Framing Letter

August 2, 2016
To the English Department Committee,
This semester, for English 324, I have written in several genres, included in this portfolio.
Those being a Forum Analysis, Literature Review, and a Research Proposal. Each of these
documents, while covering similar topics, have different intentions and audiences. Writing these
documents, because of their different goals, I have shown that I am able to adapt the tone and
style of my writing to project my understanding of a topic in a variety of situations.
The Forum Analysis tasked me with analyzing two forums covering my disciple, one
academic forum and one in the public sphere. I was able to show my ability to analyze a topic
(the differences between these two forms) and to write for an audience looking for analysis on
said topic. I believe I have done well in terms of writing with the audience in mind on this paper
because of my choices in the papers structure and direct tone when asserting my analysis of
each forum. I think the structure made the information easy to navigate and compare the two
forums. And I chose a direct tone to convey a level of certainty that the audience would expect
in an analysis of something. For example:
The same goes for the Scientist Robot discussed in the summary section. No
specifics are given on how the researchers developed the AI algorithms, what
algorithms they use, or how any of the robotics components function. However,
they do provide a link to the researches who developed the robot, which serves
their audience best. Those that want more information can find it, and those
who only want the basics can continue reading
This lets the readers know the popular forum does not offer substantive technical details
but does provide an overview and direction for more information. Similar, to further illustrate
my points about the difference between the two forums, I found numerical statistics about each
forum to give a quantifiable visual representation of how the two varied. For the popular forum,
I used viewership figures to show the breadth of the audience and in the scholar forum I used a
statement from the organization - IEEE publishes a third of the worlds technical literature in
electrical engineering, computer science and electronics and is a leading developer of
international standards. . . to show the forums significance in the field.
The Literature Review required me to inform a general audience about the state of
research on a topic of interest in my discipline. This required me to mostly leave my own
opinions on the topic out of the paper until the conclusion and focus more intensely on providing
an accurate, factual description about the research. To accomplish this I again relied on framing
the paper deliberately in such a manner that lead to my conclusions. I began with insights on the
topic, Mobile Device Security, and moved into research that shows the potential harm as a result
of insufficient security. Then I pulled explanations about the current state of mobile security
from the projects exploring improvements to security. I did this to give the audience a frame of
reference and general background information before moving on the current work. At this point,

I noted the three emerging trends in the field and began laying the groundwork for my
conclusions.
These reasons lead me to believe that the Literature Review best demonstrates my
abilities as a writer. While it seems similar to a report or a summary in content, it requires a tone
that has a ring of expertise while not being bogged down with incomprehensible jargon for the
novice. A simple regurgitation of facts would not be sufficient for this genre, because it does
incorporate a bit of persuasion to bring the audience to the conclusion. This required a delicate
balance of fact and observation throughout the paper so the reader can infer on their own the
same conclusion I had reached before reading my conclusion.
The Research Proposal, unlike the Literature Review, is aimed toward an audience with
more expertise on the subject and is much less subtle in its persuasive elements. It does have
similarities to the Literature Review though. The Proposal still needs to examine a collection of
research surrounding the topic like the Literature Review, but instead of simple observing a
direction for research, the Proposal offers a methodology and timeline for conducting the
research. To do this effectively, I condensed the review of recent research section to a brief
overview of each studys objects, methods, and results. Then, presented a potential avenue to
improve on those works. Developing the solution required critical thinking skills and the ability
to apply knowledge to achieve an outcome.
I have decided to revise my Forum Analysis paper. The feedback I had received pointed
out that my analysis was weaker for the popular forum than it was for the scholarly forum. I
reworded the heading of my analysis from Rhetoric to Rhetorical Analysis to clarify what
those sections were covering. Beside the minor heading change, I expanded the Rhetorical
Analysis of the PCMag article to include descriptions of the article is visually represented. I
used those observations to point out the forum is motivated by profits, which it earns through ad
clicks and subscriptions. I also expanded and clarified the next paragraph were I mention the
articles narrative features about past and relatively current events to make points relatable.
The three goals I had this semester were to reduce the time it takes for me to put my
thoughts onto paper, improve my research strategies, and to learn the conventions for writing in
the sciences. I dont know if I have gotten noticeably faster at formulating my thoughts onto
paper, but the work I did over the course of the semester can only help accomplish this goal. It is
a goal that takes practice and with time I will get better at this. The other two goals I do think I
was able to make significant progress. Researching topics for this class, I stepped outside of my
comfort zone and explored more of the features the NDSU Library site offers. I found the eshelf especially helpful for storing and sorting articles after reading through them. Finally, I
think this class with be a great benefit in the future especially if I do decide to continue into
Graduate level coursework. These specific genres I imagine are an important part of the work
towards a Masters or PhD. Also, I dont doubt that identifying audiences, incorporating
knowledge coherently, and adapting tone will be a necessary skill when working professionally
in my field. The course introduced me to new genres I had not known before the semester and
forced me to think about not just what I am writing, but also to think about who it is for, why I
am writing it, and how it should sound to the reader.