A cumulative review of the writing skills and strategies I have refined for this course.

Writing, a form of verbal communication, is a catalyst that results in many dramatic outcomes, from the dissemination of information to the formation of relationships. Science, which is critical in understanding the natural world, is no different. Without communication, especially via writing, the discoveries and knowledge that scientists obtain would not be distributed. Thus, Writing for the Sciences is a crucial course that exposes one to the process of writing research proposals, informative reviews, critical analyses, and many more forms of academic media. Indeed, it develops one’s ability to communicate their findings effectively. As a student pursuing a chemistry major, I have oftentimes found writing to be challenging, but this course has helped me refine my skills and become a more articulate author and speaker. 

Explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations. 

• The informative review involved honing in on an area of research/technological advancement (in my case, it was somatic cell nuclear transfer) and describing the costs and benefits of that technology. The intention was to mimic a New York Times article, which meant that I had to find a balance between formal and professional, but also accessible language, especially when you consider that that article is to be read by a layperson. In my case, I focused on somatic cell nuclear transfer. Initially I was not well-versed in the topic, so by the completion of the paper, I had both the perspective of an uninformed reader, and a knowledgeable reader, so I was able to achieve the balance of the two language styles. 
• The position paper focused on becoming familiar with many types of renewable energy, and explaining why two of them would be the most optimal in mitigating NYC’s environmental concerns. The readers of this paper can be anyone, so again, it was important to maintain both formal and understandable language. Because it was a position paper, and thus can have different arguments depending on one’s perspective, the paper had to focus on justifying why a certain form of renewable energy was better than the other, and it was crucial to include a counter argument as an additional means of convincing the readers. For my paper, I chose using both biomass and hydropower energy due to the fact that NYC is surrounded by many bodies of water and because its residents tend to accumulate a lot of waste.
• The research proposal required a focus on a specific area of research, and finding a related area that was not fully explored yet. We also had to find many studies as the basis to our area of research, as well as formulate a hypothesis. My research pertained to the relationship between the happiness levels of people and the availability of environmental spaces, and my proposed research was to investigate the happiness levels of residents living in an urban area where environmental spaces may be scarce. 

Valuing and applying linguistic differences to inform and educate audiences of various language varieties.

• Linguistic differences impact science communication because it is likely to cause hindrances amongst one another. Whether the barrier is in language or vocabulary, it can be difficult to understand an individual if you are not familiar with the way they speak. For example, the most widely accepted language worldwide is English, but even if foreign scientists speak the language, they will not be as knowledgeable or comfortable than if they were to speak in their native language.
• Science writers should apply linguistic differences by choosing accessible language and simpler terms. I believe that complexity and jargon should be saved for their academic papers and studies and have them translated, but when verbally communicating with other individuals, they should maintain a formal and lighthearted tone.
• I think my PSA video was easy to understand because simple words were used in a bold font, and not many vocabulary words were used. 

Develop strategies for reading science articles, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing. 

• Science writers should consider language differences and institutionalized racism in their writing because their work does not just have scientific implications, but also profound social implications. In other words, facts are not simply pure information because they will always be used to make an argument or to prove one’s stance; therefore facts themselves have implications, and therefore so does science. These implications are important because when scientific discoveries are used to progress our understanding of the world, they can be applied to different groups of people. Furthermore, research–especially in the United States–can be reckless. Huge discoveries such as with cancer/stem cells and STDs have come at the cost of the lives of not just individuals, but an entire marginalized group of people. In other words, the pursuit of knowledge has created great harm, and to say it was “for the greater good” is not a satisfactory justification. Thus, scientists should mitigate these effects and approach research with as much protection and objectivity as possible.  
• I learned about environmental racism–specifically in the case of the South Bronx. The predominantly Black area is surrounded by major roads, highways, and factories, making it a breeding ground for air pollution that results in many respiratory issues in their residents. This is a prime example of how marginalized groups of people bear the brunt of the environmental consequences while other privileged groups have access to cleaner air and resources. 
• Learning about environmental racism provided me another way climate change and global warming has harmed our quality of life, and thus it was easy to explain how dire the situation is. I included concepts of environmental racism by using it as a call to action and that environmental consciousness should be taken seriously. 
• Because the South Bronx was an example of the ways climate change impacts NYC, it was important to choose sources of energy that are also specific to NYC. 
• The challenge behind the sustainability PSA project was organizing the information so that it was both engaging and educational. We solved this problem by dividing up the slides more so that we could have lots of information in the entire presentation, but not overwhelm the viewers with so many words in each slide. 
• I identified the “niche” by picking a topic I was passionate about, and using a keyword search using a journal database. My major is chemistry, so naturally it is something I am very interested in. However, learning about sustainability and environmental racism provided an outlet for me to combine science with social justice, so I wanted to explore that topic more. 
• The most helpful database is Google Scholar because it is easy to use and all of the articles are peer-reviewed. 
• I found the peer-review process helpful because it gave me critiques to improve my writing. However, it would be more helpful if my peers had taken it more seriously because for one assignment, I did not receive my peer review, so I did not have any external guidance on how to change my paper.  

Negotiate your own writing goals and audience expectations regarding conventions of genre, medium, and rhetorical situation

• For the informative review, I adapted my audience to my cloning topic using a hook, which was a reference to pop-culture (sci-fi film). This provided something simple and relatable to pique their interest, and I was able to connect something of relevancy to something that is quite new and unfamiliar. 
• I connected my target audience to my sustainability plan by explaining how global warming has become such a great threat. Not only does this inform the readers of how dire the situation is, but it also engages their logos. 
• I supported my position paper thesis by using definition, specific what hydropower and biomass power is/how they work, and by applying them to NYC’s functionality. Many of the readers are likely to be New Yorkers, so connecting the energy sources to NYC’s landscape not only describes its relevance, but also makes it easier to understand because it is what they are well-versed in. 
• For our PSA video, we used many bright colors (green and blue) and cartoons to attract their attention. We also used animations to make the video more dynamic and gain viewership.
• For the research proposal, I adapted my audience to my science issue by including a picture of Bowling Green–a park many New Yorkers are familiar with–and opening the essay describing the many different lifestyles an individual can have and why they are important. Both of these strategies entail providing the readers with something relevant and familiar to them. 
• I believe the advantage behind presenting research orally is that it builds a connection between the speaker and the audience. It makes the presentation more conversational and engaging because you can see the expressions and tone of one another. 

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.

Question 7 pertains to what characteristics make a speaker “articulate” and whether those qualities impact one’s intelligence. Since the beginning of the course, I have not changed my perspective. I responded by describing an articulate speaker as one who takes their audience into consideration and is engaging; while articulation is a form of awareness and maturity, I don’t think they are reflective of intelligence. In fact, I think that intelligence is determined by the way one processes and uses information. I believe that articulate individuals hold a great sense of intelligence–more so, emotional intelligence–but I also firmly believe that one can be intelligent without being articulate. Regardless of one’s intelligence, communication is an extremely important skill and everyone can benefit from having those skills refined. 

Question 9 asks why Standard American English makes science writing more accessible to the general public. My answer was that science is perpetually changing, and people have a right to access the information science provides. Again, I don’t believe my answer has changed much, but I would like to add that because access to information is an individual’s right, having a standardized and common language prevents any barriers or any individual from losing access to that information. Furthermore, having a standard language provides commonality and makes us all equal. 

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