---

          While writing my essay for The Underground Railroad, I utilized various rhetoric techniques in order to convince my audience of my argument. Throughout the writing process of this piece, there were several challenges to not only gather proper and valid evidence, but to also revise my work and strengthen my argument. In order to effectively communicate my argument, I implemented rhetoric techniques such emotive language, as well as an informative tone. This essay allowed me to achieve several course learning objectives, as I was able to locate research sources through the CUNY database, explore and analyze a variety of genres and rhetorical situations, apply MLA citation rules, and compose an essay that integrated my stance with appropriate sources. 

          In order to draft this essay, I started out by brainstorming potential topics that intrigue me, which led me to focus on the prevalence of internalized racism in both the text and in modern day life. After composing my thesis, I searched for valid evidence in the CUNY database that would help make my argument stronger. This was a challenging component of the writing process, because it was necessary to find sources that were not only trusted, but also relate to my focus. Another challenging component was the revision process, which forced me to be critical of my writing and elaborate on ideas that I initially did not elaborate or address. 

          The rhetorical situation of my piece was to analyze the text The Underground Railroad, and the purpose of this was to convince the audience that my interpretation of it was valid. The audience of this essay is for my peers and teacher, both of whom are well informed and knowledgeable of the text. The genre of this piece was an argumentative essay, based on a historical fiction text. In order to make my argument persuasive, I implemented various rhetorical devices. For example, I utilized emotive language while describing the tragedies of the characters in the book to appeal to the reader’s emotions, which made my argument more compelling. I also implemented an informative tone while discussing the modern day issue of internalized racism in order to demonstrate to readers that my information is trustworthy, and that my argument was logically composed. 

          Throughout writing this essay, I was able to meet several course learning objectives. For one, I was able to navigate the CUNY database in order to find evidence for my essay. I was also able to use MLA citation rules to format my essay and a works cited page. Furthermore, I was able to explore a historical fiction novel, which is a genre I was not familiar with prior to the assignment, and I was also able to analyze it from my perspective. Lastly, this essay allowed me to integrate my stance regarding internalized  with appropriate sources which illustrate my point. Overall, this essay allowed me to fulfill course objectives, understand the rhetorical situation, utilize my own rhetoric devices to compose an argument, and lastly, edit and revise my essay.