Matthew Barnebee

Brendan Hawkins
Barnebee 1
ENC2135
6 December 2017

Seeing the Other Side

Before the start of the Fall 2017 semester, I made it my personal goal to diversify my

learning as much as possible, in addition to welcoming new viewpoints from a vast ideological

spectrum. I wanted to effectively write about my beliefs while simultaneously accepting that

other beliefs also have legitimate reasoning and value. In the context of this course, I

communicated my goal of reaching across the aisle by utilizing learned writing and research

methods to my advantage as the perfect tool for articulation. Tools like rhetorical situation,

devices, and analysis have allowed me to significantly expand my learning by displaying an open

mind for multiple sides of given arguments. In my writing I exhibited tolerance towards all

parties involved, thus giving me more credibility amongst a wide range of written topics.

Perhaps the best example of my tolerance of various viewpoints in learning and writing

this semester pertains to the analysis assignment. In the project, I provided an analysis of

rhetorical strategies used by the Collier Mens Republican Club of which I received a scholarship

from. Almost all the material from the project came from my own personal, unbiased experiences

with the Club. I discussed the strategies that I alone was directly involved in, such as my meeting

and interview with the Club. The fact that the experiences I described were mine, and not

someone elses, made me realize that it was the perfect opportunity to provide perhaps the most

even-handed analysis of a potentially polarizing issue that I have yet to accomplish.

During the analysis, I explained that the Club, and the Republican Party in general across

the United States, does a fantastic job of keeping the support of its normal constituency

(veterans, the elderly, etc.). Yet it does a very poor job of accepting new and diverse views that
 Barnebee 2

could potentially attract a younger and more progressive audience. I was very proud of this

analysis because, even though I moderately identify with the Republican Party, I provided my

honest and unbiased opinion to an issue where most people would only take one side over

another. I did this through an honest, un-biased evaluation of the Clubs rhetorical strategies. This

idea of reducing bias to a minimum is one of the most important lessons I learned this semester.

In contrast to the analysis project, it was much more difficult composing an unbiased

result in my research project. For the research project, I decided to write on the topic of criminal

justice reform as it relates to race and minorities, including pertinent questions such as why

people want it reformed and the potential ways it could change for the better. I did not previously

know very much about this issue, so my analysis relied heavily on the research of others.

Even though most of my sources were scholarly and used reliable statistics, I felt like

each of the authors already had a particular agenda going into their writing that didnt provide a

very even-handed investigation (most of them were largely pro-reformation). This would not be

a very big deal if I could just obtain other sources that provided a different point of view. The

problem, however, was that very few scholars believe that the criminal justice system is

satisfactory towards its treatment of minorities in its current format. Very few are against

reformation. This bothered me because I felt like the paper leaned too far in one direction based

off what was gathered from the sources. In hindsight, I wish that I had picked a topic that had

more support from each side of the argument, rather than the more obvious (though still very

controversial) topic that was chosen.

Despite my momentary setback from the research paper, I was able to carry on in my goal

of showing empathy and diversification in my 3rd exegesis paper. I interpreted a narrative written
 Barnebee 3

by Richard Rodriquez that describes life as an immigrant in the United States. Through skills I

have learned in this course, such as analyzing Rodriguezs tone, style, and goal for the audience,

I gained a strong sense of the argument being presented. He wrote about the class divide that

existed within the language barrier of his Hispanic immigrant family. While writing about how

Rodriguezs story might relate to other aspects of society, I brought up a point that I am very

fond of. I stated the fact that my older Hispanic half-brother is actually a full Spanish speaker,

and even though he admits the struggle to learn both English and Spanish at a young age, he also

admits that he finds little discrimination when speaking Spanish as compared to the

discrimination that his mother faced in the 1960s. With this comparison, I was able to draw

purpose from someone elses personal narrative and relate it to a relevant example that I drew

from direct experience in my own family life. I would also like to think that this synchronization

well-represented two separate ideological trains of thought by respectfully expressing both sides.

Consider the goal accomplished.

My goal of communicating my ideas and others in an open-minded way would be

unrealistic if it werent for my understanding of how writing is a worthy gadget for

communication. My understanding of writing has changed dramatically throughout this semester,

which is made clear by viewing my first writing definition versus my second. In my first writing

definition, a very simple and broad definition of writing was provided. I said it can be induced

through our emotions as a spur of the moment. That definition is not very insightful. However,

fast forward to my second writing definition and you will find that it completely transformed into

the one that this very reflective essay is based on. I expressed the idea that writing is the

outcome of giving knowledge to others through our own experiences, observations, and gain of

knowledge and we express our own experiences might constitute specific events that have
 Barnebee 4

directly occurred and impacted those around us in an un-biased fashion. As one can tell, this

almost directly correlates to my goal of expressing my beliefs to others, while accurately

interpreting and describing others beliefs all accomplished through the lens of appropriate

writing. My interpretation of writing in this way is the driving force behind remaining un-biased

and diverse in my learning.

When all is said and done, I would like to reflect on this course and tell myself that I

learned to make valid arguments that are fair and impartial. Of course, I often found it hard to

write about research that other scholars wrote (the research paper), but that is something I have

overcome due to my practice with other assignments. But overall, this course really helped me to

display empathy towards others beliefs. The skills I learned in analyzing, reading, and defining

writing helped me effectively communicate my ideas and the ideas of others. If I continue to

accomplish this goal of un-biased work that I have set for myself this semester, I think that I can

really help others in society see the other side of any given issue, no matter how polarizing it

may be.