Wyatt Frank

Ray McDaniel
December 7, 2016
Annotated Bibliography
1. Directed Self Placement: Cheating Upwards (June 2, 2013)
The intention of this essay, it seems, is to make an argument about the nature and root of
cheating in school and in society. I use many different examples of cheating and take on different
angles in this discussion. The essay, it seems, is inspired by and so makes a foundation out of a
recent cheating scandal at Stuyvesant High School in New York following which 80% of
students admitted to succumbing to an overarching culture of cheating.
Unfortunately, the breadth and ambition of the prompt of this essay is not matched by the
outcome. The introduction, in fact, contradicts itself. What immediately seems to be an essay on
a school system that incentivizes overachievement and test scores over human growth quickly
becomes an essay about a society of cheaters, including the students themselves, possibly
inherently. I seem to place much blame on students for cheating -- as they are literally depriving
themselve of possible knowledge, as they spend less time studying, and more time plotting
against the system. Turns out that after just a couple paragraphs, 17 year old me decided that it
was students to blame for the system that only wanted them to be educated. This essay truly
becomes a list of reasons for which students cheat, among which is the claim that society puts so
much pressure on numerical achievement and not the process of growth that begets those
numbers.
This essay is a fascinating example of the lack of structural guidance with which I wrote
4 years ago. It lacks focus and it lacks an argument that can be followed easily. This is evident in
much of my writing during this time, and it is one extremely evident way in which my writing
has improved. This essay is all over the place. Like other essays I write during this time,
including the essay Rethinking Society and Environment (the next essay I evaluate in this
annotated bibliography) there is so much content, so much from which I draw information, but it
not clear what exactly I am looking to prove and how I seek to prove it.
2. English 125: Rethinking Society and Environment (October 19, 2013)
There seem to be many intentions woven into this essay. The first paragraph -- one of two
to start that essay that seem to sum up the essay and content to come -- begins with a revelation
that fracking is terrible for the environment. It ends with a thesis statement that does not truly
match the introduction that preceded it: This anthology will attempt to answer the question of
whether humans appreciate nature in an observant and indebted manner, a self fulfilling and
manipulative one, or some intricate combination of the two. It argues, obviously, for an intricate
combination of the two, because of course over the entirety of human history, humans have not
simply observed nor manipulated nature (although I might argue today that the latter is true, but I

wouldnt go for a whole human history approach -- I couldn't trick myself into believing I was
that well informed let alone an audience).
As the intentions are somewhat clear but mostly scattered and various, the job it does of
achieving these intentions is poor. The essay touches examples on either side of the question
posed at the end of the first paragraph. Essays from John Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, Robert
Beverley on Sir Walter Raleigh, Thoreau, and others. It touches on many heavy, wide ranging
subjects but only briefly; the history of human interaction with and intentions regarding the
environment summed up by the eloquent written accounts of several rich white guys and one rich
white woman. It is also very obvious. Themes and writers are connected, logically, but without
much reflective purpose. At one point, it is argued that killing our environment for increased
growth of production and utilization of it is far from moral, and a trend that must stop if we look
to keep our soil healthy and living in the future. Yes, killing our environment sounds pretty
amoral. But this essay in all its breadth and all its lack of depth, does a poor job persuading the
reader of anything they did not already know.
This is an essay that is so obviously something I did not care about when I wrote it. It
might as well read I am a student starting off college who is scared shitless about writing
because I have never had to do it at this level. I have no idea what Im talking about and Im just
going to pick the first broad idea that comes to mind and connect everything weve read to that
idea. It is so interesting looking back at essays like this from freshman year and even most of
sophomore year. I dont remember writing most of them, I definitely do not remember reading
anything I cite in these essays, and nothing that I argue seems to hold relevance to my life today.
Each one is a product of writing to pass a class, which I am not complaining about because I do
think that English 125 was important for my development as a writer. I gained confidence in
revising my work and I gained a better understanding of structural development. This essay
provides a good example of writing that lacks structural integrity and a true argument. It is all
over the place.
3. English 325: Two in One (February 16, 2016)
The intention of this essays seems to be a reflection on the dual identities of a kid
transitioning into adulthood from his mischievous teenage years as city kid. It is a reflection on
an important summer internship, the development of new passion and purpose, and new
divisions between a kid and his neighborhood friends who still want to party and be kids, while
he is intent on working with those old hats of the neighborhood to make it better. It is an
identity crisis, but one he seeks to live with, because in the end, Im still not sure how to fully
balance these dichotomous relationships, but I know that each one makes me who I am,
regardless of what, to the other, they may represent.
The essay does a good job depicting both identities, both lifestyles, the author seems
caught between. On either side, the characters are developed so as to be charismatic and
appealing in their own way; the reader is compelled to feel as the author feels, torn between sides
and yet unsure of exactly why. It seems to obvious, however, that there is right path, and
although the love the author has for his childhood friends is deep, it is not shown all the time

because it is muddled by the memories he chooses to share -- memories which are somewhat
negative, cynical. He does not always make it clear that he is not perfect, that he was bad too and
still has those urges. But it is not really about good v. bad, it is about childhood v. adulthood,
short sighted fun v. ambition, purpose and passion. The essay delves into these topics with poise
and honest reflection. Beautiful imagery helps put the reader in his specific shoes as well,
making it more inclusive for non-city residents, and probably more special for those from the
city who can see those images (downtown New York from that strange angle uptown provides;
the subway at 4am, etc.) and relate to them.
I loved this essay when I wrote it. I still love it today. It was proof for me, I think, that I
could use writing to reflect on things in a wholesome, circular manner. I began this essay without
an answer to a question that for some time had really been bothering me, and by the end of this
essay -- countless revisions later -- I felt like I had a good idea of how to proceed with that aspect
of my life. It was pretty cool. It gave me confidence with an aspect of my identity under question
and undergoing a transition, and further, it gave me confidence to actually confront my friends at
home about it. That was a good experience too. I can use this essay and will use this essay in my
Writing Evolution essay because it is a piece of work that was more important than the grade or
the class. After this essay, I really never looked back; most importantly, I started writing essays
on subjects I actually gave a shit about in my life. That is why -- and I am attributing this to the
creation of this essay -- much of the work in my portfolio will have very similar themes of focus:
family, neighborhood, housing, transitional periods. These are very important themes in my life,
and themes that finally began to come out in my academic writing. This essay is the first instance
in which I really try and do a good job self identifying and reflecting on that identity. It is the
first good representation of who I am and how I perceive the world, on the page.
4. Application to MiW (March 23, 2015)
The intention of my application letter essay is obvious: I wanted to be accepted to the
Minor in Writing program. The letter to the admissions committee is designed to connect with
those unknown men and women, letting them know a bit about how I value writing, what goals
or ambitions I have that would be influenced by my writing abilities, and in itself, an example of
essentially my letter writing skills at the time.
This letter to the admissions committee actually does a find job of addressing the surface
values I placed at the time of writing. I explain briefly the various ways in which writing has
been important to me: it has helped me reflect, helped me communicate to get what I want,
helped me better understand my experiences. These are all very important ways in which writing
could help anyone, but at the same time, I do a decent job showing some of my voice. I mention
that one important use of writing was direct yet warm reminders that I am still owed
compensation for my work to the moms of those children whom I babysit This is funny and
unique to me, despite my general claims of the value of writing. This is an effective enough
piece, as I got into the program. That we know. It could have been more effective by delving into
more of my voice and my experiences as a writer and person.

There is a lot I can use from this. What stands out to me most upon reading this is the
lack of specificity and voice. As I mention above, I have a moment or two in which I am specific
to myself and in which I showcase a bit of character. Otherwise, the letter makes very general
and arguably universal claims about the value of writing -- nothing which shows a unique or
truly reflective experience with it, despite the fact that I assert my experiences with writing have
been just that. Further, I have so many ideas in this letter that I make without the space to
elaborate on them. This is obviously a quirk of the application process as with any -- 2 pages
double spaced to explain why I love writing and need to be a Minor doesnt leave much room for
anything -- but at the same time, this is an example of writing that is a bit shallow, a bit surface
level. It showcases sparks of creativity and voice, but does not build on these sparks, and that has
become a point of emphasis I have developed in putting together writing I feel best reflects who I
am and what I am trying to accomplish with most worthwhile writing requirements.
5. W200: SHHUM Communications Plan (March 23, 2015)
The intention of this communication plan was to create a resource for a student
organization on campus called Students Helping Honduras. I had recently founded the chapter of
the national organization at UM and after a semester we were lacking in members. Our online
presence was lackluster. This communication pan was meant to improve that. This essay seeks to
highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the organization at the time, including its resources and
effective use of them, as well as its effectiveness in attaining a bigger audience and new
resources through communications. It then seeks to address the issues while playing the
organization's strength defined earlier in the paper to create a plan the organization could follow
in order to become more effective in achieving its goals through communication on campus and
online.
The essay does a great job structurally -- it cogently lays out its purpose, defines the
organization and the organizations goals, evaluates its strengths and weaknesses and capabilities,
then outlines a plan in which the organization could create new opportunities and achieve its
goals while sticking within its means. What is especially effective, I think, is how it organizes
information, breaking up sections with clean subtitles and page breaks to make the information
clear and informative. It is word heavy, however, and could have used pictures if it really wanted
to reach its intended audience: a group of fellow students with little experience with or patience
for communications. In the end, the plan was ineffective because members of the group did not
read it. I could not make them.
This was possibly the first instance in which I took advantage of a writing assignment to
improve another aspect of my life. I wrote a communications plan for a club on campus I had
started. My club needed a bigger audience and more members; I was in a class about the ways in
which nonprofits can and should utilize new media platforms. It was a perfect! But for my
college career up to this point, it was not so obvious and so pertinent that I produce anything
applicable to the world outside the classroom. In this way, this essay finally brought me back to
my original intentions in applying to the Minor -- writing affected all aspects of my life and I
wanted to improve it so as to do better in life basically. What is even more interesting is that

my club, Students Helping Honduras, didnt even use this! I learned through that experience that
this practical writing was at least for the moment going to be most informative, most helpful for
me. Other people didnt want to read an eight page communications plan written by a 19 year
old, despite them being the same age. That was a good lesson. Back to the point: this essay was
founded in passion for a world outside of the classroom. It was mostly a test run in producing
work that would engage with the world around me -- opening up the opportunity for me to test
out the plan I had conceived for future online communications for my club.
6. W220: Repurposing project: Stratified: A Tale of Neighbors in New York (October 30,
2015)
The intentions of this essay are layered on top of each other. First, it attempts to emulate
the style and form of a New York Times investigative article. Second, it attempts to expose and
reflect on the gentrification that has occurred around the housing project on West 17th street in
Manhattan, New York City. All around the project, new expensive housing and commercial
development has turned the neighborhood upside down, but those poor residents who live in the
projects still must maintain their cyclical lifestyles. The article attempts to show this
juxtaposition.
It is effective in its writing because it does a good job balancing humanization with the
numbers; painting a broader picture of gentrification and the contrast it creates rich and poor
community members. What it is lacking is humanization from the other side -- the rich new
members of the community, who seem like someone of a blur in this piece. Also missing is much
discussion of racial disparities, which seems to take away from this piece in terms of its holistic
review of gentrification in the neighborhood. But it does a really good job describing the staples
of the neighborhood from the perspective of tourists and new residents as opposed to those
landmarks preserved by older, poorer members of the neighborhood whicih has changed around
them. It does a good job pointing out the cyclical nature of poverty and how, while gentrification
can help create a better neighborhood for all, there are only a few instances in which it has.
I will definitely use this in the eportfolio, as it falls directly within the policy, journalism
themes that I want to portray my work within.
7. AC345: Recommending an Overhaul of 421a Tax Exemption Policy (December 3,
2015)
The intention of this essay is to explain what 421a tax policy is in New York and then
argue that it is outdated and no longer effective in achieving what New York legislators intend it
to. The essay brings the reader through 40 years of 421a tax history and transformation. The
essay then brings up vast inequalities in New York, building the argument of the taxs now
ineffective nature by arguing its continued importance while pointing out issues of homelessness
and housing that could be fixed, potentially with the money currently lost to this program.
This does a good job going about explaining the history of this policy. It is very specific
to the policy, which I think is both good and bad. It is good because it stays true to its intent. It is

bad, in a sense, because it contextualizes it from a lot of the history of the 70s and 80s. It is
somewhat reductive in this way, but I dont know if there is a way around that.
I will use this because of the prevalence of this tax policy in my writing thereafter. I
chose to write about this tax policy after hearing about it a couple summers ago while interning
for my local Councilmember. This topic, it turns out, is really important to me; I have written
about housing policy a few times over the last two years. I have also written about the effects of
housing policy and gentrification on my neighborhood since writing this essay. I hope to pursue
housing policy after college, so this essay, it seems, as instrumental in putting me on that path.
8. AC498: Forging a More Peaceful Future Without Clash of Civilizations (November
15, 2016)
Intent was to argue that the United States would do a better job in the Middle East if its
outlook was less divisive and vilifying of arabs and muslims. This essay seeks especially to
expose a theory entitled Clash of Civilizations coined in the 90s which theorizes that much of
the world's fighting will take place between civilizations including the world of Islam and the
West. This essay refutes such claims, arguing instead that if we did not generalize an entire
World of Islam, we would be much more effective in pinpointing and defeating terrorism.
This essay does a good job using the sources it relies on to argue its point. It first lays out
the Clash of Civilizations ideology. It explains the theory, explains how it is meant to be applied
to U.S. foreign policy and intervention in the War on Terror, and then uses several scholarly
papers to argue why this theory is problematic and how it has and will continue to be ineffective.
This is a strictly academic paper and nothing I would bring outside the classroom and
into my professional life -- at least not yet. I am proud of it, but I would not pretend to know
more than I do about U.S. intervention policy. I do know that binary thinking is wrong, and
generalizing arabs and muslims is a misguided thing to do. I know there is a lot of work to do in
this regard, but this academic essay is not necessarily within the vein of the themes I wish to
highlight in the Writer's evolution essay or in the portfolio. I can use this, however, as I consider
the evolution of my argumentative writing. As I examine earlier in this annotated bibliography,
my earlier argumentative writing lacked focus and did not do a good job utilizing the arguments
made in its cited sources. This essay is much different from those because it shows an obvious
and clear argument followed by an organized framework and strong case for the argument made.
9. AC 365: AIDS in New York: An Oral History (November 22, 2016)
The intent of this essay is to provide a sense of the variety of impact and experience of
community members in New York in the 80s during the AIDS epidemic. The purpose of this
essay, it seems, is to give various accounts of the AIDS epidemic in New York -- from how
people first heard about it to how they were affected by it and what lessons they learned -making a case for the ubiquity of the disease, and the importance of love and teamwork in
overcoming hardship. What is important about the piece is that it is in its intent ambitious
without being unrealistic.

It does a good job letting the interviewees speak for themselves, and it is evident that
questions were carefully formulated in order to touch on a wide range of important themes in
excavating community epistemology of disease. It does a good job ending on a positive and allimportant note: that love is love.
I will use this for a number of reasons. Firstly, it does an interesting job depicting people
and their ideas. This is a theme of my writing that I wish to accentuate in my portfolio: closeness
with people and with community and person to person experiences. AIDS can be told by the
numbers, but it is much more effective by the stories of those who lived it. I think this essay does
a good job of showing that. Another reason I will use this is because it is creative and ambitious.
In endeavoring this project, I had just thought of the idea with a friend as something new to try. I
had never interviewed people or put together an oral history like this. In the end, I was able to
interview some big names and get some really good answers from them. It turned out to be -- in
my eyes -- something worth showing off and something I really ended up learning from.
10. (Outside of coursework) The Stigma of Inclusion: Racial Paternalism/Separatism in
Higher Education: 2016 (July 21, 2016)
The purpose of this paper was to objectively discover, organize, and write down
holistically the diversity and minority inclusion plans at various publicly funded colleges and
universities (32 of them). This essay is supposed to be totally objective and unbiased -- just a
representation of what these colleges are offering by way of diversity initiatives, and in their
words only. It seems difficult to call this totally objective because the premise of it is not. It is
meant to expose colleges for the racial paternalism as is the title of the paper. To then go ahead
and attempt to portray it as objective seems contradictory. The objectiveness of it further
muddled by its selective use of quotes and resources from these colleges and universities that fall
within the narrative the paper suggests in its title.
This was an interesting and very difficult essay to write because I did not exactly agree
with it. My boss at the time, the executive director of the New York Civil Rights Coalition held
very strong views on the ways in which colleges and universities should approach diversity and
minority inclusion. Any sort of effort that was meant to be inclusionary but which in
consequence actually separated students physically from one another he argued was segregation.
This despite the fact that many things on campus as it is are segregated or just primarily white,
and despite the fact that many diversity initiatives are open to all students, but are catered to the
inclusion of minority students. While writing this, I didnt know what to think. I told my boss I
did not necessarily align with his views and he had none of it, but did agree that I could focus my
efforts on the research portion and leave the arguments to him. In the end, I turned in a much
more objective and data based project to him. But writing this really was a new experience for
me; I had never written about something like this that would actually be read by many people but
which I wasnt sure if I agreed with. Having an opinion at all in my writing is something I have
worked to improve on in the last couple years, and doing this was pushing me on that front. So I
definitely keep this in mind as I write and use my voice. I think of this while I write my writers
evolution, and I will think of this when I finish up my project. I will definitely still think of this

when I am working full time and when I may be asked to write opinions for my Councilmember,
despite not totally agreeing with them. It is an experience with writing that is detached from who
I am, and that is unique, but inevitable all the same.
11. (Selection from blog posts) No Place Id Rather Be Blog Post Nov 28, 2015
This blog post seeks to reflect on the most important takeaways from a semester in
Writing 220. Writing 220 was a special and unique class in that it allowed me to experiment with
new forms of writing and encouraged me to take on new audiences. This blog post seeks to let
the reader know that I was appreciate for the lessons learned in the class. It also points out what
lessons I learned and how I will hope to apply them in the future.\
This is a pretty basic prompt and so there is not much room for failure. The blog post
does a good job articulating example what I felt were the most important takeaways. It could do
a better job at times being less vague. For instance, while I talk about my aspirations and my new
ambitions as a writer, I would do better to further extrapolate these new ambitions, this new me.
The post also does a lot of telling and not a lot of showing. This is classic for a blog post, I feel,
but there still could have been more substance to back up my claims.
There are parts in this that I definitely still carry with me. According to this blog post, I
wont ever forget some parts: I think context in writing is also very important, and we have
talked a lot about that as well. Gauging the audience and evaluating the purpose of any piece and
the exigence are aspects of my writing that I will carry with me forever. It is true, though, that I
do still believe context and audience is very important in any piece I write. Thats just kind of
how I set my goals and how I decide how much energy to put into things anyways, and its kinda
what I wrote my Writer's Evolution essay about cutting out the bullshit and focusing on whats
important. So this blog posts speaks to that and in that way I will definitely build off of these
ideas.

Sources
1. Frank, Wyatt. Directed Self Placement. Cheating Upwards .June 2, 2013.
2. Frank, Wyatt. English 125. Rethinking Society and Environment. October 19,
2013.
3. Frank, Wyatt. English 325. Two in One. February 16, 2016.
4. Frank, Wyatt. Application to Minor in Writing. March 23, 2015.
5. Frank, Wyatt. Writing 200. SHHUM Communications Plan. March 23, 2015.
6. Frank, Wyatt.Writing 220. Stratified: A Tale of Neighbors in New York. October
30, 2015.
7. Frank, Wyatt. American Culture 345. Recommending an Overhaul of 421a Tax
Exemption Policy. December 3, 2015.
8. Frank, Wyatt. American Culture 98. Forging a More Peaceful Future Without
Clash of Civilizations. November 15, 2016.

9. Frank, Wyatt. American Culture 365. AIDS in New York: An Oral History.
November 22, 2016.
10. Frank, Wyatt. New York Civil Rights Coalition. The Stigma of Inclusion: Racial
Paternalism/Separatism in Higher Education: 2016. July 21, 2016.
11. Frank, Wyatt. No Place Id Rather Be. Blog Post. Nov 28, 2015
http://writingminor.sweetland.lsa.umich.edu/wp-admin/post.php?
post=20762&action=edit