The Self-Assessment essay is a critical reflection, where I describe my development as a writer in the course, analyzing the concepts and material I’ve learned. Below I discuss my growth in the class starting from the material I’ve explored and my reflection of my own work.
- Explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations
One of the first writing assignments done in this course was the informative review. The aim of the informative review was to explain and communicate scientific issues to a secondary audience who is unfamiliar with with the science, who struggle to decipher Standard American English, or who might distrust science due to structural racism. In the paper, I had to write without taking a position, in order to synthesize the summary and findings of published research. Additionally, the paper was meant to show how our chosen scientific advancement was developed from HeLa cells and thus connects how our current scientific discoveries resulted from ethical concerns on how Henrietta Lacks’ cells that were taken without consent, which contribute to poor interactions in medicine and ongoing distrust in science. My paper, “The Forgotten: A Pharmaceutical Scandal of Over 20,000 Children,” discusses how HeLa cells helped expose the pharmaceutical scandal of Thalidomide, a drug that was initially used to treat morning sickness in pregnant women that had shown to be the cause of damaging birth defects of children. This essay aims to inform the public of the controversy of Thalidomide, acknowledge the ethical concerns of how Hela cells were acquired and reveal the continuous impact and distrust this has instilled in marginalized communities. The audience of the paper was a secondary audience unfamiliar with scientific terms and language. Thus, the style of this paper had to be unbiased and use adaptive measures, including visuals and graphs, as well as accessible language to present complicated topics into understandable concepts. For example, in my paper to explain the impact of thalidomide, I used personal anecdotes of patients like Louise Merdus to engage the reader into the topic. Additionally, I use metaphors like “thalidomide had widespread success in Europe to the point where it became as famous as aspirin,” and thus even readers who are unfamiliar with thalidomide, can understand it’s popularity since I compared it to the popularity of a a common household medication. The informative review was structured with a cover page with a striking title, an opening paragraph to gain the readers attention, a discussion of the background of the issue that explains and defines key terms and concepts, an acknowledgment of structural racism in science, and a conclusion.
Part 1 of the Sustainability Project was the SPSA video which aimed to convey environmental and sustainability issues, solutions and related organizations in a video format to be presented and broadcasted around the CCNY campus. The style of the sustainability public service announcement was informative, it raises awareness on an issue and educates the public on the matter as a call to action for improvement. For example, my group’s SPSA video raised awareness of the issue of food deserts and inaccessible nutritious food in cities and combatting the issue through implementing sustainable indoor urban farming, like hydroponic farming. The intended audience was the general public, specifically focusing on the City College campus students and community. The videos were structured as 30-second videos (on Canva, Powerpoint, etc) that discusses the issue, the solution and highlights an organization that supports the cause for audiences to connect with. For example, in my SPSA video on sustainable indoor urban farming, my group mentioned “New York Sun Works”, an non-profit organization that establishes various hydroponic farms in nyc public schools and gives back healthy food to the community. Part 2 of the Sustainability Project was the sustainability position paper, and the purpose was to convince readers to accept claims on debatable research issues. In my sustainability position paper, I aim to convince New York State municipalities on how allocating funding to my sustainability focus, indoor urban farming, is best for New York City. The intended audience was a secondary audience (executives and nonspecialists), however it can also include technicians of science and policies or advocacy groups representing the citizens of South Bronx and Northern Manhattan. The structure of the paper was an introduction of the unresolved sustainability issue and a thesis, body paragraphs including concessions and counterarguments using evidence from cited sources, and a conclusion. The discussion was structured with concessions to convey valid aspects of the opposing position and counter-arguments to strengthen my position. An example is how my concession is indoor urban farming “uses water more efficiently compared to traditional soil-based agriculture.” The style of the paper was informative and adaptive measures like visuals and definitions were used to explain complex terms. For instance, in my paper I explain and introduce hydroponics as “sustainable indoor urban farming, specifically through hydroponic farming, offers a solution to this problem as it allows growing plants through water-based nutrient solutions instead of soil.” This description both explains what hydroponics is and explains that it’s beneficial.
Research proposals serve as written communication that scientists use to request approval and funding for research. The purpose of the research proposal assignment was to develop a research topic and hypothesis through finding a gap in a previous study, raising a question about a study, or proposing an extension of the research. For example, in my paper I mentioned how “Sleep studies have paid attention to how sleep problems during a specific period have consequences over the same period, and do not look at the consequences in later periods of life (McVeigh et. al, 2021). There is also limited longitudinal data conducted of childhood and adult health associations on sleep.” Thus, I identified how there is a gap in sleep research due to the lack of longitudinal studies. The goal of research proposal was to analyze previous studies in order to prompt research for a new area of study. The proposal uses past studies and literature to present to an audience if scientists or organizations that can fund the proposed research to be conducted. The structure of this proposal consisted of a a developed research topic, hypothesis, a purpose rooted in a scientific study, background information and methods using previous literature, and beneficial outcomes. The research presentation aimed to use a slideshow, images, and graphics to communicate scientific information to a public audience. The presentation incorporated the knowledge gained from the research proposal in order to present the importance of the subject and the most relevant material to the target population. The audience was within my own community, which made it more important to center the research and explain how your research benefits my community sustainably. For example, since I was presenting in front of my peers, fellow college students, I emphasized how college students are a vulnerable group for sleep disorders which is why more research on undergraduate populations is needed. The structure of the presentation was very similar to the proposal, including the topic, question, hypothesis, motivations for research, its importance, background information consisting summaries of the sources used, and why the audience should care. In my research, the motivations for research include how I wanted to know if college years are critical periods in life.
2. Valuing and applying linguistic differences to inform and educate audiences of various language varieties
Linguistic differences impact science and science communication because language barriers can exacerbate scientific inequality and lead to miscommunication. When translating terms, there may inaccuracies and linguistic differences can make science concepts less clear. Additionally, some scientific concepts may not have equivalent translations which can pose difficulties when explaining concepts in other languages. For example, in our class reading “What is Science” by George Orwell, Orwell’s assessment of science through “thinking scientifically” and Dalstrom’s analysis of narratives for scientific communication highlight that viewing science as fixed and one-dimensional can neglect effective scientific understanding and communication. Thus, when scientific communication can be limited through the language it is expressed in.
Science writers should apply linguistic differences to inform and educate audiences of various language varieties through cultural sensitivity and using adaptation techniques to tailor the scientific writing to the target audiences. Instead of using scientific jargon, it is important to use definitions and explaining terminology in the introductions to educate their audiences. Through recognizing various cultural nuances and avoiding language bias, scientific writing can be appreciated by diverse audiences. Some adaptive measures to help a non-expert audience understand science topics can include relating the scientific news back into their own lives or make the writing personal. Writing that relates to the audience’s lives can be more memorable and easier to understand because it evokes an emotional response within the reader. Additionally, using visual imagery and graphs can convey complex concepts in an engaging and understanding way. I would present my informative review paper to a secondary audience through describing the issue from a personal anecdote, like the patient Louise Merdus, because this can support narrative storytelling, which can make more connections to the reader and help them relate to another person. Additionally, since my informative review paper is on the scandal of thalidomide, I’d lay out definitions and use images, including the children from the hospital to show the impacts and side effects. These images can show audiences of the issue, instead of me directly telling them, which can aid in their understanding. Furthermore, visual imagery was essential to my SPSA message because it gave a depiction of how a technological solution such as hydroponic farming can be envisioned in a city environment. Images of the hydroponic gardens may resonate more with an audience because hydroponics, in addition to supporting a city’s food access, the gardens have an aesthetic charm, which can prompt community members in favor of it.
People who speak other language varieties (other than Standard American English) may resonate with my PSA video because my SPSA video uses more visuals to highlight the solution and additionally, the issue of inaccessible food is an issue that many people face. Food access is a huge issue in NYC and food deserts especially are important since the lack of access to healthy food can lead to health risks that impact everyone, such and obesity and heart issues. Additionally, since farming is usually an outdoor activity, indoor urban farming poses as a solution to agricultural limitations, and thus can appeal to a larger audience.
3. Develop strategies for reading science articles, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing
Strategies for reading/writing informative reviews
Science writers should consider language difference and institutionalized racism when writing about science to make science accessible to all audiences and to make increase the level of trust in science for historically marginalized communities. When science writers disregard language and institutionalized racism, it contributes to the ongoing mistrust that many marginalized communities have in science and healthcare, which can then can lead to disproportionate health outcomes. Institutionalized racism has impacted scientific discourse and practices throughout history, however by acknowledging this history and addressing language and cultural barriers, science writers can appeal to diverse audiences and promote inclusion in scientific communication. I addressed these issues in my informative review paper by recognizing how the discovery of HeLa cells had allowed for thalidomide to further researched and exposed for its birth defects. Additionally, I connected this back to the injustice of thalidomide because just as Henrietta Lacks received no recognition for her cells which science profited off of, thalidomide babies received no recognition when pharmaceutical companies profited off of their bodies, and thus I acknowledged how unethical standards and mistreatment continue to cause skepticism in communities.
Strategies for reading/writing the position paper and PSA video.
Through creating a PSA video, I learned about how to convey important social justice issues and sustainability solutions in an engaging format that applies to the target audience. For example, in creating an SPSA video, since we only have 30 seconds, it made me realize what information would matter most to an audience and focus on supplying them enough information to understand the cause and the solution. For example, when creating the video, my group had lots of information on the technical aspects of hydroponic farms, however since our audience wasn’t scientists, but rather it was community members, we shifted the project to focus on how indoor urban farming would aid neighborhoods and how a nonprofit organization does so already through hydroponic farming in an NYC school.
Through writing my position paper, I learned many aspects of sustainability and social equity intersect with each other and are important to consider a holistic understanding of a sustainable solution. For example, while indoor urban farming seems like a beneficial solution to a city’s food deserts, it’s also important to recognize that hydroponic farms are also costly and difficult to maintain. Since, I was able to acknowledge both points, it lead to my argument that while sustainable indoor urban farming requires maintenance and high costs, the long-term effects outweigh the drawbacks and reduce the costs of impending climate change. In my position paper, I conveyed these themes through the concessions and counterarguments and a strategy was to use organizations that are affiliated with indoor urban farming as sources to support my claim. For example I mention how”Gotham Greens, creates jobs for local residents and partners with local schools and nonprofits to put better food on their table through education and community initiatives and thus they are aiding the smaller neighborhoods in need” and thus I can use this real-world example to show how a sustainable solution, such as indoor urban farming, can be implemented.
These strategies helped select the paired alternative energy options for NYC because using real-world example and statistics we showed that cities, particularly NYC, would benefit from hydroponic farming the most due to NYC having limited outdoor space and having many areas with food deserts. For example we explained how “NYC’s greatest food swamp is in the neighborhood of East New York where poverty rates reach 30%” which shows the urgent call for solutions.
The challenges of collaborating on the group sustainability PSA project was separating tasks, because when one group member was delayed by particular situations, then it could often set the whole team back. We solved our challenges through having constant communication without group members, whether in-class or online to keep everyone on the same page. Additionally, we created roles for each other such as script-writing, looking for an organization, finding photos, and this helped keep thr porject organized. Improvements to future SPSA projects include allowing students to have more in-class time to work on their presentations and to go through an in-class tutorial of how to use specific video-editing platforms such as Canva.
Strategies Research Proposal:
One strategy to identify a niche for my research proposal was to analyze previous literature based on my research topic using the keyterms “sleep” and “college students”. One strategy I also utilized was in the papers I was looking through, I would read the “Abstract” to get a gist of what the paper was about and then I would read the paper’s “Limitations” because the limitattions is where the scientists explains the flaws or potential missing gaps in their research conducted, which can then prompt ideas for my proposal.
The databases that I used that were most helpful in finding sources for my research included the City College Academic Search Complete database and the CUNY School of Medicine database. I would go to the school’s online library website, go to databases, and after selecting Academic Search Complete I would enter my keyterms to find articles.
Peer Reviews
I found peer reviews to be very helpful because it provide a second pair of eyes over my paper to catch any mistakes that I may have not recognized before. Since all my peers in the class were working on the same assignment, having them review my paper not only helped me better understand the requirements but it also helped my peer understand the requirements, which helped them in their own paper.
4. Negotiate your own writing goals and audience expectations regarding conventions of genre, medium, and rhetorical situation. Strategies adapting primary and secondary audience to complicated or new scientific topics?
Informative Review:
My topic for the informative review was on the pharmaceutical scandal of thalidomide and since the audience may be unfamiliar with the background of thalidomide, I used defintions and storytelling to better express the issues. By storytelling I began my paper with an anecdote of childbirth and Louise Merdus’ family reaction her own birth, “Surely you’re not going to let a child in this state to live,” Merdus’ father blurted out at the sight of his newborn child. After seeing his daughter born, Merdus’ father almost fainted in the delivery room.” This uses a common experience to the audience, a newborn child, and compares it to the experience of a thalidomide baby, which shows the audience just how life-altering thalidomide was. I used definitions and also pictures to show the side effects, for example, I used a picture of prosthetic legs that patients used during the time, since they had deformed limbs. I acknowledge structural racism by connecting the unethical use of thalidomide to the unethical use of HeLa cells and how Henrietta Lacks’ sacrifice is the foundation of many scientific advancements including thalidomide.
Position Paper and Sustainability Public Service Announcement Group Project:
The audience in the position paper was a secondary audience (executives and nonspecialists), however it can also include technicians of science and policies or advocacy groups, and thus since it wasn’t scientists, I adapted to my audience by explaining the scientific concepts of hydroponic farming, while focusing on it’s impact on communities. A strategy I used was focusing on existing indoor urban farming organizations in NYC to show how the solution is being implemented and has shown to support members of the city already. For example, I bring up Harlem Grown and Gotham Greens and how they have already started making farms in Brooklyn and Harlem, thus my audience would especially resonate with this from being familiar with these locations.
My position paper thesis was “despite its costly nature and maintenance, New York State municipalities need to implement indoor urban farming as a sustainable solution to tackle the cities’ carbon footprint, through solving food deserts in lower-income neighborhoods, efficient land use, and improving the health and wellbeing of community members.” I supported this thesis through the use of concessions and using reputable scientific sources to provide evidence. For example, I include how vegetation works as insulation and protection during hot temperatures where green roofs cause “energy use for cooling can drop by 50 percent (Hawken, 2017).
Through the PSA video, it was important to use lots of visual imagery, effective language and design to resonate with the audience. One way my group did this was through using statistics of East New York being the place of NYC’s greatest food swamps and we included the statistic within a picture of a Mcdonalds, because Mcdonalds is a very common fast food restaurant in New York which many audience members would be familiar with. Additionally, when showing hydroponic farms we switched the colors to bright green to evoke a gentle and earthy tone and we used pictures of children to show the diversity in age groups that’ll benefit from hydroponic farming. Bullet points, short sentences, and engaging statistics were helpful in keeping the information concise and clear.
Presenting Research Proposal:
The strategies I used to adapt my audience to my science issue including maintaing eye contact, speaking clearly and also not rushing through slides and leaving space for questions in order to communicate with the audience. I used a variety of images, like a cartoon on the cover page of a sleep-deprived person in bed, to show the impacts of not getting enough sleep and catch the viewer’s eye. Additionally, when reviewing the previous literature and studies, instead of using the whole graphs from the articles, I cropped them and used the rows that specifically applied to my proposal. For example, in my main study, the original article had over 25 rows in one chart for their results, however when I presented the study, I cropped the chart to only show 2 rows, which is important because it makes it less dense and more clear for my viewers. Below I show the original chart from the study compared to the smaller condensed chart I present on my slideshow. Thus, it shows how it is important to synthesize your findings to cater to your audience.
There is value in presenting orally because it makes me considerate of and audience and ensuring that they can follow along with my points as I am presenting. When writing a paper, a reader can look back and your words and reread, however when presenting, your viewers focus on you and the slides, which is why you have to strategize to present the information in a compelling understandable way. I used the writing in my slideshow to be minimal (bullet points, visuals, etc) to ensure the viewer’s focus, however in my essay my sentences were more elaborate.
5. Review your Letter of Introduction from the first week of class and see if your response from questions 7 and 9 have changed since taking the course. Explain.
In question 7 of my Letter of Introduction I explain that a speaker should recognize your audience and being able to convey your message in the best way to help your audience understand. Whether this means changing vocabulary, changing tone or speed, using comparisons, a speaker would be able to communicate their ideas effectively to their audience and be able to recognize the necessary changes needed. I currently still agree with this idea that speakers should cater to their audience and I realize that this is a skill I have actually been building through the writing for sciences course. Through the informative review paper, I cater to the audience through visuals and explaining thalidomide and connecting it back to the sacrifice of Henrietta Lacks. In the SPSA video, I made information engaging to the viewer due to the nature of a 30 second video and in position paper, I make information accessible to advocacy members who were reading the paper to make them see the benefits of hydroponic farming in NYC. In the research proposal presentation, I had to condense and synthesize previous literature and studies in order to make the information concise for my audience. I also mentioned in my question 7 that there are many ways to measure intelligence and while there are advantages to being an “articulate” speaker, being a an articulate speaker is not the sole determinant of intelligence. In question 9, I explain that Standard American English can make science writing more accessible to the general public because it creates a centralized convention for all scientists to follow. While Standard American English can create a uniform scientific understanding, I would like to add that scientific writing may not be accessible to everyone and in order to improve scientific communication, there needs to be accessible linguistic and cultural considerations to be made. It’s important to recognize the audience who we write and present for because by better understanding the audience, we can better our communicate with them and promote scientific understanding.
