Analysis of My Writing Style

Men’s Soccer Tournament, November 15, 3rd Place

The last time I argued was with, not so unexpectedly, my parents.  It was also over a slightly cliche topic, whether or not my sister had done the dishes last or not.  I will admit that my memory was slightly hazy if not opaque about the day in question, but that didn’t stop me from insisting emphatically that it wasn’t my turn.  I pointed at several pieces of evidence. The forks and knives were facing down, which is my sister’s trademark (I prefer to have them face up to avoid getting the forks stuck in the holes of the basket), but all of the dishes were covered in a slight coating of slime and small bits of food, and the dish washer gave off a slightly pungent odor similar to cauliflower and overripe milk. This indicated that although she had put all of the dishes in the dishwasher, she had not turned it on. I also pointed to the pots and pans with last night’s dinner plastered on the insides and conclusively deduced that it was not, in fact, my turn for dishes and thus got out of two more days of dishes as I watched my sister begrudgingly and angrily clean them.

This argument is generally typical of my normal style because I prefer a more logical approach, listing facts to prove my points, rather than an emotional approach.  Although this is my general approach, I also enjoy changing up my style a lot to occasionally parody or admire another’s writing.  Writing in different ways and from different perspectives helps to form a larger amount of empathy for that person or argument.  I believe writing is a gateway to understanding other cultures.

The greatest influence on my writing would be my English teacher in High School.  I had him for three years in a row for AP classes and honors English.  He helped guide each of his students to a hone their writing styles, and I, being an aspiring Chemical Engineer, generally took a more analytical approach.

I like most that my style of writing is generally direct, but I would like to add more emotional appeal to my essays and arguments because facts may logically make sense to someone but tugging on a person’s heart makes them truly devote themselves to your argument (not in a manipulative way of course).  When people devote themselves to your argument, you have truly created a cause worth fighting for and agreeing with, so my writing generally lacks because of this missing component.