Johana Sellers

Professor Miss

UWRT 1104

February 6th, 2017

Rhetorical Analysis

I chose a paper from my Introduction to Business course to analyze. The essay is titled

Cultural Awareness and the purpose of this paper was to elaborate on an experience that had

taken me outside of my comfort zone. My comfort zone consists of individuals who have the

same interests and goals as I do. A few of my goals are graduating in four years, meeting new

people and becoming more comfortable in my secondary discourse community. In this paper, I

analyze an essay where I was forced into my secondary discourse community. My secondary

discourse community is the socialization into a new institution. Going from high school to

college placed me into a new academic community.

When analyzing the essay, I realized I referred to myself too often. I presented myself as

a conceited individual with that simple action. I believe differences make individuals unique. I

will continue to treat others the way I desire to be treated. (Sellers) The quote tells my audience

that I longed for more content to inject into the essay. The sentences do not reflect college level

writing. This demonstrates one of many weaknesses. When writing, I believe I do not have

many strengths. I cling onto my weaknesses because that is what I am use to.

When writing the paper, I did not stay true to who I was. I presented my paper in a way

that I felt my professor preferred. My professor had a strict guideline for what should be written

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in each paragraph. The paragraphs are extremely structured and left little room for the writer to

put their personality in the paper. For example, Cultural Awareness is the foundation of

communication and it involves the ability of recognizing cultural values, beliefs and

perceptions.(Sellers) We were required to put the definition of cultural awareness. There were

several requirements expected of us. All of the expectations motivated me to mushfake the entire

paper. The paper contained elements that were not authentic. For instance, I believe this

experience helped prepare me for what it will be like in the business world.(Sellers) In reality, I

had no idea how that experience impacted my life. I was fearful of my professor noticing the

lack of knowledge I had on the paper and topic.

I let the fear of failing prevent me from reaching my full potential. I allowed myself to

blend in with my peers instead of standing out. My paper remained at the surface level and

never went further than that. I believe the most efficient way to consider others perspectives

and point of view is to be less judgmental.(Sellers) The point of the quote was obvious. I

would have rather kept my essay safe, than push the limits of my writing. I asked my peers of

their opinion and viewed their papers before submitting mine. Rewording their sentences

became second nature to me. For instance, Although I was uncomfortable, I was able to look

past their differences and truly see them for who they were, (Sellers) was not my oringal

thought. I did not use my peers work word for word. I constantly fought an internal battle that

my work was not worthy enough for a passing grade.

As soon as I read my paper, I noticed how narrow my vocabulary was. I did not use

complex words or develop complex sentences. For example, I stated, Through cultural

experiences I have grown to love and respect others differences. I feel more comfortable around

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people who do not look the way I do.(Sellers) That was a very generic answer. I feel as though

my primary discourse is very simple and to the point. Once I attempt to inject a more advanced

vocabulary, I feel uncomfortable or that my message is unclear. I relate to the woman in the Gee

article who has an informal word choice because she exemplifies everything I am. She uses

simple words to get her point across that she is suited for the job she is being interviewed for. I

immediately connected with the way she presented herself, because I gathered so much of myself

within her.

The strengths in this paper are that I remain on topic and I get to the point. Some may

say that is a weakness, but that is a strength for me. The students were asked to In many papers,

I tend to go off on a tangent that has absolutely nothing to do with the topic. I do believe I could

have more details and dig a little deeper. I do not engage in my ethos when writing. I am

personally not an emotional person and do not show my emotions often. I received that

characteristic from my father because he is extremely tough and believes that showing emotions

is a sign of weakness. This carries over into my writing because I do not writing from the heart

or what I feel. I keep my thoughts and feelings to myself. From reading over my paper, I

noticed I enjoy breaking up my topics into paragraphs. I do not recall being taught to do so.

That symbolizes a mental checklist for me. If there are six topics to touch on, there would be a

paragraph for each one. This is a simple way for me to stay on track and remain within my

primary discourse.

My primary discourse is simple, funny, and to the point. I do not have a large vocabulary.

I believe that is because I do not enjoy to read. I will read a book every now and then, but

nothing that will enhance my vocabulary. I believe the most efficient way to consider others

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perspectives and point of view is to be less judgmental. Everyone is judged for one thing or

another in their life. I truly believe if society as a whole has more of an open mind, great things

will happen, I stated. There are so many different ways I could have said those few sentences.

I have reached the point where if I desire to enhance my writing, I need to polish my current

skills and develop new ones.

Works Cited

Sellers, Johana Grace. Cultural Awareness. 2016. Belk School of Business, Charlotte,
NC.

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