Reflection

Since I had chosen a somewhat complex theme for my project being politics, it was a tad

difficult to get started. For my first piece of writing, I selected a persuasive petition to begin my

thought process. Petitions have been very popular especially among young people for many

years, being on the reasons I chose it to write to students. In the text, I wrote about the struggles

students face with rising costs of tuition and lack of time for extracurricular activities such as

politics due to their demand for a paying job. Statements like these not only present the problem

thoroughly, but appeal to the average student struggling through financial issues. Not to mention,

the very basis of the text being the advocacy of a scholarship is already attracting to college

students using the logos appeal by providing a means of free monetary rewards. All the prior

knowledge combined with some reliable sources backing up the statements further concrete the

draw of students that could support the petition and the movement. In my second text, I picked to

write a letter to the Florida Legislature in our state capital. Having worked previously in a

legislative office, I personally know the positive feedback constituents and legislators receive

when staying in contact through professional letters. Also, as a millennial and young activist in

my community I have the experience of knowing and writing about the problems facing our

youth and how we can solve them. I chose my wording very delicately in the letter, giving

emotional descriptions while providing facts based on studies using both pathos and logos in my

text. In specific, I mentioned how providing a scholarship would be beneficial to these elected

officials by providing an incentive being that they may use this scholarship as a resource for

recruiting volunteers and may well see a rise in political involvement depending on their

decisions, appealing to their politician mentality. In conclusion, I believed this project was not
only educational but enriching as a student. Learning the different forms and genres of

professional texts, and putting them to practice is a valuable tool many of us will likely use at

some point later in life.