Hello teachers and classmates!

This is a collection of my semesters work for the Freshman Composition 11000 course.

Self-Assessment Essay:

Lucas Rivera

12/14/2023

Freshman Composition 11000

Self-Assessment Essay:

This semester, I took freshman composition and I ended up learning a lot about myself. At the beginning of the course there was a set of goals in which everyone in the class aspired to achieve or at least achieve full understanding of certain topics within the subject. I think I measured up decently to these challenges and I think overall I did average. 

The first of the five outcomes is ‘Examine how attitudes towards linguistic standards empower and oppress language users.’ I think my understanding of this topic is there, but not as great as I would have hoped for. The first thing that came to mind when I read this outcome was Amy Tan’s ‘Mother Tongue,’ which tackles this exact thing. The story helped me understand how our society categorizes anything that’s not the norm, ‘weird’, and how we often are quick to judge anything different. For example somebody with an accent not being taken seriously and being disrespected. However this exact issue can also be used as a unique voice in writing and speaking that gives authors that creative edge and makes them truly stand out. 

Next is ‘Explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations.’ I think I did an alright job when it comes to rhetorical analysis. I explored a few papers before getting to my partner’s paper for our project. It gave me a lot of perspective on what can and can’t be used as a rhetorical edge. For instance, my partner used his own personal experience to persuade the audience of his claim, and his word choice during those segments was always gauging the audience’s emotions. This helped me in my own paper where I was able to also take a different approach to this idea thanks to him. I also was glad to got to have interviewed him for our project.

The third goal of this semester was to ‘Develop strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing.’ I achieved this goal by simply just doing the work alongside my classmates. The class itself sets you up for success, but you also have to get creative when it comes to time management. I used multiple strategies given to me to create papers, such as creating drafts, taking part in peer review, and also learning how to properly annotate a text. I remember sitting in class for an activity where we used two different strategies to analyze two different papers and I realized how you could create so many of these kinds of strategies. One of the stratgies was collecting information the text provided and the other was more about the rhetorical skills of the text. As someone who tends to make a lot of mistakes while writing, it was really helpful to have a lot of different eyes on my essays giving me feedback that I could use to improve my writing. 

The next goal being to ‘Recognize and practice key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations,’ stumped me. I’m really bad when it comes to identifying something in a work, once it’s told to me I can talk about it, but I have a hard time breaking down long pieces of text because it can be hard for me to concentrate. So this is probably my weakest area out of all of them. I know about ethos, logos, and pathos, but actually identifying them in a piece of work can be really challenging to me. However, I did improve at least somewhat in comparison to highschool so that is a bonus. However, using rhetorical strategies was often a big difficulty for me and I wish to grow more in this specific topic next semester. 

Lastly, ‘Understand and use print and digital technologies to address a range of audiences.’ This one looking back throughout the semester, I did pretty well. I was always able to attract the attention of whoever was reading my paper and convey the message I wanted to convey. Whether it be through a powerpoint, or through just simply conversation or peer review even, I was able to learn how to get my message across to my intended audience. This especially served true in my spoken literacy narrative where it seemed like most of the class had resonated with and understood my story which was what I intended to happen. The target audience was my classmates since I knew I was going to be presenting to them which is why I think it ended up being well received overall.

In conclusion, I think I did about how I expected to do during this semester. I procrastinated a lot, but I learned some things about language and writing that I didn’t know before so overall it was a good experience. I look forward to my next writing class so I can improve on the things that I talked about above.

Written Language and Literacy Narrative:

Lucas Rivera

9/13/23

Freshman Composition 11000

Language and Literacy Narrative:

Language has always and will always be important in not just my life but in all of our lives. I didn’t always think about how much language impacted our daily lives despite how obvious that fact is.

 Being hispanic, I grew up with English and Spanish in my daily life, however during a moment in my childhood, I became disappointed with language as a whole. People will of course develop different languages and you are free to use any of them as you please, but when it becomes inconvenient for the person you are talking to most of the time you are forced to speak English. It’s gotten to the point where I barely remember any Spanish now because of it. Other races that are not hispanic I’m sure have it way worse, Spanish is actually very common. It’s just I’m disappointed with how our society handles language which limits our freedom of expression when talking to different people, even if it’s something that can’t be helped.

My language has been shaped by many different things, mainly just any form of media and my own environment growing up. When I was six I remember my mom would let me go on her computer and that was my introduction to the internet, which at the time was mostly YouTube. Discovering this opened the door for my language to thrive in ways that I’ll never forget. I still use some of the words and phrases that I’ve heard from the media even today. From movies, shows, social media, the internet, everywhere. I would always come home from school and go watch my favorite youtuber’s newest video and that would make my day. I think online influence can be both a good and a bad thing but in this case I will forever be grateful to it. I think it not only shaped me and the way I speak but it shaped entire generations. 

With language being so influential and monumental you would think that most of us would have communication figured out completely, but it’s only made it much more complicated. For example, I frequently experience an issue in my own language where I’m very quiet. I’m a shy person so it comes naturally to me, but as you could imagine, this makes it really difficult to communicate with others especially in a group setting like the classroom. People often can’t hear me and what is just room volume to some people is screaming for me. This is just a recurring moment in my life where I am able to connect to language because it lets me see really just how impactful and relevant it is in our lives. Just having the conscious thought about it can really do wonders to somewheres character and personality, the way they conduct themselves, the way they speak, and just them as an individual is extremely life changing.

When it comes to language, I have one artifact that I connect with the most and it’s one of my most valuable possessions. This would be my journal, which I update on a feeling basis. I’ve been writing in it for years, I started at the beginning of high school. I would write about my day, my family, what I was excited about, mad, all my emotions. I would write about my family, my friends, my anxieties, insecurities, you name it I probably wrote about it at some point. I always recommend people to try journaling when they feel super stressed out, or anxious about something, it really does help. It allows me to not only be super expressive and free about my language and writing since it’s just to myself, but it also allows me to get rid of all of my mental baggage along with it. It always decides to come up when I need it the most and I think my connection to language and literacy is at its strongest when I think about my journal.

What all these moments of my life have in common is my relationship to language changed. I think everyone’s relationship to language is always evolving with every new trend, every new book you read, and every new media you consume. I have experienced this firsthand in my experiences exploring language and learning about the different facets of it. As my relationship to language evolves overtime, I like to remember that my bond to language is unique to me and it’s something special to have on your mind. With language, I’m able to communicate to those who are important to me in my life and without the experiences I had to go through to get here, I wouldn’t be where I am today. 

Rhetorical Analysis:

Lucas Rivera

10/22/2023

Freshman Composition 11000

Peer Profile:

This narrative is about my partner Mehedi, and his journey with the English language, specifically it not being his first language. He grew up only knowing Bengali so when he came to the United States, he had an extremely challenging time with communication, but despite that he was able to form connections with others who shared a similar dilemma. He also talks about how much he loves Bengali, especially its history. His school experience also gave him a lot of growth, since he met a teacher who really inspired him to try harder and learn English. He feels like he was impacted by learning English in both positive and negative ways. 

In this narrative, Mehedi uses both ethos and pathos in order to convey their emotions and their story.  He talked about their experience not being fluent in English growing up and the challenges that came with that. This makes him a credible source for this topic obviously because he lived through it, as well as gives him some character within the narrative which is some huge points for ethos. He also talked about how difficult it was to learn English and how it made him feel like an outsider, which I’m sure many who didn’t have English as a first language could relate to. 

I actually got the chance to interview Mehedi and discuss a couple of the topics stated above. We started talking about his relationship with language, and he said he likes talking about history. He had also mentioned that he especially enjoys talking about Bengali history. I had learned a lot about it that I hadn’t before, like the feud within his home country that determined what language would be the official language.  I found out he also speaks Hindi as well, and that he is completely fluent in all three languages, English, Bengali, and Hindi. Growing up he thought his English was great, but when he moved to America in 2016 he was quickly humbled. He felt very distant from his peers due to his accent and his use of ‘broken english.’ He used youtube videos and played games online with friends in order to learn English, and after three years of this on top of going to school, he was able to learn the language pretty well. He also said that the hardest part of learning the language was learning proper grammar and just writing the language in general. It seems that speaking for him wasn’t as bad when it came to class. Overall the interview was very informative and I got to learn where his love for Bengali comes from.

Him talking about his experiences from school really helped me put into perspective what it was like to be in such an unfamiliar environment. Growing up in a space were communicating with everyone is extremely difficult and it probably didn’t help that he had an accent as well. However, with ethos and pathos in his narrative, he was able to convey his emotions in a special way that everybody can learn from.

Research Essay

Lucas Rivera 

11/20/2023

Freshman Composition 11000

The Research Essay

Intellectual property in genomics has been a controversial topic for many years ever since a certain supreme court case in 2013. In this court case the supreme court had determined that DNA in its natural form at least, could not be patented anymore. Now to understand exactly what that means we need to understand what exactly intellectual property is. Intellectual Property is essentially in this context to be able to patent something as your own discovery. It’s taking knowledge you found and claiming it to be yours.

This court case made it so that you cannot patent that DNA anymore to be studied or used in any way. This was a huge game changer for scientists and researchers alike. Now it is still possible to patent DNA, but the criteria is much higher to do so. Now this whole case is a good thing because it allows so many more discoveries to be made about topics that are so confusing and unknown in today’s society. However, this did not stop the debate from being hot as many important figures in that field have argued over this exact issue for many years.

This whole debate started back in 1982 following the US Supreme Court Case Diamond vs. Chakrabarty which ended up being a very huge deal when it comes to biotechnological discoveries of any kind. This led to the Title 35 of the United States Code which states specific criteria that must be met in order to actually patent DNA. Even after that, the invention or discovery itself has to be novel and original. If it’s too obvious or is plagiarized of course it won’t be patented. Also the idea can’t be too abstract either. According to ‘Intellectual Property in Genomics,’ it states that, “Laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas cannot be patented. Even if this first hurdle is passed, the invention must be novel; the existence of ‘prior art’ shows that someone else invented it first, of course. Also, the invention cannot be obvious to “a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains.” Therefore this criteria was clearly going to be something difficult to get through yes but ultimately necessary and provides the ample protection needed for your rights especially in a field as sophisticated as this one.

However, an issue with all these criteria is that most patents that are attempted to be made are usually not able to withhold most of the criteria needed to get one. Firstly, locating genes may be difficult and requires much thought but discoveries are very different from inventions. The main reason for this is because genes in general are naturally occurring meaning discovering them does not make it your own work. This led to the completion of the Human Genome Project which caused all human gene sequences to be prior art since they were public domain technically. Also, many say the act of simply just finding a gene’s location was pretty irrelevant. It never went beyond the level of just being novel and unimpressive. Despite all these issues, DNA patenting still ended up becoming a highly active field to work in. According to ‘Intellectual Property in Genomics’ it states, “Firstly, genes are naturally occurring, and while much intellectual effort may have gone into discovering them within the DNA sequence, discovery is not the same as invention. Secondly, with the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 all of the human gene sequences were in the public domain and, therefore, prior art. Finally, many argued that discovering the location of a gene never rose above the bar for being non-obvious; certainly by the late 1990s the practice was commonplace. Despite the criticism, DNA patenting has proven to be a very active area.” This shows that in general these issues are very important however it wont stop researchers and scientists from trying to get patents because making these discoveries and innovations are important.

One of the main purposes of patents is to promote the idea of innovation within the community. This allows investors to get the most return on their money which just overall increases the flow of the market. The issuance of patents for genetic technologies, such as novel DNA sequencing techniques, is no different, and their application has been very beneficial to those creating products based on these discoveries. Though, when patents attempt to restrict usage of fundamental genetic data, it can be seen as a threat to research in this field in general and it’s overall looked down upon. This also poses a threat to the conversion of research findings into clinical applications. According to ‘Intellectual Property in Genomics’, it states, “Patents are issued to encourage innovation, and provide protection to allow those investing in an innovation the opportunity to maximize the profit from their investment. Patents issued for genetic technologies such as new methods of DNA sequencing are no different and their issuance has been extremely valuable to those developing products based on genetic discoveries. However, when patents limit the use of basic genetic information, they threaten to inhibit or unduly constrain biomedical research, and the translation of research discoveries to clinical applications.” Therefore, the purpose of the patents being to promote innovation ended up being successful and overall beneficial to the field.

One specific principle that was agreed upon by the higher ups and leaders of the Human Genome Project was that generated DNA sequences should always be freely available to the public. In 1997, the principle was codified in the Bermuda Principles, which allowed expectations to be set. This included that those generated DNA sequences should be publicly available within the first 24 hours after generation. According to ‘Intellectual Property in Genomics’, it states, “Indeed, one of the early principles agreed upon by leaders of the Human Genome Project was that the DNA sequence generated should be freely available to the public. This principle was codified in the 1997 Bermuda Principles, which set forth the expectation that all DNA sequence information should be released into publicly available databases within 24 hours of being generated.” This shows that this policy ended up being very important because even to this day it has stayed a core ethos principle of genomics.

Now, there have been concerns throughout the last decade that a large number of human genome-related patents, either because of their limited nature or because of their expensive costs, will limit the integration of genomic medicine into healthcare. Diagnostic procedures on genes covered by patents cannot be created without them, unlike other types of patents. This is so that only the patent holder or their licensees have the right to sequence the DNA during the patent’s term as only the actual DNA sequence to be tested is claimed in the patent, not the method for analyzing the gene to identify its sequence. According to ‘Intellectual Property of Genomics’, it states that, “Over the years that this debate has occurred, there have been concerns that large numbers of patents associated with the human genome would limit the integration of genomic medicine into health care because of either restrictive patents or prohibitive costs. Diagnostic tests on patented genes cannot be invented around, as is possible with other patents. This is because the actual DNA sequence to be tested is claimed in the patent, not the method of analyzing the gene to determine its sequence, and so only the patent holder, or their licensees, have the rights to sequence that DNA during the patent’s life.” Therefore this debate is still actually relevant and is a huge pivotal point of Intellectual Property in genomics as a whole. This led to a later point where in 2010 a report was published on gene patents and licensing that went viral. According to ‘Intellectual Property in Genomics, it states, “In April 2010 the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health and Society published a report, Gene Patents and Licensing Practices and Their Impact on Patient Access to Genetic Tests. Resting on the underlying assumption that patents on human genes were acceptable, the report recommended that diagnostic (but not therapeutic) genetic tests be exempted from patent infringement, along with a research use exemption. Exempting diagnostic patents from infringement while still recognizing that diagnostic gene patents could exist was greeted with controversy at the time, especially considering that the case studies that accompanied the report showed mixed evidence of harm to patients as a result of gene patents.”

Overall, this supreme court case and the Human Genome Project have really set a course of a very intense and passionate discussion on many different topics. In general, these topics have been for the most part beneficial to the topic of Intellectual Property within the realm of genomics as a whole and has been life changing for many.

Other assignments:

LLN Snapshot:

Lucas Rivera

9/11/2023

ENGL 11000

Language and Literacy Narrative Snapshot:

One meaningful moment of my language and literacy experiences that really stuck out to me was actually a presentation. One day for class I had to present a similar narrative, and so I ended up making it extremely personal to me which was very uncharacteristic of me. I talked about my struggles with opening up and being honest in the form of a poem. This was something I was really struggling with at the time so I felt extremely hesitant and embarrassed to read this poem in front of my class, however I couldn’t just fail the assignment so I went up and read it. I even told my friends around me that this poem was really cringey, to try and avoid any judgment towards me. I was so scared of being judged, but with my legs quivering and my heart dropping, I took to the front of the class. I felt my throat begin to dry and my heart start to race as the whole class looked at me with anticipation. I began to read the poem in a really shaky voice, and felt the stares of the entire room. As I kept going I could feel myself getting a bit emotional and my voice even more shaky, but towards the end for some reason I started to get comfortable. When I got to the part of the poem which was the turning point, I started to gain the confidence to keep reading in a louder yet calmer voice. I finished the poem and to my surprise I was greeted with a roar of applause. I was asked a few questions about my poem and even received compliments from my classmates as I went back to my seat. I sat back down next to my friends and they said that my poem was not cringey at all, but instead a deep poem they connected to. That day I learned that it’s okay to express yourself with language and that you shouldn’t feel scared of being judged for simply just being yourself.

Peer RA Analysis First Draft:

Lucas Rivera

10/10/2023

Freshman Comp. 11000

Rhetorical Analysis Part 1:

This narrative is about my partner Mehedi, and his journey with the English language, specifically it not being his first language. He grew up only knowing Bengali so when he came to the United States, he had an extremely challenging time with communication, but despite that he was able to form connections with others who shared a similar dilemma. He also talks about how much he loves Bengali, especially its history. His school experience also gave him a lot of growth, since he met a teacher who really inspired him to try harder and learn English. He feels like he was impacted by learning English in both positive and negative ways. 

In this narrative, Mehedi uses both ethos and pathos in order to convey their emotions and their story.  He talked about their experience not being fluent in English growing up and the challenges that came with that. This makes him a credible source for this topic obviously because he lived through it, as well as gives him some character within the narrative which is some huge points for ethos. He also talked about how difficult it was to learn English and how it made him feel like an outsider, which I’m sure many who didn’t have English as a first language could relate to.

Mother Tongue Response:

Lucas Rivera

9/4/2023

ENGL 110

Mother Tongue Response

Amy Tan’s ‘Mother Tongue’ was an incredibly interesting read, it talked about Tan’s life experience as an Asian-American woman and how that can be difficult if English isn’t your first language. I can sort of relate to the broken English part where she talks about her mother and her struggles with people understanding her. For me I grew up not really knowing much Spanish, so I had to communicate with my grandparents in broken English as well. I never witnessed any sort of disrespect or any bad experience in general though. I really resonate with her talking about people disrespecting her mother and not taking her seriously. That is not okay at all and is hopefully an issue that is not so bad in our time. Tan should not have had to speak for her mother for anything to happen, that is just incredibly rude and straight up disrespectful. I also enjoy the overall message of English looking different for everybody. For Tan she speaks with her mother and husband in this broken English as a way of showing intimacy and that seemed really cool to me. She made this form of English which was previously a huge inconvenience for her and her mother into something that they can cherish. I think everybody does have their own way of speaking and interpreting language and it can vary from who you are talking to as well. You aren’t going to use the same vocabulary with your friends as you would with your family, or at work. I think this idea is important because it’s not really talked about. How many different kinds of unique languages exist in each person is an interesting concept to me and Amy Tan perfectly conveys this idea with her speaking about broken English. Overall, I enjoyed this essay and would recommend this to anybody.