Solomon Harris

ERH 102-01

Biotechnology Essay 4

Help Received: None

Reflection

For the final problem in writing, reflective essay I decided to go with discussing my process of writing introductions. I chose this aspect of my writing to focus on, because in most of my peer review sessions, my classmates have consistently noted that my introductions were developed very well. Learning this erased my past history of having a hard time with writing introductions, therefore I wanted to discuss this problem that I recently fixed in my writing.  After analyzing what I did to construct my introductions in my previous three essays, I discovered a process that I didn’t really even realize I was doing at the time that I did it. It is a process that consists of four distinct steps that I used with each of the three essays which I breakdown and explain in this essay. The steps work together to get the reader’s attention, introduce the topic and respond to the prompt effectively.

No More Boring Essays!

During elementary and middle school, the majority of students have at one point or another been taught the basic five paragraph essay format. This format consisted of an introduction paragraph, three body paragraphs and a conclusion. It is designed how most essays are usually written but in its simplest form. I was taught this process and utilized it throughout most of my years in school. One problem that I consistently had, despite my fondness for this writing process, was just starting the essay; not necessarily prewriting or brainstorming, but rather the introduction paragraphs that started the essay. I would normally just begin answering the topic off the bat, which wasn’t the worst habit, but it just didn’t give the reader an idea of what they were reading and didn’t allow me to have any real organization. After seeing my problem in this area, and constantly hearing from multiple teachers that an introduction should trigger the reader into wanting to read the paper I decided to begin working with future essays to try to make that aspect of my writing better. With the past three essays of this semester, I tried my best to make introductions that would make my essay more interesting to read. Too many times, have I seen articles and essays that start off with a boring introduction, which makes me just not want to read it. In order to address this problem that I saw in my writing and others’s  writing, I came to the conclusion that I needed a new method of improving writing introductions for my essays to assure me that I would be making my essays more interesting for the readers to read and to make sure that I was confident with writing about the given prompt.

For the past three essays, and other essays that I am unsure of what to write about, I had to try to make some sort of personal connection to the topic. This process usually took some time. For the biotechnology focus for this semester, it was the ideas of genetic enhancement and superhumans that really sparked my interest. I used these interests to construct my introductions and create a focus for each of the three essays. 

In “Biotechnology and its Potential to Create Superhumans”, I had to find and define a specific area within biotechnology that interested me. While reading around with different articles, and seeing the possible future capabilities of biotechnology, I landed on the field of recombinant DNA technology, also known as genetic engineering. This technology has been said to possibly be capable of genetically enhancing humans in the future. After reading this I made an immediate connection to several movies and comic books that I have seen throughout my life. This connection was then used to both introduce the topic of recombinant DNA technology, and form the my thesis that would go along with it. I began with a statement that would activate the readers’ imagination: “Imagine being able to crawl on walls like a spider, breath underwater like fish, see in the dark like cats or have the regenerative abilities of a lizard” (“Biotechnology and its Potential to Create Superhumans”, pg. 1). By listing several abilities that belong to different animals that most people might be familiar with, I attempted to get the reader actively engaged by causing them to think about actually having some of the abilities that I listed, something that I always used to do when I was younger and to this day when I watch superhero movies, except with superheroes of course rather than animals. Sparking their imagination with those seemingly unrealistic possibilities, I transitioned directly into explaining how this new technology may make having those abilities a reality when I stated: “The entire concept of this seems unreal, almost like something out of a movie, but with recombinant DNA technology, these things can soon become possible” (“Biotechnology and its Potential to Create Superhumans”, pg. 1). After that I briefly defined what recombinant DNA technology was, described its capabilities and how it plans to be used in the future. This allowed me to set up the structure for what I would be discussing in the rest of the essay. 

In “The Rise of Super Soldiers: What was Once Fiction is Becoming Reality”, I discussed the views of three different authors on the implication of  human enhancement and its necessity in the present day and the future. I began the introduction for this essay by referencing my history with action figures and superheroes. It is a long history that started when I was very young. I tried to go in depth to give the reader a feel for my deep connection with the toys and characters that I loved so much as a kid: “Since I was little, I have had a near-obsessive interest in superheroes! My interest first started with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers, which later switched to Marvel and DC comics” (“The Rise of Super Soldiers: What was Once Fiction is Becoming Reality”, page 1).  I went on to discuss how my love for them evolved over time as I matured, from toys, to cartoon shows to live-action movies, showing that they still hold some importance to my life today. It was when I began talking about how I used to imagine having some of those superheroes’ powers that I made the connection to how they could be possible in the future with biotechnology, possibly creating a breed of supersoldiers: “When I was younger and even now, it is the superheroes’ capabilities that attract me. Being able to fly like Superman, have the strength of the Hulk, the Flash’s superspeed, or Spiderman’s spider-senses, just always seemed so interesting to me. I would just imagine myself with their abilities, ….. In accordance with many of the readings I’ve seen, the U.S. military’s development of superheroes, or should I say supersoldiers is in the near future” (“The Rise of Super Soldiers: What was Once Fiction is Becoming Reality”, page 1). I then tried to show the controversy over the topic of creating supersoldiers, considering it to be something we humans may just want but not really need, which led directly into my thesis statement: “ how necessary is the development of super soldiers for military use, especially considering the possibility that some of the changes soldiers may go through will be irreversible?” (“The Rise of Super Soldiers: What was Once Fiction is Becoming Reality”, page 2). By mentioning the debate over this practice I wanted the reader to begin thinking of their stance on the idea, which was accomplished with the thesis statement in the form of the question as well. Setting up this question and creating some interest within the reader to see the answer to the debatable question I went on to discuss how the three authors I selected responded to that question in their own texts.

In “Human Perfection: What’s Wrong with Being Average?”, I made my own argument about whether human enhancement is necessary or not. I started the introduction for this essay with the idea of having insecurities being a part of human nature, “Everyone has certain physical insecurities about themselves, some more severe than others, but there is at least one thing that most people would like to change about themselves if they had the chance” (“Human Perfection: What’s Wrong with Being Average?”, page 1). As I discussed how some people desire to fix those problems they see within themselves, I gave an example from my own life: my experience of getting braces. By providing this example, my goal was to make a connection with the reader to show that I too have had experiences with insecurities, in my case it was my teeth. Despite needing only metal and glue to fix my “problem”, I went on to explain how biotechnology will and in some cases already is used to fix certain imperfections: “Biotechnology and its ever growing capabilities have allowed for genetic alteration to be possible; meaning that if I were still a developing fetus I could be given a gene to give me straight teeth, or any other feature that I would want” (“Human Perfection: What’s Wrong with Being Average?”, page 1). I used the present debate over using biotechnology for such purposes as the topic for the argumentative essay I was writing. In the thesis, I made some strong claims that established my stance on the debate, and also provided structure for the essay to follow, concerning what I would later discuss.

Despite an experience of getting braces, along with a love for movies, comic  books, superheroes, not really seeming to have anything in common, they do. Each experience or interest is special and unique to me. This approach of using my own life examples helped me greatly with constructing my introductions. Considering that they were all personal examples that I knew a lot about, it just made the essay easier for me to write about. When I initially realized the connections I could make between essays and my own life, I developed somewhat of my own method of step by step strategies that I used to construct my introduction paragraphs. The first step after receiving the essay was thinking about the essay on a personal level. I would think about how the topic of the prompt has currently or in the past had any applications to my life. I usually tried to think of personal characteristics or unique experiences and that would stand out and catch the readers’ eye, or more common experiences and characteristics that readers could have had or related to. I felt that both approaches were great ways of getting the reader’s attention. My primary goal with this step was to really get the reader to imagine or just feel what I was saying. The next step consisted of me elaborating upon the specific characteristic or experience, explaining things such as how it happened/developed, how it influenced me, how I responded to it, etc. The third step entailed making the connection between the experience/characteristic to the actual prompt. In order to do this, I had to first show the direct or indirect connection between the topic of the prompt to my experience/characteristic. Then I would use that connection to provide a response to the prompt. Depending on the topic of the prompt, my responses were most of the time influenced by my past experiences or characteristics. The final step of writing the introduction was concluding it with a thesis statement that gave a general idea of my viewpoint or argument, which I would break down throughout my essay.

Even for the introduction of this essay I utilized some of my new strategies. Starting with the first step, brainstorming, I thought of ways that my essays connected with each other specifically relating to a certain aspect of writing that was present in my previous essays. The first idea that came to mind was an idea that my instructor came up with in class to help the class understand writing about a certain problem in writing. The problem that I decided to address was writing introductions. In order to introduce this topic, I thought that talking about my first experiences with writing essays would be both intriguing and relatable enough to attract readers to my essay. I began writing the introduction reminiscing about my days in elementary and school being taught the standard essay format that most people at that age were taught; using the “shared experience” approach in my introduction. To attack the second step of my new method, I explained what the standard essay format was to inform knowledgeable readers and give a slight reminder to others. After breaking down the format , I went on to talk about the problem that I had with it, which was just starting the essay. Doing this I fulfilled the third step, by introducing the topic of the prompt, a problem in writing that I recently identified and faced. The last step of my method was completed when I made a thesis statement about writing introduction paragraphs, in which I briefly identify why they are important and explain how fixing that former problem helped me with later essays.

In the future, I plan to continue using this same method of putting emphasis on developing my introductions when writing essays. For me and the particular way that I write, using this approach proved to be more beneficial to me, also allowing me to develop a stronger sense of comfortability with the assigned prompt. Since using this approach, my essays have been noticeably longer and have done a better job of responding to the prompt, because of my better understanding of the topic. For the most part, when I have confidence in a good start to an essay, and I fully understand the topic and its real-life and personal application, I can usually finish the essay with a good ending. 

0626880.“Biotechnology and its Potential to Create Superhumans”, 2020

0626880.“The Rise of Super Soldiers: What was Once Fiction is Becoming Reality”, 2020

0626880.“Human Perfection: What’s Wrong with Being Average?”, 2020