Raj Duraisamy

ENGL 182

Composer’s Memo for Final Project

6/3/2021

I would say the aspect of my project that I am most proud of is how my project format

and the topic went hand-in-hand. My topic was oriented around online learning and if we should

have online learning as a tool in the future after the pandemic. This mixed very well with my

format which followed a “UW Daily” styled opinion article. Why? My target audience pertains

directly to students like me. Students my age, older than me, and younger than me are directly

impacted by this concern. Millions of students worldwide have seen a drastic change that has

impacted the way we learn. So, this article is a unique look provided to them. The main goal I

wanted to achieve, other than relaying the information in a constructive way, was to maintain a

conversational tone throughout the article. An academic paper would have been way too formal

for my audience. I had to remember that my audience isn’t a teacher I am trying to please for a

good grade. I am attempting to provoke conversation with my peers. In order to illuminate this

new idea in online schooling being prevalent in the future should be communicated in a way that

makes it easy to read and understand. An academic formal paper would be much less engaging

and harder to digest compared to my chosen format.

As stated before, my decisions made in the project were to create this conversational

tone. Throughout the essay, the goal was to attempt to recreate the feel of other articles you

would see on the UW Daily. I saw having a conversation with the reader to be the best way to

achieve this. So, the rhetorical devices used contributed to this. For example, I would use

rhetorical questions like “So, what is the solution? We can’t really do both, right? Actually, we
can”. Phrases like this helped me bring in counter arguments and possible questions that the

audience might have while making it seem like I was talking to them. The other thing is the

frequent paragraph breaks. Once I outlined my essay, I was wondering what would further

differentiate my essay compared to a formal academic essay. A formal essay would follow a five

to six paragraph structure. But, I noticed that other opinion articles were much more free-flowing

than this strict structure. Overall, it creates an informal feel to the project.

Additionally, another strength that I noticed in my project was who I was compared to the

audience. I am not a teacher or any scholar that is much older than my audience. I am just a

student at a university. And, that is exactly why that is beneficial. I am “part” of the audience. I

am one of those millions that are impacted by the issue everyday. I experience the same online

learning and drastic changes that my peers are going through. This project was written through

experience. Due to this, it gives a much more authentic feel to the essay. I am not a parent or

anyone else who is observing what we students are going through. I would say this element of

my project is oriented a lot around ethos. I have the credibility to represent this issue because I

am being directly impacted by it. Students can understand and relate to what I am saying because

we are all impacted the same way. Also, this can provide a window for parents and teachers to

learn about the benefits and disadvantages of online learning. Parents, who might initially not be

comfortable with their children’s education being online, are provided with information that

might put them more at ease with the quality of education that they are given. Teachers, who are

experiencing the same drastic changes as the students, can see a little more clearly about

students’ mindset and experiences in online learning during the pandemic. Just being an average

student here at the University of Washington provides all the credibility I need to represent my

argument.
 Some struggles that I encountered throughout my paper were my visuals, or my lack

thereof. I received a lot of feedback on my project about including more infographics or

attractive visuals that would make the project easier to digest, especially considering the age

range of my primary target audience. I thought this weakness was going to be very easy to solve.

But, I was wrong. It was very difficult to find any sort of images that would help elevate my

project. I was scrolling through hundreds of generic stock images that were slightly related to

online learning. It took some digging for me to finally find some images that were right for my

project. And even after that, I don’t think I was too successful in this department. I have enough

visuals but they really aren’t anything to write home about. In the future, I want to construct

visuals myself. This would be an ideal option as they would be tailored to exactly what I am

talking about in the article. Another issue is dealing with counter-arguments. Although I have

done a fine job of addressing them through the essay, I feel like having a section dedicated to

them could’ve been ideal. I have them addressed at small points throughout the essay, nothing

too concrete. It was puzzling to me to find a way to address in a concrete paragraph without it

seeming too out of place in the project.

All in all, I stand by the fact that this format for the project was the best way to go about

it. A rigid academic essay format or a podcast would have been solid options, but I feel like the

opinion article gave me enough flexibility with some solid structure to work with. Although I

had a couple shortcomings, I felt like my project delivered on addressing my thesis and creating

a tone that is more engaging for the audience to read. The most important part of the article for

me was that people would read it all the way through. Due to this, I believe that I am content

with my decisions for the body of work. I had never written anything similar to an opinion
article, so this was very refreshing compared to the numerous essays I have churned in my years

in high school.