Academic Work

Introduction to Creative Writing

This course focused on the art of poetry, prose, and short story writing. We read famous poems by Dickinson, Poe, Angelou, and many more. We read a series of novels ranging from non-fiction memoirs to magical fiction such as Houses of Ravicka by Renee Gladman. Our professor assigned us daily writing exercises and we would share our work with the class which would be edited and workshopped. This class was a safe space for my classmates and I to practice our writing skills and bring our ideas to life. At the end of the quarter, we created a ‘chapbook’, a portfolio of sorts, with all of our revised work. Mine included mostly poems but also a short story that I created.

Topics In Applied Writing: Digital Writing

In this course, we spent most of the semester learning how important writing is to all aspects of our lives. This included looking at the way writing is used online, on sites such as Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. We studied how the algorithms of social media sites operated and how our writing skills can enhance the virality of our posts. Our professor brought in around five guest speakers throughout the course, each guest varying in profession, for example there was a data analyst, an owner of a book store, and a professional speaker. These people discussed how writing and literature impact their careers and their lives on a daily basis. During this course, all students kept an Instagram page for the class, where we branded ourselves, tried to gain as many followers as possible, and navigated the site, all so that we could learn first-hand how the algorithm functions and how we can implement our writing skills into our daily lives.

Topics In Writing Theory: Rhetoric and Composition Theory for Political Crisis

In this writing course, we addressed how writing and rhetoric respond to political crises and how we can use these moments of crises to transform and challenge our reality. We began by discussing the early theories of rhetoric (Plato, Socrates, etc), then moved on to more contemporary rhetoricians such as Riche, Roberts-Miller, and Ratcliffe, and we wrapped up the class by discussing the pervasive political rhetoric that is portrayed in the media today. I wrote essays about how the rhetoric surrounding Planned Parenthood is damaging to their primary goals, about how we can have productive conversations on social media, and about what I think our political future looks like based on the rhetoric used today, specifically discussing the 2020 elections.

Memoir and Personal Writing

This course intended to teach students how to write about our own experiences ad memories and how to tell engaging stories that have the power to connect the writer and the reader. The goal by the end of this class was to end with three polished pieces of writing, each around four pages. Throughout the quarter, the students met in small groups with the professor to discuss each other’s writing and give constructive feedback on how to improve the piece. I must note that this course was taken during Spring Quarter 2020, meaning that the entire course was online. Although this proved as a challenge, I would argue that the course was just as effective online as it would have been off.