Ryan Persaud

UWRT 1102

4 April 2017

Kashtan

Introductory Essay

These six artifacts show my growth as writer in UWRT 1102. The whole class

had a central theme, what it means to be an American. All of the major assignments for

this class are about different aspects of this.

The other two artifacts, the lab report and my resume, are from outside the class.

These are there to show another aspect of my American life. The lab report serves as

the academia related to my major to be successful in a capitalist democracy like

America. The resume is there so I can show insight into my personal experience. It is

also something every working class America has so it goes along with the theme of

what it means to be an everyday average American.

At the start of the semester, you can see how the American identity was very

internal. How I felt, how the media perceived me, what I was watching; that's what

being an American meant to me. The last two assignments made me look outward. I

had to research what being an American meant to people not in this country. How our

American culture influenced others. When I did this it gave me a different perspective

on my own American identity. It made me see the flow of cultures and how my

American identity, is being influenced by the global world; while influencing the world

back.