Guadalupe Longino

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

complete this piece.

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

incorporate my experience as a Latinx immigrating to the U.S.

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

different parts of the world navigate spaces as a group.

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

for a writing assignment in sociology is research, collecting data, interviews, personal

experiences (journal keeping), and being able to be a good analyzer. Most of the formats for

writing in sociology are based off of sections. For example, a report that is composed of fill in

the blanks for each section of the assignment.

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

reasonable critical thinker, and analyze new information.

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.