Dr.

Atwell,

This webpage is designed to convey what I’ve learned this semester in Writing 3030. We
learned about how discursive communities shape the rhetoric, and then learned how to convey ideas
in a multitude of structures including a research proposal and an IMRAD report. I learned a lot, and
saw my writing process improve in front of my eyes which is awesome.

Throughout the course of the semester we worked on a variety of assignments that pushed
us to address different discursive communities within the sciences. We were also tasked with writing
in multiple mediums from creating a website to writing a formal scientific IMRAD report. Although
my forum analysis website and my personal research proposal were both about artificial intelligence
(AI), they were vastly different end products that challenged me to write to two incredibly distinct
audiences.
For my forum analysis, I had to compare and contrast a scientific journal and a popular
media organization in computer science. I had to create my website to convey this comparison to
people who are not in the field of computer science, but I also wanted to do it in a way that was
interesting to read and look at. I believe my website did just that, even though I could definitely
improve several aspects.
I also really enjoyed working through the research proposal assignment because it
challenged me to write towards an audience that has knowledge in the field of computer science. I
wrote about the public’s perception regarding AI, and although my audience does have some
background information on computer science, I still had to paint a vivid picture of what my
research would entail and why it’s important.
I was trying to sway the reader to reach my conclusions in both of these projects, but the
audiences varied which made it difficult. This forced me to take an entirely different approach so I
could come across persuasive in each paper. The style required of the forum analysis is incredibly
useful for conveying difficult topics to people who are not in my field; this has many rhetorical
applications ranging from tutorials to an explanation of a complex topic. The research proposal
showed the basics of writing a proposal. This allowed me to explore the important art of coming up
with an intriguing idea and then explaining it to others in order to get them to accept your proposal.
Both of these concepts are incredibly important skills to possess in any field.

Although every assignment encouraged this idea of “incorporating our knowledge and ideas
in a coherent and meaningful manner”, the in-class writing conferences definitely helped me the
most because it allowed me to view my writing through someone else’s eyes. This was important,
especially when writing papers on complex subjects, because it provided me a way to rephrase
chunky sentences and clarify other confusions. I oftentimes over complicate my writing, and these
conferences helped me to reimagine my papers in simpler ways.
Beyond the conferences, the entire Research Report process from proposal to presentation
helped me take a hard look at organizing my knowledge and ideas properly. This project started with
the proposal which was the challenging beginning to throwing my thoughts down on paper in a clear
and concise style. This paper started out rough, but eventually was in the running to be chosen by
my group. Once my group and I moved into the IMRAD report, it forced me to think about my
ideas in relation to the group’s ideas. This was hard at first but then I was able to see how our ideas
were interconnected. Even though I wasn’t the sole author of the paper, I do believe that the
knowledge we presented in the paper was structured in a meaningful and coherent manner.
Finally, the examples shown in class helped show multiple ways to organize information. I
was able to draw inspiration from multiple older examples, which ultimately made me take a hard
look at how I should organize my ideas. They also reminded me that visual creativity is our friend.
The website examples are the ones that stand out the most, but seeing several proposal structures, I
was able to apply some of those ideas as well.

It did not start out this way, but I believe my best paper in the class was my research
proposal, not only because it was a difficult topic to write on, but also because I had a lot of
information I didn’t know how to convey. The first drafts were difficult to comprehend for myself
and classmates alike, but through the conferences I was able to simplify and explain certain sections
in greater detail. I also liked seeing multiple old examples because it allowed me to think hard about
how I wanted mine to look like. I went from a confusing draft to a well-polished research proposal
regarding artificial intelligence, so it also highlights how I was able to transform my writing process
into multiple recursive iterations.

I chose to revise the forum analysis website even though I didn’t have a laundry list of items
to fix. I had to improve the introduction paragraph on my homepage to explain the site a little
better. I also had to make sure that the section headers actually add to the quality of writing rather
than random buzzwords like: Title. Other than these simple fixes, I like how the comparisons read,
and the site looks good.

My goals were:
• Write for an audience with no computer science background at all
• Improve the structure of my writing and written papers
• Improve my overall writing process

I believe I hit every single one of my goals with flying colors. I struggled with my research
proposal to convey difficult computer science topics to non-computer people, but once I turned it
in, I believe it really accomplished this. An example of this is when I introduce my topic and define
artificial intelligence; it conveys complex information to an ordinary audience. Also, this
transformation from a decent paper to a significantly improved paper showcases how I was able to
improve my writing process. My writing process before this class was not much of a process at all
but now I would consider my process more refined. Lastly, the forum analysis and the final Research
Report really allowed me to focus my energy on the structure of the paper and my writing
specifically. Although I need to continue to practice each of these goals, I have a stronger
foundation than before.

Overall I learned a lot and I hit the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the semester
which I am proud of. Lastly, I really enjoyed the presentations because it forced me out of my
comfort zone with my hatred of public speaking. It showed me that presentation preparation is
crucial, and public speaking really isn’t that scary. Thanks again for an awesome semester!

Best,
Andrew Pickner

P.S. I loved the attendance questions!