforts that audiences may be familiar with and relating them back to realistic quantifiable research findings that reinforce the need for greater funding into adaptive reuse. Since I didn’t have the same flexibility of using a wide variety of visual aids in the position paper, I settled on using figures such as graphs and hard data in order to back my position. The language and design were aimed to be friendly to any reader, regardless of their familiarity with the issues and proposed sustainability method, which is why I believe that people who speak other language varieties other than Standard American English can still resonate with both my PSA video and position paper. This allowed me to accomplish the course learning objective of formulating and articulating a stance through and in my writing.

The final project involved conducting research and creating a presentation on the need for greater investigation into a niche topic, which for mine particularly was the relationship between celebrity illness disclosures and their impact on health behaviors, citing HIV/AIDS disclosures as context. The prep-work for the presentation and research proposal was done through Homework Post 11, where we identified the research topics, “Moves” 1, 2, and 3, and also completed an annotated bibliography on our sources. This was extremely beneficial in organizing my research findings that served as the framework for the rest of my project. However, my initial research proposal before the presentation required revising and editing to establish a more explicit and clearer “Move 2”, which aided in furthering my course learning objective of enhancing strategies for reading, drafting, revising, editing, and self-assessment.  Similar to previous writing assignments, such as the informative review paper and the sustainability PSA, I faced the challenge of effectively communicating complex concepts to a diverse audience. Being that we were supposed to choose a niche topic, it was inherent that a majority of the audience would have little to no familiarity with the topic. However, presenting research orally provide unique opportunities to engage the audience through visual aids, narratives, and anecdotes. For instance, in my presentation, I incorporated images such as newspaper articles and posters to show contemporary concerns surrounding disease disclosures.  Furthermore, the PSA position paper and revision of my proposal allowed me to develop as a writer as I was able to clearly articulate the need for further research into my niche topic. Unlike a written essay, which relies solely on the reader’s interpretation, an oral format allows for real-time interaction and clarification of concepts to which the delivery of information can be tailored to the audience’s level of comprehension and interest. For the oral presentation, I had to adopt a more conversational tone, prioritize clarity and conciseness, and strategically integrate visual aids to enhance understanding and retention. Incorporating narratives and real-world examples like Magic Johnson and Freddie Mercury helped to contextualize the research findings and make the significance of the topic resonate. The experience helped me further achieve my course learning objectives, as it allowed me to practice using various resources and databases to support my project while strengthening my source use. The reflections and peer-reviews following the completion of the presentations was another extremely insightful experience. Beyond just listening to my peers’ presentations, looking in-depth through their slides served as a very valuable practice of being able to see others’ approach to research and how they organized their work to deliver a coherent presentation.

After reviewing my Letter of Introduction from the first week of class, I believe that my responses from questions 7 and 9 haven’t changed since taking the course. I still believe that the two characteristics of an “articulate” speaker are being coherent and expressive. My response to question 7 was that these are the two most important qualities, as a person would be able to passionately express information in a way that comes off as both linguistically intelligent and eloquent. The oral presentation taught me that using narratives and anecdotes while speaking exemplify these characteristics and make for the most engaging and easily understandable presentations. By passionately expressing this information in a clear and concise manor, the information is able to resonate with the intended audience. Furthermore, I believe that Standard American English makes science writing more accessible to the general public because it provides more familiar terminology for which audiences who aren’t experts can understand. In my response to question 9, I said that Standard American English makes science writing more accessible to the general public because it allows for a greater amount of comprehension as a direct result of the more familiar terminology being used. I believe that when there is an overwhelming number of specific terms and science diction being used, there is a large barrier of comprehension particularly for those with little background in science. The writing of the informative review paper and the sustainability project were especially crucial as they involved presenting delicate stances and information to audiences in the most clear and understandable manner. Standard American English was one of the best strategies for this, as it maximized the accuracy and precision of information being conveyed and made it easier to comprehend for those with little foundations in the sciences or particular research.

Below are two examples of peer reviews I completed, and by looking at others’ work I was able to experience different perspectives and approaches to these writing forms.