WP1

Kristy Kim

Professor Tomkins

WRIT 340

26 January 2023

WP1

Part 1: Zoom Out

Ever since entering college, I have written countless documents, essays, and emails. A few of my most memorable pieces would have to be my reading reflections, resume, and emails for transferring. I would like to think that my writing technique has changed significantly throughout my years in college. One of my favorite pieces was probably my reading reflection for my Real Estate History class because this was the only class that I liked and was extremely passionate about. For one of our reflections, we had to read an article about the history of cities in England, France, and Spain and the significant events that shaped the way these cities were structured physically, as well as symbolically. Before starting my reflection, I read the essay prompt to see what I needed to look for in the reading. She had specifically stated that she did not want a summary of the essay, but rather a reflection on how this essay has changed our thoughts about the history of real estate development. After understanding the prompt, I then skimmed through the headings of the article to familiarize myself with the major topics and to understand briefly what the article was trying to convey. After reading the article numerous times, I made sure I had a strong understanding of the thesis, commentary, and conclusion. I began to engage with the article by asking questions and seeing if it challenged my beliefs or taught me something new. After careful reflection, I started to make some connections between the essay prompt and the article. I started brainstorming some arguments I was going to make in my essay and seeing if they answered the prompt. Then, I developed my thesis and started making an annotation sheet to see how I would structure my essay. One problem I ran into, however, was that the prompt was too broad. She only gave technical instructions about the font, font size, and word count, but never more detail. I think I was so fixated on having extremely specific instructions and guidelines, that I unconsciously wrote my essays to fit the exact mold of my previous professors. I still struggle with this because even in high school and the beginning years of college, I was taught the standard writing method of having a hook, thesis, background info, etc. So, I never really got the chance to experiment with my writing style because I did not want to take the risk of failing the class. This reading reflection was probably the first time I had stepped out of my comfort zone and did whatever I wanted to, with respect to the prompt. Furthermore, rather than grading us on our analysis of the text, my professor wanted to know what we learned from the reading and how we can apply it to our future careers in this industry. Honestly, I really appreciated this because I felt like I was not being graded on my knowledge or comprehension of the text, but rather on whether I learned something from her class and how I can use this knowledge and apply it in the real world. This made me feel much more comfortable with my writing because she graded us on what we learned and was open to having a discussion. With this in mind, I was able to write with more honesty and freedom, instead of feeling forced to come up with something and just write what she wanted to hear. I ended up getting an 86% on this paper because I did not use many paraphrases from the text, but overall, she commented that she really appreciated the way I analyzed the reading and shared my thoughts. Transitioning to a non-academic form of writing, I think the most memorable would have to be my resume. Honestly, before I got to college, no one really taught me how to write one. Last semester, I took a real estate career seminar course where they taught me how to format my resume and shared a couple tips on how to intrigue recruiters. I actually had to submit my resume to my professor, and she would give me tips on how I can improve it. Honestly, this was the first time I had looked at my resume in a while, so I just began to write down what I did within these past few years. I was able to come up with some clubs I was involved with like the Trojan Real Estate Association and Marshall Real Estate Finance Association. After writing these down, I just copied the Marshall format she gave us in class and began writing the key points of what I did in these clubs and internships. I turned this in and received a 90% because she said that my summaries were too long and broad. I think this was the most unique non-academic writing piece because it is completely different from a traditional format. I felt even more pressured because you must persuade the recruiter to hire you based on your past experiences. Finally, the last piece of writing that was extremely foreign to me was writing an email to the advisors at the School of Price about switching majors. I first transferred to USC as a Business Administration major. However, I felt like it was too broad, so I ended up switching over to Real Estate Development. I thought that I just needed to fill out a quick application for this, but I actually needed to write a persuasive email to the School of Price. In this email, I needed to persuade them as to why I wish to change majors and why they should even accept me. Rather than trying to come up with an answer they wanted to hear, I decided to think about why I really wanted to change majors. I did some brainstorming and reflected on my reasons and I made sure I was honest and genuine in my email. Furthermore, I focused on my tone of voice and tried my best to convey my message by using powerful and bold words. After I wrote my email, I asked my older brother to proofread it and make sure that it sounded appropriate and was grammatically correct. He found a few errors, so I revised it and asked one of my friends, who was an English major. She said it looked great, so I sent the email. Finally, the last document that I feel like had a huge impact on my writing style was the analytical essay I wrote for my philosophy professor at my previous college. It was a class that dealt with controversial topics such as gender identity, euthanasia, abortion, etc. and the topic of this essay was euthanasia. Before writing, I read several articles about euthanasia to get myself familiar with the topic and both sides of the argument. I tried to understand where both sides were coming from and find a middle ground, so I could be as objective as possible. Then, I developed a thesis and argument and created my outline. After finishing my outline, I wrote out my essay and asked my brother to revise it. He said that from a third-party perspective, he thought that it was very analytical and came from an unbiased stance. However, I received a 64% on my essay because it went against her personal beliefs. She commented that from her perspective, this essay seems flawed and started giving her own opinion. I felt really discouraged because I tried really hard on this essay, and I believe that it was heavily fact-based. I also think that this experience negatively affected my writing style because it made me think that I need to write what the other side wanted to hear. Thus, as I was writing these pieces, I realized that I directed my writing specifically towards the reader and tried my best to connect with them or tell them what they wanted to hear. Overall, I feel like my writing style has been heavily influenced by my audience.

Part 2: Zoom In

One document that I composed after entering college and am still working on is my resume. This piece of writing is extremely unique because it is always in need of review and updates. I remember writing my resume for a company for the first time last semester because it was a requirement for my class. Before revising my resume, I looked up and read about the company by going on their website. I went on their website and read about their mission statement, goals, visions, and the services they provide. After studying what they wanted, I wrote the resume to make sure that it was in line with their services and future goals. I also took out some of the unnecessary experiences that did not apply to this company because I knew that the company would be confused with why I added that in. This circumstance of submitting a resume to a company was really challenging because I knew that I was competing with such a wide variety of students, who may have had more experiences than me. In order to compete with other students, I realized that I needed to stand out by truly understanding the overall requirements of this position and being able to express why I am the best candidate for it. After reading all about the company, I went back and read the job description and its requirements because I realized that in order to persuade the recruiters that I am the best fit, I needed to know what they were looking for, in terms of skills and competency. While writing my resume, I noticed that this company was holding a seminar at our school, so I immediately signed up. Coming back from the presentation, I had a much clearer understanding of the company’s goals and made sure that I spoke to some of the presenters and receive their emails. That night, I reached out by sending them an email to schedule a coffee chat. During the coffee chat, I had the opportunity of asking her questions on a more personal level that I did not have the chance to ask to the other speakers. She did such an excellent job of explaining and elaborating on the type of work the company did. I went back to writing my resume with a much clearer vision and perspective of my audience and made sure that I tried my best to relate to the position and recruiters. I gave my resume to my advisor, brother, and a couple friends majoring in English and Composition, so that they could review it. In sum, they essentially stated that my resume definitely looked appealing to real estate firms, but that if I were to submit my resume to a different firm, then I would have to revise it again. Another problem they noticed was that I used too many words, which made it hard to read. One tip they offered was that I should bold and italicize certain key words because recruiters only take 5 seconds to look at a resume.  I went back and rewrote my resume and had them check again. Finally, they said that it looked excellent and I submitted it to the firm. Overall, I noticed that my writing style was heavily influenced by people around me and my audience. For instance, I would only ask people to revise my writing, if they have had previous experience in the field or English because I knew that they were credible sources of help. Next, I would try to research as much as I can about my audience and observe what their beliefs and views are, so that I could resonate with them. Then, I would try to see how and where they formed this belief, instead of trying to force my own beliefs. In all honesty, I feel like non-academic styles of writing, such as resumes or cover letters, are much easier for me to write because it does not directly affect my grades. With this in mind, I do believe, however, that although my grades are not affected, it will demonstrate my experience and qualifications because my writing technique will be the main source of communication with the audience. Therefore, I believe that my writing style has heavily been influenced by my audience and peers.