Navigating the Spectrum: A Reflection on Voluntary and Involuntary Writing in My Academic Journey
An autobiographical reflection of my past compositions
Through a deep retrospective exploration of my past compositions, I can make a few undebatable observations. Firstly, the quantity of voluntary writing is nowhere near the immense volume of involuntary writing I have produced throughout my academic career. With that being said, I find the dichotomous categorization of “involuntary” and “voluntary” writing to be a bit problematic. The word ‘Involuntary’ implies a certain sense of reluctance or unwillingness that existed during the process of composing the piece. It is important to acknowledge that there is some element of choice that eventually led to the final product. For this reason, this reflection will be divided into three parts. A review of “voluntary”, “involuntary” and “voluntary but engaging” writing. To elaborate, I have tried to ensure every class I am enrolled in is interesting and engaging to a certain degree. Therefore I ensured my commitment to my work just by choosing classes that explored general themes that would interest me. This engagement is further motivated by the discretion offered by the assignment prompts within my classes. As an International Relations major, the bulk of my assigned work has to do with research papers, policy memos, position papers, and argumentative essays supported by a traditional thesis-argument-evidence-conclusion backbone. But I have found, for the most part, professors at USC want students to critically engage in their work, and avoid using restrictive close-ended prompts that ultimately limit creativity and harmonious lines of inquiry. I therefore categorize these pieces of writing as “involuntary but engaging” writing.
For the “voluntary” reflection I will include two excerpt, a transcribed excerpt from a speech and a response on a club application. I am considering these as voluntary since there is a degree of personal gain that incentivized my work. While this can also be applied to cover letters and application materials in general, these compositions can be classified as extracurricular rather than something I was obliged to do for professional development. The classification of purely “involuntary” will apply to the excerpts taken from my freshman-year compositions. The lack of interest present during the construction of these pieces is clearly articulated through dull word choice, repetitive sentence structures, and shallow surface-level claims. This would include things like cover letters, internship applications, and essays for mandatory classes we usually check off our freshman year. The writing I produced freshman year was almost always written under nail-biting deadline-induced pressure. Despite being an anxious writer, I am also plagued by procrastination and find it impossible to work efficiently without the incentive of an imminent deadline. This is another part of my reflection that I will focus on in the following paragraphs. Through this autobiographical reflection, I will examine the conditions for specific compositions created in different settings. Using the scale described earlier, I will use excerpts as evidence to support my claims made about writing that falls into each category: “voluntary”, “involuntary”, and “involuntary but engaging”.
Beginning with the voluntary category, I point to excerpt 1, an excerpt from a response to a question on an on-campus club application.
The prompt: “Tell us 5 things that make you tick”
Excerpt 1: “I’ve always loved traveling to new places and experiencing new environments. Whether it's backpacking … or visiting a new country, I love any form of interacting with an unknown place …When visiting a new country I love to try the local cuisine and buy snacks from street markets/local grocery stores. Phuket, Thailand is definitely one of my favorite places I’ve ever traveled to…”
With reference to this excerpt, the first thing that immediately stands out to me is my tone. Writing to the target audience of other students, I have not refrained from using any contractions as evidenced by the usage of “I’ve” in two different parts. This informal tone also suggests my desire to connect with the reader and come across as more friendly than professional. Beyond this the text is also fun and easy to read, there are no complicated vocabulary choices or run-on argumentative sentences forcing a main point across. This no-frills text serves to simply reveal an aspect of my personality that I wanted to showcase to the people on the receiving side. The stakes involved in creating this composition were relatively low. I did not have anything on the line besides acceptance into the club. The narrative style is probably my favorite genre of non-fiction writing to engage in. The narrative style comes with ease, I do not feel intense pressure while simply recounting or reflecting on events of the past. Much like the composition I am currently writing, this excerpt was not a piece of work I had to wrack my brain over.
The second excerpt I want to use to demonstrate the contextual differences between my “voluntary” writing and the other categories is a transcription of a presentation I gave on the topic of peace in a post-pandemic context.
Excerpt 2: “Religious intolerance in India has only promoted violence and hatred. This is amplified by the selective nature of what is portrayed in the media. Over 902 crimes motivated by religion and caste were reported in 2019… We must work to eliminate discrimination on the basis of religion or belief. In democratic countries, religion and ethnicity should be separated from politics. The public must vote based purely on political grounds, …with preference to leaders who will improve the interactions not only between citizens of the nation itself but also between…”
The target audience for this speech varied from activists, academics, other students, and government officials, so the tone was noticeably formal and professional. I engaged with visual media in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, that aimed to guide the listeners through the claims put forward. The academic setting of the text is also reflected by the use of statistics, as I intended to appeal to the audience’s reasoning and build up logical arguments with logos. This piece can be classified as voluntary because my participation in the conference was completely in my own hands, and I was also arguing for causes meaningful to me. My passion comes out through the hyperbolic language in the first sentence and through strong emphatic word choices.
Moving into the next category “involuntary but engaging”, I want to dissect an excerpt from a research paper I wrote during my sophomore year. It was for a class I thoroughly enjoyed, and the paper assignment allowed me to explore topics in IR that I found truly engaging. This is a segment from a research paper exploring the British colonial legacy in India, and cultural imperialism through a study of intersectionality and LGBTQIA+ politics.
Excerpt 3: “Discriminatory imperial values against GNCs still manifest through stigma in public health spaces which discourage transgender communities from accessing healthcare services (Pandya & Redcay). The construction of knowledge within South Asia is deeply rooted in imperial cultural values …collective memory reified by cultural imperialism and colonialism therefore still paints hijras as deviants with criminalized sexual variance over 6 decades after the rescission of the CTA in 1952 (Goel).”
To write this paper, I engaged with numerous scholarly articles, and journals and encountered a wide range of archival materials. This influenced the language I used and inspired me to critically present my arguments. I was fairly proud of the final result of the completed research paper and never felt dread while engaging in the writing process. This is a key example of why I would never classify this type of writing as involuntary. Despite its academic nature and the weight it held in my GPA, I experienced intense immersion while researching this topic. It was almost as if I was in a state of flow, which is reflected by the fluidity and cohesion of my arguments.
Finally, the purely “involuntary” composition I am choosing to reflect on will showcase how significant personal engagement, and incentive, can be on the quality of work produced.
This excerpt is taken from WP1 for WRIT-150, which prompted us to analyze a meme.
Excerpt 4: “The meme is unironic and highly relatable for all introverts and Marvel fans alike…The meme identifies Marvel fans as quirky or antisocial, however, the meme is relatable given its context of composition, 2013. This is a period when Marvel movies, superheroes, and comic books were not mainstream, and therefore had an association with geekiness or nerdiness.”
While this excerpt is not representative of the whole essay, I can safely say it was not enjoyable to write or to consume as a reader. What resulted was a disorganized cluster of repetitive sentence structures, unimaginative vocabulary choices, and an overall dull, boring product. I owe this to two reasons; first, my overall engagement with the theme was lacking and this was a mandatory assignment for a mandatory class. Second, this project was graded for completion, there was no incentive to produce something worthy of an A because it did not count. It is also important to acknowledge the psychological variables surrounding the creation of that composition. As a first-year juggling with a new environment, I was unable to invest enough time and energy into my writing.
Considering these four excerpts, I think the three categories are representative of a wide spectrum of work I have written. While it is true that confounding factors like my environment may have had a role to play, I think the biggest distinction between each was my personal engagement with the prompts. This is why I love taking classes with professors who avoid assertive paper assignments, and let our imaginations run free while supporting us with general guidelines.
Part 2: Contextual Analysis
For the contextual analysis section of this assignment, I want to dive deeper into the transcribed speech used as an excerpt in the autobiographical reflection. My reason for choosing this text is that I engaged with a large audience from different backgrounds. I was just one keynote speaker out of about 20 other presenters, so I was very keen to stand out and make a strong point with my words. Furthermore, since it was presented as a speech, I had more incentive to deliver clear and concise arguments. The members of the audience received the transcript while I delivered the speech in real time, but it is likely they were paying more attention to the visual presentation I created to aid my arguments, especially because I used statistical evidence and images as supporting materials. Furthermore, this forum on peace-building took place over Zoom, so the audience and other keynote speakers were from various backgrounds hailing from different parts of the world, notably Singapore, India, and the UK. Considering this I had to be culturally cognizant and avoid diluting my argument by using over-complicated long sentences that would be tough to follow.
The introductory passage is as follows:
“Hello everybody, I am Maanya Medapa a student … I am honored to be here…has provided a platform for activists to advocate for peace. This is something essential in today’s world, where ignorance seems to be the norm.”
Noting my tone, I tried to come across as very formal and professional, expressing my gratitude to the organization that gave me the opportunity to present. The purpose of this introductory statement is to evoke a sense of urgency amongst the audience, as I have employed pathos to appeal to audience. I have also established myself as a credible source through my association with USC.
Through the following passages, the intended audience becomes more clear. Even though this forum was open to all, I was speaking specifically from the perspective of the younger generation. The general purpose of this speech was a call to action for peace advocacy. This is also explicit in this passage:
“With the importance given to social media today, each and every one of us is capable of advocating for human rights. Platforms like Twitter can help getting your perspectives out … We can also create networks and platforms… If ignorance is the plague of today’s world, then awareness must be the vaccine.”
The emphasis placed on social media reflects my intention of engaging with younger audiences and also implies the context being the robust digital era we currently live in. Finally, I want to point out the analogy used at the end, as it dramatizes the main argument, potentially heightening audience engagement.
Next, I want to point out my use of numerical figures that strengthen the validity of my arguments. This passage contains both a rhetorical question and statistics, which was my attempt to force the audience to contemplate the severity of the issue:
“A 2014 report …showed there were 47,064 crimes against members of the Dalit community … Police brutality in India is another issue … that is disregarded. A 2015 report showed there were 555 encounter killings… just some of the shocking crimes that go unrecognized. If they are not even being addressed, how can we expect them to stop?”
The persuasive element is heightened by these additions that quantify my words, transforming them into powerful, impactful, and memorable statements. I was speaking from the specific background of a student having grown up in India, so I wanted to highlight violence that is specifically prevalent and has exacerbated in India; religious intolerance. This is a sensitive topic, that can be muddled by personal religious affiliation so I also maintained a professional unbiased tone through the use of numeric figures. Besides this, the context of composition being a post-pandemic lens is also important. During the pandemic in India, police brutality reached an all high. Under the guise of COVID-19 containment efforts, many acts of religious persecution took place. In a country that labels itself as secular, I thought it was important to shine a light on this.
Finally, the concluding passage supports my previous claim about the call-to-action tone. Decisive, emotional sentences like: “I believe, peace is possible for the human race.”, “We must…work together towards achieving the best interests of the world” and “We are tomorrow’s change makers”, amplifies the intention of engaging the audience. It also instills a sense of hope. After presenting the shock-inspiring facts of violence and religious persecution, I call on the audience to instigate change. The target audience, the younger members amongst the listeners, is also implied by “tomorrow’s change makers”. These emotionally charged words once again increase the memorability of the speech. Looking back, I can see how this type of statement might be clichéd, it serves the purpose of inspiring the audience to join the cause. The context of composition and interpretation is obviously very important for a piece like this that deals with current affairs and politics. Hindsight for me personally does not change my view on many of the arguments presented through the speech, as I can speak with first-hand knowledge of the persistence of religious persecution in India.