Extra Credit Blog Post 10/12/16

Deciding on who my main stakeholder would be was not that difficult.  CSU is the stakeholder that has the most ability to implement the solutions that I proposed in my essay.  I decided to write to the Student Resolution Center because they deal with a lot of different cases regarding plagiarism and cheating.  I figured they would be a good starting point.  It only took a quick google search to find their email.  Here is a screenshot of the email that I sent to the Student Resolution Center.

I decided about halfway through writing my essay that I was going to do the extra credit blog post and send my essay to my stakeholder.  This did change my writing process when I realized that my main stakeholder may read my essay.  I added a new section called “Audience” in my paper after I decided to send my essay to them.  This section goes into detail on why I selected them as the audience and how they could have the potential authority to implement my proposed solutions.  I think that ultimately me deciding to send my essay to my stakeholder improved my writing.  I proofread it more because I knew that a third party may potentially read my essay.  I also knew I had to be specific and clear on my proposals.  It also made me realize how important it is to prove that the issue that you have giving solutions for is in fact an issue.  If it's not a legitimate issue, then they will have no reason to read the essay.

I also realized that I would have to gear all of my other arguments towards that specific stakeholder.  It made me focus more on how these solutions can be implemented.  I also tried to explain how they would not be overwhelmingly difficult.  While all three forms of rhetorical appeal are crucial to a convincing argument, I decided that the use of logos and ethos would be the most logical to use in my paper.  This is because I am addressing the paper to the Student Resolution Center.  They are likely not going to be very persuaded by emotional appeals.  If any of my solutions were to be implemented they would likely need to be looked over by several different people.  The solutions would be analyzed for flaws.  Therefore, the argument needs to be logical and come from credible sources in order to survive this process.

This genre of writing helped me develop my writing as well.  I have a tendency of writing to a much vaguer argument.  Therefore, lots of my evidence and analysis is usually directed at a larger audience.  This prevents me from really targeting a specific argument and using evidence that will help persuade that specific audience.  I also got better at analyzing that evidence and showing how it really does affect the specific audience I am talking to.  I can use this technique to help me with future assignments as well.  For future writing assignments I now think it will be useful to sit down and analyze who my audience is and who the biggest stakeholder is.  Then I will come up with a list of reasons explaining why they are the audience and stakeholders.  Being able to effectively and clearly address a specific audience will make any piece of writing more powerful.