Throughout this course I have learned and grown as a science writer. The various articles that I read for class, the papers I had to write and projects we focused on all have contributed to my growth and have bettered my understanding within writing of the sciences. In this paper, I will reflect on my work that was completed in this class and I will display my growth and accomplishments.
The first project we completed in this class was the Informative Review. With this review, I focused on the HPV vaccine and a woman named Henrietta Lacks. The purpose of this paper was to inform people on the truth that is behind the vaccine and of systemic racism that occurs within healthcare. It explores ethics and consent and is meant to inform the public whether it is students, professors or general readers of Henrietta’s story and the scientific significance she had. Since this was an informative review, everything in this paper had to be written in pure facts and information with no stand, position, or opinions in it. This paper first introduced what HPV was, then dove into who Henrietta Lacks was, then connected Henrietta to the creation of the vaccine and finally closed off with important remarks to Henerietta.
The next project we completed in this class was the Position paper and SPSA Video. My paper focused on sustainability through fashion and finding ways to minimize fast fashion culture. With this came a lot of research in finding data on how fast fashion harms the environment, what companies do to contribute to environmental harm, how the public can shop suitability, and how the public can make better sustainable choices when shopping for clothing. This paper was mainly targeted at the general public, specifically those who shop fast fashion and to corporations that create clothes in an unethical and frequently disposable way. The way this was structured was that all the negative effects from fast fashion were shown, then the companies who contribute to fast fashion were called out, then sustainable options were given and finally sustainable companies were introduced.
The last project we focused on for this class was the proposal for research. I specifically looked into gene therapy as a cure or treatment for cancer. This project was heavily based on research and the explanation of the information I gathered. I was able to look into data, trials, testing, results and future work for this concept. The audience for this paper was very broad, anyone is able to read and learn valuable information from it. This paper was very important to me as cancer is something that impacts my family and generations of it so it was interesting to see more being done for cancer and the future of it.
Implementing linguistic differences to inform and educate audiences of various language varieties was simple and challenging through various projects. For the informative review, I believe I did a good job at simplifying big concerts so that many people can easily understand and follow my writing. I also believe I did the same thing well with my position paper. The area where I struggled to simplify my language and way of writing was for the proposal for research. I found it very hard to describe certain terms and simplify them as I thought it was too difficult to do so. I understand that linguistic differences can very directly impact the way someone learns about science. It can be difficult to understand unfamiliar things especially when one does not explain. This is why things must be explained thoroughly and simplified after the concept if brung up. I think that science writers should address linguistic differences to inform and educate audiences of various language varieties by giving thorough explanations of terms that might be unfamiliar to the public, using a mix of complex and simple words so people can easily follow along and use images to showcase important visuals to all. Based on what we read in class about how language difference impacts peoples’ trust in healthcare providers, I would present my informative review paper to a secondary audience/second language learners/people unfamiliar with scientific concepts and language, in a simple and very visual way. If this language is something I myself am unfamiliar with I can research translations after I have simplified concepts so they can understand me well. I would also use many images that are easy to follow since images can be very universal and helpful in learning. I do think that people who speak other language varieties (other than Standard American English) resonate with my PSA video because fast fashion impacts everyone worldwide. The countries that export fast fashion often have workers who are treated inhumanely and unjust. This is an issue because these workers are abused, placed under dangerous conditions and get paid very little. It is an issue that is unfair to all and to the environment.
Science writers should consider language differences and institutionalized racism when writing about science because the writer and other people should be educated and aware that these are serious matters that need to be talked about more often. They have to take into account all the experiences people have faced and what can be done so these experiences are reduced. I addressed these issues in my informative review paper by dedicating a part of my writing to Henrietta Lacks, a woman who experienced institutionalized racism and was taken advantage of. I did this in order to provide context of how the HPV vaccine came to be but also to educate my audience on how Henrietta had her cells taken and used without consent and how her story wasn’t told until many years after her cells were taken. It is important to be aware of this discrimination that exists within healthcare so appropriate actions can be taken to stop it and we must also recognize our own rights.
With the position paper and SPSA video, I learned that sustainability is crucial in helping the environment and people worldwide. Sustainability explores the idea of making the best use of resources while expanding the lifespan of items that can be reused again and again. I learned that social equity is in alliance to sustainability to make sure that everyone has the same access to resources. This also goes with environmental justice, to make sure people have access to things such as clean water, clean air and other appropriate resources. In order to incorporate these concepts in my position paper, I first explored what it looks like to shop sustainably. I provided the public with companies that create clothing sustainably and also listed ways that people can make sustainable choices when buying clothing. I then spoke about social equity when mentioning the people who work with fast fashion and the harm that comes from it. Landfills are filled with clothing and this leads to having worse air quality for everyone. In accordance with environmental justice, fast fashion is very harmful to the environment so if we shop more sustainably we can reduce the harm that is done and create a better environment for us all to live in. Some challenges that came with collaborating on the SPSA project was distributing even work. I overcame this challenge by speaking up to make it more fair.
The strategies that I used to identify a niche for my research proposal was to first look at various articles and analyze any important information. I then looked at the information I gathered and compared my resources to look for patterns and importances. The database that I found most useful when looking at data was my school’s library. They had many important articles and resources when looking at this topic. It was easy to navigate and gave me a lot of great information to use. Peer reviews were super helpful in the sense that it gave valuable feedback and an opportunity to get another perspective in order to improve or add on anything that was missing or could be written better.
The strategies I took to adapt the audience to my cloning topic while also acknowledging structural racism in science was to write the paper in a smooth way where the transitions were easy to follow and went in order. I made sure to introduce everything before I explained further things just in case some people were unfamiliar with certain things. I also included experiences and past information like with Henrietta Lacks to acknowledge this racism and so people see that it has happened and was not right.
The strategies I took to connect with and adapt my target audience to my sustainability plan was to reason with them but also for them to have compassion over the matters fast fashion brings. I am aware that a big reason why people shop fast fashion is because of social media culture and because of the low prices. I made sure to be understanding of my audience but I also made sure they were understanding of the topic. I included environmental facts and stories to bring compassion and make the audience think about the choices that they make. I supported my position paper thesis by introducing 2 fashion brands that create clothing sustainably. Both brands offer universal clothing and have reasonable price points. They also have good initiatives and are conscious about the environment. This supports my thesis by showing that there are brands who care about the people and the world. With my SPSA video, the language that was used was simple, easy to follow and understand. This was meant so that people can read easily and look at the key points quickly. The color scheme was more dark when talking about the bad consequences of fast fashion and a light color scheme was used when talking about solutions. The design included images that showcased important points and added on to capturing the attention of the audience.
With my research proposal, the strategies that I took to adapt my audience to my science issue was to thoroughly explain every piece of context and evidence surrounding gene therapy. I made sure to include a lot of data that I gathered and made sure to explore various ideas such as concerns, outcomes and future findings. I presented in person so I was able to create a slideshow with the most important pieces of information and I also included diagrams that showcased how gene therapy works and how it can be useful. By presenting orally, there was much value in speaking directly to my audience and explaining things well to them. It also gave a good opportunity for questions and wonders to be shared and answered. It opened up an opportunity for conversation and better communication.
Looking back at my letter of introduction, my response to question 7 has changed. I was able to incorporate stronger words into my writing but also explained those words way better than I have before. My language definitely improved and my way of writing got stronger as I struggled less to write and was very interested in the topics we explored in class. My response to question 9 has somewhat changed. My understanding of sustainability remains about the same but my interest has definitely gone up. In the past I never worked with sustainability but now that I have I can say I learned a lot more and am more educated on the topics that surround it. I’m more aware of the consequences that come out of things such as fast fashion and have learned that doing research can truly make you informed and can teach you many new things.
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