Muhtasim Mushfiq
Ms. Crystal Rodwell
Writing for Engineering
September 17, 2019
Self Reflection Essay for Memo
During our in-class session, when we were discussing all the problems the college deals with to write about in our memo, I knew I had to choose a problem in which I feel I would have a purpose of writing. The issue about the printers affected me the most. My purpose of writing the memo was to add more printers across all floors of the NAC, not just one specific floor.
Since the first day of college, I wanted to get familiar with the school’s library because I knew I would spend most of my time there when I am not in class. When I searched around I noticed that only the bottom floor of the NAC’s library has printers while the main floor of the library had many computers but no printers. This made me realize that people would more likely be on the ground floor to have access to printing which will lead it to be more crowded, which in fact was true. My motivation for writing about this issue for the memo was safety. I realized the ground floor is extremely crowded and if there was ever any need for evacuation it would be quite challenging to exit the building safely with that many people.
The next step of writing the memo was establishing my audience and the tone of my writing. The assignment was to write a memo to the president of City College of New York and provide an issue that needed immediate action. With this, I knew I had to write in a formal manner that would be appropriate for the president of the college to read.
After receiving feedback from my peers and Professor Rodwell, I knew what I had to do differently. One of the suggestions I had was to make my subject, purpose, and summary more direct. At first, I was confused. I was wondering how much more direct I could be. So, I went back into the textbook and looked at the sample and noticed that those sections were simple and straight to the point. Instead of writing “printer issues” in my subject and purpose I switched it to “printer shortages” or “number of printers.” I realized that the phrase “printer issues” was vague and could mean a lot of things such as paper jams, ink problems, etc. Also, I had modified my summary by adding more details about the NAC the president might not know. Of course the president is familiar with most aspects of the building, however, the president has his own office with his own printer so he does not need to go to the NAC to print his documents. He does not get the chance to experience the problems students face every day with printing so he may not be aware of the issue.
Furthermore, after completing this assignment and applying feedback received from my peers and professor I believe I have reached some of the goals in the Course Learning Outcomes. With confidence, I can say I now have a better understanding of the rhetorical situation and how to apply it to my assignments. Also accomplishing another goal of being able to engage in the social portion of the writing process such as peer review.
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