Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Professor Doutherd
October 6, 2017
RA Essay Draft 1
There are many different forms of writing. Writing can be easy to some and difficult for
others, however different types of people compose pieces differently according to their interest.
Ultimately, situations in a persons career shape the way a piece of writing is composed. I have
written several pieces based off of my previous experiences. This is how I have been able to
complete my writing assignments. During my senior year of high school I was assigned my first
research paper. At first, I was intimidated by this assignment because I did not understand what
my teacher was asking me to do. My teacher referred to this assignment as an iSearch Project,
therefore I was confused. After I asked for more clarification from my teacher, I was able to
comprehend the goal of this assignment. The structure of this essay was different from any other
essay I had written before. The essay was made up of five different sections, and each section
required different ideas. Fortunately, I was able to choose the topic I wanted to do research on.
This simplified the assignment further and I was able to use my previous experiences in order to
The need for this research paper to be assigned was to help me and my classmates expand
our writing abilities. I was assigned this research essay in order to inform my teacher and peers
of a topic that they were probably unaware of. The topic of my choosing was Latinxs
Immigrating to the Land of the Free. Furtherly, with this assignment I was able to enhance my
writing and research skills as well as to prepare me for the writing assignments I would be facing
in college.
What lead me to write about this issue came from my own experience as an immigrant to
this country. This allowed me to have a reason to expand on this issue and address the
seriousness and dangers immigrants face when immigrating to a new land. The need to choose a
topic for this research essay also came from my intrigue of wanting to know more about this
issue. I was curious to know how this issue has affected minorities in the U.S. and be able to
Since it was my first time writing a research paper I did not know how or where to start.
The most significant restriction I had in order to complete this assignment was being able to
condense my information to a fixed page limit. My teacher was very clear on how long this
assignment should be, therefore I had to follow the guideline and meet the page limit. The first
section of this assignment was What I Know, and that part was easy for me because I was able
to use my experience as a source. However, the fourth section of this assignment was The
Search, in which I began my research about this topic. This part was difficult for me to begin
writing because it was where I found a lot of information which made me be cautious of what to
include and at the same time meet the page limit. I had to figure out how to include the most
significant information which was very frustrating because I wanted to include everything. As a
writer, sometimes constraints can be difficult to address because there are guidelines we must
follow.
After being able to figure out how to work through these constraints, I now had to make
sure my research paper was coherent and well delivered to my audience. This research paper was
directed to my teacher and classmates. I wanted my audience to become aware with the
difficulties immigrants face when they begin their journey to come to the United States. I wanted
my audience, if applicable, to relate to my paper and know that there are many just like them. I
also wanted to inform those that believe immigration is a easy process to understand the reality
of it.
As a sociology major I have become aware of what my main interests in this field are.
My interest for sociology comes from my need to help my community and other deprived
communities of people of color (POC) rise up. I want to be able to figure out ways these
communities can obtain more opportunities than they are given simply because they are viewed
as a minority in this country. Lastly, I want to learn more about how different communities in
The writing style in sociology does not seem as complex as other formats I have written
in before. I know that most of the writing pieces are based off of research which seems to be
simple to compose. Most of the writing formats in sociology are research reports. In sociology
students are expected to write in ASA style. In Keith Grant-Davies article, he states that
teaching our writing students to examine rhetorical situations as sets of interacting influences
from which rhetoric arises, and which rhetoric in turn influences, is therefore one of the more
important things we can do. This falls in within the writing style in sociology because it is
encouraging educators to invite students to explore different tactics that will allow them to
become a great critical thinker when responding to different texts. It is also stating that students
must allow their experiences have an input in their writing pieces. The most important aspects
writing in sociology are based off of sections. For example, a report that is composed of fill in
When I first chose my writing assignment I did not think it was fitting to the writing style
my major requires but after reading about the type of writing in my field it seems quite fitting.
The writing assignment I chose is a research paper I did in HS. The format was similar to a
report, and it was made up of five different sections. These sections were all key elements in
completing this assignment. The sections were: what I know (personal experience/journal), What
I want to Know (questioning social issue), The Search, Research Results (Data I found, new
information, analyzing new info), and What I learned (Reflecting on the research, thinking about
how this issue affects communities). Despite this writing assignment being fitting it is still
necessary to learn the appropriate format for writing in sociology. Some of the approaches I lack
on is the way information needs to be organized, delivery to the audience, become a more
Writing comes in various forms but it is ones own personal experiences that make up the
style of these writings. The situations a person finds themselves in are already serving as sources
for their next writing assignment. As students we must be able to critically analyze these
situations, and understand where they are most fitting within our educational sphere.