Prior to starting WRT 105 I thought that academic writing was very dry, with little room to show your own personality. I thought that you had to do excessive research to come to a definite conclusion and prove why your conclusion is right. Now I realize that it is not like that at all. In an academic piece, the author can write with their own style and bring in personal anecdotes without decreasing the quality of the piece. I also realized that while research is an important part of the process, it is equally important that you develop your own opinion on the topic at hand. Academic writing is not all about proving your point, but considering all possible points of view and analyzing their strengths and weaknesses.
I really wanted the ideas in my essay to flow and connect in a logical way. This is why I decided to explain the difference between banking and problem posing education in the first body paragraph. I knew that all of the evidence in my essay would ultimately come down to these two methods of teaching so I felt that it was important to define and explain these before I really got into my claim. From there I decided to talk about how economic status, race and social class defined the type of education students receive (banking or problem posing). I also tried to work my quotes into the essay. I have had many teachers in the past discourage “quote bombs”, so whenever I use quotes I do my best to ensure that the quotes flow with my essay and my writing style. In the end I was really proud with how I structured my essay, and I think it is the best piece of writing I have done so far this year.
Something else I picked up on while reading the texts was how they were all connected. Each one had a different claim, about poverty, segregation, or various teaching methods, but they all showed how imbalanced our education system is. While I was reading the texts for this unit, I found myself constantly comparing my experiences in school with the schools in each reading. As someone who comes from a very affluent town and school, the readings made me realize just how different other schools are. It put into perspective that there are so many places in the country that are similar to Niskayuna and Schenectady; an affluent school, with handfuls of academic awards and a lower class school with a graduation rate of just 60%, just minutes apart from each other. One of the texts talked about teachers keeping food in their desks because so many of their kids come to school hungry, but in Niskayuna teachers do not have to worry about that and if a student does get hungry, we have two cafeterias, multiple vending machines and a food cart in crossroads.
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