Syed Ali 

Crystal Rodwell 

Writing for Engineers 

October 13, 2019 

Reflection Essay for Lab Report Analysis 

Of all the essays I wrote for this class, the Lab report analysis was the one with the most intricacies. Because I had to consider three different perspectives on three different topics, organization and concision was very tricky. I didn’t understand how detailed I had to be to write an essay in compliance with Ms. Rodwell’s expectations. Although, I feel like with a little bit more preparation I could have produced a better piece of work, I performed to the best of my ability and I hope to grow from what is to come.  

The prompt called for a “lab report analysis”, so automatically I decided to take a formal approach. I avoided using informal language and decided to write with the tone the writers of the lab reports wrote. This was important as per past critiques that Ms. Rodwell provided. In the past I have shown a tendency of getting extra informal with my language. In order to avoid that I decided to omit passive language and any colloquial terms.  

The assignment called for a thorough analysis of the lab report with compliance to the predetermined format of the lab report. I feel like I was able to fulfill this purpose to the best of my ability without going into summarization. I analyzed rhetoric and the importance of format as opposed to the content alone. I feel like this is where I had the least room for error as the purpose defines your essay. My motivation as a writer was to fulfill all these requirements in the most organized way possible. Because I had to consider multiple components to each report, I had to articulate my work in a way where I could effectively complete all the aspects while maintaining a certain level concision. I feel like I was able to do that as I kept long in-text quotes to minimum and I was able to work with my own understanding and analysis of the text, using evidence where it was needed.  

Throughout my thought process, I knew that my audience would be people who may not be familiar with the lab reports. I knew that their purpose for reading my essay would be mainly to derive an understanding of the format of writing lab reports instead of content alone. I included some details regarding content to provide some context and credibility that I performed the research, but I decided to strictly analyze format and rhetoric. In terms of context, I am an analyzer. I’m the middleman between an audience of people who want to know about the format and compliance of the three lab reports I used but would rather read a more concise paper to derive that understanding. The content of each lab report isn’t as relevant as my analysis of the different styles in which the authors wrote.  

I feel like throughout this essay I improved mostly in my ability to analyze the genre, context and audience. I feel like I had a good understanding of my audience and purpose which allowed me to write an essay that fulfilled all their requirements. A prime example of this is explanation of each component of a lab report in contrast to the exact report I was analyzing. This is crucial as the audience may need a point of reference in order to make connections between my work and the lab report.  

Although this paper wasn’t the easiest to write, nor did it allow the most creativity, I believe it helped me sharpen certain crucial writing skills. I see a large improvement in my understanding of purpose and the use of formal language to put together a pleasantly readable paper. Although it may not be perfect, I feel like with time I will get to a point where I can fully write at that professional level.  

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