Reflection

            On average a student in an education system tends to attend 14 years of language classes in order to develop and hone in on his skills for proper communication with others. In Writing for the Sciences, instructed by Mrs. Caitlin Geoghan, we learned new techniques to expand our own armory skill set and how to implement those skills into our own writing assignments. These Techniques such as:

Reverse outlines, this is done by examining and dissecting an article in which you intend too “duplicate”. You would do this by noting the targeted audience, genre and type of evidence evidence/literary device used (Ethos, Pathos and Logos). Although I feel as if I was able to analyze and duplicate the original author’s methods, I feel as if I limited my writing in trying to duplicate the essay in length, general idea and tone of the paragraph; causing me to fall short in my explanation and the clearness of my writing. This can be shown in my writing of “Revelations” in the second paragraph, “That was a comedic short example revealing the potential for evil we all possess. Why are we, the common man/woman, allowing the vaccination of healthy young children and young adults; even when the health risks and hospitalization rates are basically non-existent. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “among states reporting, children ranged for 1.4%-4.6% of their total cumulated hospitalizations, and 0.1%-1.5% of all their child COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization”. Additionally, “In states reporting, 0.00%-0.01% of all child Covid-19 cases resulted in death”, portraying just how insusceptible these kids are to the Covid virus, they are more likely to be hospitalized and potentially, lose a battle with the yearly standardized flu”. In this section of the original writing, “Here’s Some (slightly) less worrisome Covid-and-kids News”, by Jessica Grose, the author uses the literary device of Logos, the use of statistics and logic to convey your writing onto the reader, and more specifically, a quote about hospitalization rates. However, even though, the duplication is almost exact in duplicating those literary devices, I left room in the assignment for the reader’s interpretation rather than it being clear and direct on my own idea.

            Additionally, through this classes’ writing assignments we used the technique of outlining prior to writing our Technical Memo. These outlines are a literary technique used prior to writing in order to locate one’s sources and implement them onto a “map” that would guide you paragraph by paragraph when writing your essay. I have never done a formal APA style outline and did not know the extent of the mapping out required. Although, this method was helpful, personally, I don’t think I will be using the APA style out of free will again, unless I am really struggling with my essays form I know I will have this in the back of my mind.

            Finally, upon this reflection I realized I am more of a neutral writer than opinion based. I believe my writing was clearer and flowed better in the Technical Memo rather that the Op-Ed. This is probably due to the fact that I am just presenting the data that encompasses the subject and reflecting the data right back onto the targeted audience’s eyes. For example, in the Background section of my essay it just describes the demographic, location and significant historical events of Greenpoint through statistics and statements, there is no interpretation to make to connect back to my claim. When I mention “In the 1950s, the largest oil spill in America occurred in Greenpoint…” there is no interpretation to be made except we screwed up.

            I believe in “Writing for the Sciences” instructed by Mrs. Caitlin Geoghan, expanded my inventory on the different ways to approach my essay and various methods of communicating it back to the reader. Although, I am currently thinking that I will probably never use these in my life; I know these are practiced and tried ways in which I can approach tasks.