Part I
Writing is a continuous process, contingent on the occasion for writing as well as the circumstances one encounters during the process. By presenting and examining some of the writings I have done since my time at college, I wish to demonstrate how my writing experience has varied due to the different kinds of writing tasks I have faced, the requirements of these tasks, as well as how the level of my interest in a particular topic has shaped how I write and remember these writings. I have chosen to focus on my writings in an academic context because when viewed together, they present the multiplicity and variation a writer may encounter across different genres and when faced with different circumstances.
During the second semester of my freshman year in college, I enrolled in a required introductory writing class. One of the assignments of this class was to choose a particular subculture and construct an argumentative essay in which we demonstrate what this subculture reveals about the dominant culture of the society it is a part of. This assignment also demanded that we include scholarly and peer-reviewed articles as evidence. I chose to write about the American motorcycle subculture, mostly because I enjoyed and had just finished watching the FX series Sons of Anarchy, which focuses on a fictional American outlaw motorcycle club. After reading this text almost two years later, I can see that although I offered a thorough history of the biker subculture, I did not offer an original argument or analysis as to what it reveals about mainstream American culture. Instead, most of my argument relied on the academic sources I needed to use for the assignment, making the paper read like a report or paraphrase of the scholarly sources I cited. This work, along with another similar writing assignment helped me realize that I have had trouble developing original arguments when faced with assignment requirements to include academic or peer-reviewed literature on that given topic. In assignments where I needed to meet such requirements, I have sometimes relied too heavily on the arguments of the previous literature that I employed as evidence, instead of originally contributing to a continuing conversation. Looking back on it now, I think in this particular case I was thoroughly enthusiastic about the American outlaw motorcycle subculture after watching Sons of Anarchy and as a result, I did not give much thought to developing my own analysis in the essay, as I simply wanted to write anything about the topic. Nonetheless, there are other instances in my college writing experience that I look back more fondly on.
In my sophomore year of college I encountered another style of writing in a public speaking elective I decided to take. Over the course of the semester, we were required to compose three speeches with topics of our choice which we would then present to the class. One speech was persuasive, one was informative, and the final one was a special occasion speech. In constructing the speeches we were required to follow the format that the professor provided for that respective style of speech. I greatly enjoyed writing these speeches as well as presenting them to other students, with my favorite being the informative speech. Even though it was informative, we still had to present a central argument and tell a thematic story. I chose to write and talk about the origin of the gangster character in American cinema and how over time, the gangster’s image transitioned from that of an outsider and rebel to a mainstream pop-culture character used to tell broader stories about American society. This topic still has great significance for me because I am a film enthusiast and the gangster genre is one that I gravitated towards since childhood. Upon reading this speech outline a year after writing it I can say that I am thoroughly proud of the text as it presents a story of change, thoroughly informs on a topic that many find interesting, is relevant to American culture in general, and also employs scholarly articles as evidence.
Looking back on the public speaking class now, I believe the professor’s insistence on using his formulaic format for this speech allowed me to focus more on the message that I wanted to convey and not worry about the arrangement and structure of the points I wanted to bring up. In other words, I had one less thing to concern myself with and was able to refine my argument and concentrate my efforts on the physical presentation aspect of the speech. Unlike the earlier writing class essay in which I used scholarly sources and heavily relied on the arguments of those writers, in this informative speech I developed my argumentative points first and then researched and found other scholarly articles online that supported or demonstrated my position. I also think that the presentational component made a difference in how I wrote this piece because, unlike the essay for my first-year writing class, the professor was not the only one who was going to read or hear my ideas as I had to present them to other students just like me. This not only made the project more exciting and thrilling, but it helped me refine some of my argumentative points to make sure that I would not lose the attention of the audience through unnecessarily academic or professorial language. The way I pictured giving the speech was like telling a digestible story to your friends about something you find interesting, with the inclusion of some supporting evidence as well. Overall these factors helped shape this piece for the better, providing me with a unique reminder of an exciting part of my academic career. Even so, I cannot say that I had a similar memorable experience in all of my classes where I was prompted to write.
One such experience was in a general education geology class that I took during my sophomore year, the same semester as the aforementioned public speaking class. At this point, I wanted to satisfy my last science general education requirement so I chose to take this course because it seemed the most novice-friendly of the offerings at the time. The topic of the class was not interesting to me whatsoever but I put in the necessary effort to receive an A grade. Over the course of the semester, the workload was mainly preparation for quizzes and exams, but during the last month of the semester, we had to compose two research papers. For each piece, students were required to provide a comprehensive report on a specific geographic region on Earth. The assignment was relatively simple and did not require my unique argumentation and insight as it was simply an informative and descriptive writing task in which we needed to include data and research from reliable scholarly sources and experts in the field. Because of my disinterest in the class, as well as the non-argumentative, impersonal, and exclusively academic nature of the assignment, it was relatively forgettable. For these reasons, I have no further desire to read the work in the future, despite getting a grade of A on the work.
I have tried to show in my account of some of my writings in college that the writing process greatly differs depending on the topic we choose or are required to write about, as well as the specific demands of a particular writing assignment. Although it may seem obvious, I have found that for me, if the topic or subject I am writing about is one for which I have a great deal of passion, the writing experience is more memorable, meaningful, demanding, and thrilling. Typically if I am writing for a required class in which the subject matter is not particularly of interest to me, the writing in that class is more forgettable as I am simply writing for a grade. Ultimately, the most important thing I have learned from this examination of my past writings is that the aforementioned enthusiasm for a particular topic should not substitute and replace the need for thoughtful, critical, original, and unique argumentation in writing.
Part II
In my sophomore year of college, I enrolled in a political science class that centered on human rights. For one of the writing assignments, we were required to write a press release that addressed and reported on a contemporary human rights issue. I chose to write in response to recent actions taken by the authorities of the Republic of Greece that forced incoming migrants back across the Turkish border where they faced persecution. In accordance with the conventions of the press release genre, I included relevant argument claims based on existing international laws, made practical recommendations for action and change, used quotes from journalists, and crafted my own statements that at times were in quotations, following the occasional third-person style used in this genre. Even though I wrote this work for a particular class, the hypothetical audience of such a press release would be anyone who has access to the piece online.
The language of this text is descriptive and informative as it provides necessary contextual details and facts about the situation for the reader. This included the names, ages, and backgrounds of the migrants who were mistreated, the personal circumstances leading to the events, the illegal action taken by the Greek government, and the inclusion of the relevant passage from the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) that establishes the principle of non-refoulement, which Greece violated in this case. In addition, the rhetoric of the text aims at establishing credibility, conveying the importance and weight of the situation, and inciting a sense of urgency for the reader to bring awareness that will lead to legal and international action against the Greek government. For these purposes I specifically stated that the pushbacks by the Greek authorities had become “increasingly commonplace” and put these migrants at “direct risk of persecution, punishment, and ill-treatment” back in Turkey where they face wrongful imprisonment and even torture. In addition, I aimed to establish credibility by including quotations from articles by other journalists who reported on this issue, as well as citing the aforementioned relevant international laws. I aligned my claims not only with the mistreated refugees themselves but also with those of other writers reporting on the topic to lend more integrity and trustworthiness to my piece, while also showing the reader that this problem is not confined to a single case but is instead a persistent human rights issue occurring at the Greek-Turkish border. I also directly criticized the other European Union countries who remain silent on the matter because they are content with the fact that Greece is doing the dirty work of illegal migrant pushbacks for them. These inclusions were central to my rhetorical goals in this work because part of the intended audience of a human rights press release such as this are informed individuals, as they can help bring widespread awareness to the situation which will in turn aid the process of holding the Republic of Greece accountable.
In accordance with the writing conventions of the genre, in the final paragraph of the work, I made a call to action to the European Court of Human Rights by recommending that they condemn the Greek authorities for the illegal pushback of migrants to countries where they face punishment and persecution. The purpose of this call to action is to ensure that basic human rights principles are upheld and justice is served. This can only be done when legal and international action is brought against the responsible authorities for their wrongful actions. This call to action, like those of other similar press releases, also intends to prompt ambitious individuals and advocacy groups to spread awareness on the matter and call on non-governmental organizations, countries, or international courts to help address this issue on behalf of the victims of human rights violations.
Ultimately, this experience of writing a press release is one of my college writing works which I am fond of because it not only includes thoughtful and descriptive information regarding a recent and significant human rights issue, but also utilizes the reports of journalists as well as international law standards to suggest a particular course of action. As a Law, History, and Culture major I typically write more argumentative essays so this work signifies a unique and memorable style of writing in which I do not typically engage.
Bibliography
Kizirian, Gary. “Greece: French Woman Turned Back by Greek Border Officials; Greek
Authorities Force Migrants Back Across Turkish Border Where They Face Persecution.” 2022. University of Southern California, unpublished paper.