Cheng, G. (2012). The Real Solution to Groupthink. Self-Directed Placement.

The purpose of this essay is to allow admitted students of University of Michigan to learn about the types of academic writing as well as gauging the levels of their writing skills. The prompt asks for critical analysis and reflection on Jonan Lehrer’s article about Groupthink published in the New Yorker. I investigated in how groupthink could be avoided through recruiting members diverse in thoughts and producing a space for interactions. Through this assignment, I gained a prelude to an academic argumentation. In hindsight, it was obvious that I had over-summarized the claims made by Lehrer instead of developing my claims. The reflection on the topic, groupthink, has also prompted me to diversify my audience’s experience in my capstone project by using incorporating different medium and perspectives. Overall, I consider this piece as my first touch point with academic writing. It is clear that while my ideas are vivid, coherent organization and cohesive structure are needed to make a persuasive argument.

Cheng, G. (2012). Only You. ENGLISH 124: Academic Writing and Literature.

This piece is a literary analysis of Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home and Philip Roth’s Goodbye, Columbus. In my analysis, I argue that that collectively, Bechdel and Roth’s developments of their characters showcased that identity cannot be defined by any universal variable. This compare and contrast analysis was challenging at the times in terms of organizing my ideas. I found myself making generalized claims that are inherent in any compare and contrast literary analysis instead of specifically Bechdel and Roth’s works. If I could polish this essay again, I would look specifically into how Bechdel and Roth’s works uniquely demonstrated the construal of identity due to different genres, audience, and literary devices. The audience is of particular importance here due to the different genres. In my final capstone project, I narrowed my target audience in order to make specific decisions as I design and narrate my stories.   

Cheng, G. (2013). Chipotle’s Management and Organizational Diagnosis. MO 300: Behavioral     Theory in Management.

For one of my business courses, I joined a group of six to explore how Chipotle’s organizational structure and management style allowed it to thrive as one of the top performing fast-restaurants. At first, I thought writing in a group of six would be difficult as we divided and conquered different sections. I imagined that each of us would own different voices. However, during the editing process as group, I realized that because business writing asked for conciseness and clarity, any voices had to be omitted. Therefore, the voice of the final draft did was not indistinguishable. I felt uneasy at first as I was accustomed towards establishing a certain tone or voice for all my essays. From that experience, I learned that most of the audiences either are required to read the piece or read for the sake of information only in business writings. Being able to adapt to different writing needs and in particular, making certain elements of an essay invisible, were novel to me. Nevertheless, it trained me to identify how different diction and rhythm could be manipulated to produce the professional, clear, and concise impression in business writing.

Cheng, G. (2013). Technology Revolution in Rwanda. Michigan Journal of International Affairs. Print.

This is an Opinion Editorial that I published at the Michigan Journal of International Affairs (MJIA). Being a first-year student with limited writing experiences, I was overwhelmed by how knowledgeable other writers were in international affairs. Therefore, the biggest challenge to me was initiating the first draft as I spent many hours collecting information and researching, hoping to gain a full perspective of the post-genocide Rwanda. My experience in MJIA had improved my writing aggressively because in weekly meetings, we provided instant feedbacks to each other and edited each other’s Op Eds. I learned that it’s important to keep a community of writers to help each other improve.

Cheng, G. (2014). Revisiting the Rwandan Genocide - Reconciliation and Coexistence. Special Political and Decolonization Committee Background Guide of Model United Nations at University of Michigan. Print.

Being on the committee of Special Political and Decolonization in Model United Nations, I wrote this piece in hope to provide basic historical and political contexts of the post-genocide Rwanda for high school delegates. The background guide served as an introduction to the topics that the delegates were going to debate in a four day conference. In order to produce a more intense and realistic discussion that drew engagement from multiple delegates, I selected and diversified historical cases in different geographical regions to make the topic relevant with a larger pool of delegates. The background guide eventually was distributed to around eighty high school students. It was highly rewarding seeing that some of our intents were realized during the actual debates in the four-day conference. From this experience, I learned that it is important to be mindful of the scope of evidences that could support an argument. The stake is even higher if space is limited.

Cheng, G. (2014). Why I Write. WRITING 220: Minor in Writing Intro.

I encountered this piece through my Minor in Writing Gateway course, an introductory course to the writing program. On surface level, the prompt is straightforward and takes resemblance of a personal statement. However, it in fact calls for deep reflection about myself as well as writing beyond the boilerplates or common perceptions towards the practice of writing. In this essay, I claimed that I write because I am passionate about language and writing provides the very means to explore language without filter. During the writing process, this assignment marked my first attempt to define myself as a writer and helped me to visualize my aspirations in writing. The high degree of flexibility in terms of form, shapes, medium, and voice allow me to discover my default voice in creative writing as well and challenge me to alter that. In my final project, I aim to maintain a generally coherent voice while allowing surprises to be inserted through content.

Cheng, G. (2015). Hello Again. ENGLISH 325: Creative Nonfiction.

This is a portrait of Hong Kong that I have completed through my Creative Nonfiction course. The occasion asked us to showcase a full essence of a person or a place. At that point, my peers and I were introduced to portrait by discussing Joan Didion’s Goodbye to All That. After reading her article, I was fascinated with how portrait of a place could personify a place. Therefore, I decided to write a portrait of Hong Kong, the city where I grew up and had mixed feelings towards. I wanted to not only portray the multi-faceted dimension of Hong Kong, but also explore how one defines a “home”. This was my proudest work in using in-scene writing and creating a balance between in-scene descriptions and reflection in the essay. It prompted me to think critically about how two story lines could intertwine in a single story. In my final project, I therefore establish different story lines, including one about my grandmother and one about Hong Kong. I consider this essay as a warm-up for my capstone project.

Cheng, G. (2015). The Things They Carried. ENGLISH 225: Academic Argument.

In the same Creative Nonfiction course, we switched gear and explored a more journalistic approach in our last assignment – an investigation. While brainstorming, our instructor asked us to link two things that didn’t seem to relate to each other and tried to make a correlation out of them. With Thanksgiving Break around the corner, I came up with the idea of buying and returning gifts. I was trying to answer the following questions: What is the cultural connotation behind returning gifts and using gift receipts? How does that affect us in our holiday celebration? In this piece, I took a detective role during my holiday shopping by observing the behaviors of people going in and out of stores. This piece allowed me to get a glimpse in the journalism industry that requires individuals to generate learning and discovering experiences by themselves.

Cheng, G. (2015). Précis: Dr. Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream. ENGLISH 225: Academic Argument.

This piece provided an opportunity for me to explore précis, a genre that assumes an audience without prior knowledge to the topic and reports the essence of a piece of published writing. In writing my very first draft, I found myself struggling to switch my point of view, seeing the writing from the eyes of the audience. I often omitted explanations or definitions of terms and historical facts. When I first began writing this piece, I thought it was very irrational to assume the audience had never heard of or read about Dr. Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream but in hindsight, if this piece were put in a global context, such assumption would make more sense. Overall, this piece challenged me to see Dr. King as a writer instead of an orator. It provided great enjoyment as I explored Dr. King’s strategies behind his intentional diction, rhetorical devices, and appeals.

Cheng, G. (2015). Oh, flaming sky above the mountains. PSYCH 400: Creativity.

In my Creativity course, we explored the science behind creativity and attempted to utilize specific strategies to enhance our creative process. Each of us carried out a semester-long project on a self-selected creative expression. I wrote a poem about deforestation in South Africa. To challenge my creativity, I formulated several constraints for my final product. One of them was to create a symmetrical shape of the poem when it is tilted sideway. In this assignment, I, for the first time, spent much more time and effort in my creative process instead of writing itself. While the definition of creativity has yet to gain consent in academia, I think the ideas of actively pursuing creativity and even enhancing it are novel and exciting. Therefore, during my capstone project, when I feel burnt out, I would drift back to those scientific theories and used different strategies to pace my creative process.

Cheng. G. (2015). One Roof Two Voices. ENGLISH 225: Academic Argument.

I encountered this piece in my argumentative writing course. We were producing a twelfth-page argumentative essay on a topic surrounding social justice. I looked into the social rights and treatments towards foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong. While they might not be considered as an underprivileged group in the society, their living conditions and circumstances posed many risks. These helpers by law are required to live under the same roof of the family or the employer. Sexual assault, violence, and rape are some unfortunate and extreme cases some workers face. I took a critical lens in understanding how history allowed such system to exist and how the legal system needed to improve in order to ensure safety for these helpers. This essay required a high degree of organization in order to achieve cohesiveness. I gained many specific skills in terms of polishing an argumentative essay, including reverse outlining, positioning for building credibility, and addressing counterarguments by enlarging the available points of views instead of focusing on binaries.

Cheng, G. (2016). Translations of Ovid’s the Metamorphoses. ENGLISH 313: Translation.

This argumentative assignment in my translation class asks for close reading from two translations of Ovid’s masterpiece. Specifically, I selected the story of Apollo and Daphne to compare and contrast the translators’ styles. Many painters and sculptors would capture the monumental moment of Daphne’s transformation to a laurel upon Apollo’s touch. In my first draft, I approached my analysis through a creative lens – drawing understanding from Ovid’s personal experience and the translation history of The Metamorphoses. However, since the assignment defines the essay as an argumentative essay, I had to refrain from a more creative approach and instead, focused on clarity and development of claims. This constraint on one hand challenged me to showcase my argument through careful organization. On the other hand, it took away the opportunity to engage with the audience on a more personal and creative level. Yet, the critical lens had allowed me to engage in the field of translation as a historian.