Reflection on Project 2 Draft

At this point I have only had the opportunity to review Brandon Goldenberg's draft due to the lack of published drafts by my peers. If another draft becomes available I will add to this as soon as possible.

• Who is my audience?

This paper is intended for incoming freshman in my field of chemical engineering. The paper is written so that they can understand what a rhetorical analysis in our field looks like.

• What biases might my readers have? Am I respecting their opinions while also achieving my own purpose?

It is unclear what my readers' preconceptions my be on the subject of nuclear energy and waste. However, my analysis is written in such a way that it respects others' biases by providing evidence for each of the claims.

• What are their values and expectations? Am I adequately meeting those expectations?

My paper is written for science majors. For this reason, they are expecting claims that are well supported with logical evidence. I attempted to do this by including a variety of quotations from my chosen article, and I supplied explanations for these pieces of evidence. Furthermore, I even included a secondary source of material to provide outside information for the reader. These elements helped me to meet my readers' expectations.

• How much information do I need to give to my audience? How much background information or context should I provide for them without insulting their expertise?

For this piece I assumed my readers had little knowledge of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. It is not well-known, despite being the nation's only repository. My article did not include a large amount of technical information, so I did not have to explain any complex concepts for my readers.

• What kind of language is suitable for this audience?

 I tried to keep my vocabulary quite approachable. An incoming student for my field does not possess a substantial technical vocabulary. I also found that I could effectively analyze the article without using any language that could require specialized knowledge.

• What kind of tone should I use with my audience? Did I use this tone consistently throughout my draft?

 My tone should be professional and formal. I want the paper to come off as well-researched and understood. I avoided personal pronouns and awkward sentence structures. Most of the paper sticks to this tone, but there are a few instances where my wording undermined the professionalism that I was trying to convey.