Recently, the results of the UIUC Rhetoric Student Essay Contest were announced, and ZJUI undergraduate has achieved great results again. Under the guidance and recommendation of ZJUI Adjunct Faculty Professor Mary Lucille Hays, Mr. Yan Zhen (‘26, Civil Engineering) participated in the competition with many native English speakers and was successfully selected as one of the winners of the contest with his unique topic selection, meticulous essay organization, and lively writing style.
Experts who judge the UIUC Rhetoric Student Essay Contest, based on the general writing course for all students who participated in the Rhetoric Program (RHET), select only 10~20 winners each semester. Essays of the winners may be published in the UIUC textbook I Write: A Writing Guide for the Undergraduate Rhetoric Program at the University of Illinois. The two English rhetoric courses offered by ZJUI (“RHET 101-Principle of Writing” and “RHET 102-Principle of Research”) are very classic in UIUC writing courses.
Yan Zhen stated that the various writing methods and experiences taught in the rhetoric course have benefited him a lot, not only greatly improving his English writing skills, but also helping him develop reading comprehension skills and writing thinking. “I believe that the rhetoric course is both fundamental and profound. Reading, understanding literature, and expressing our viewpoints are essential skills for us. This course not only teaches us how to use standardized formats in writing papers and complete different writing tasks, but also teaches us how to understand and apply the methods and skills learned to our daily literature reading and writing.”
Not only that, Yan Zhen also attributed the honor he received to his instructor-Prof. Mary Lucille Hays. Prof. Mary is a compassionate and responsible professor. She not only gave me extremely detailed comments and explanations on my articles, but also taught me the importance of creative writing thinking and group cooperation. It is Prof. Mary's dedicated teaching that has helped me achieve the honor.
Prof. Mary's comments on Yan Zhen's article
Prof. Mary was not surprised by Yan Zhen's award winning. She praised Yan Zhen as a diligent and responsive student. “Yan Zhen carefully read and studied the reading analysis methods introduced in the course very carefully and skillfully analyzed and identified the various parts of the argument. He has an elegant writing style that gets his point across very well, so it was no surprise that he was one of the contest winners.” Prof. Mary also looks for good things in Yan’s future.
Yan Zhen
‘26, Civil Engineering
My essay’s name is “Use New Words to Treat Living Beings as Families: Let’s Use Toulmin Analysis Method and Rhetorical Triangle,” where I introduced two reading analysis methods- Toulmin Analysis Method and Rhetorical Triangle. I applied these two reading analysis methods to an article on nature conservation. Through an analysis of the overall direction of the article's context and writing approach, I have concluded that the central idea of the article is that protecting the environment should start with changing concepts, and the relationship between humans and nature can be improved by changing the way organisms are referred to. Next, based on the analysis of writing techniques for specific sentences and transitions between different sentences and paragraphs, I come up with the various arguments of the article and the ingenuity of each paragraph's writing. Through specific analysis, I presented the two reading comprehension methods, the Toulmin Analysis Method and the Rhetorical Triangle, to readers, emphasizing their importance and key points of use. I believe that readers who have some knowledge of the two methods, as well as those unfamiliar with them, can benefit from it.
From my first entry into the rhetoric course, from initial enlightenment to clarifying the essence of English writing, the various methods taught in the rhetoric course have benefited me greatly and I have also put what I have learned into practice through daily literature reading and writing, gradually forming clear ideas and rigorous logic. During this process, I deeply realized the importance of reading comprehension and writing, which inspired me to better complete such a popular science article and provide readers with a very practical reading analysis method.
What I want to tell is that for writing, constantly trying and composing is crucial. Steadily moving forward, and when you turn around, you will realize that you have already walked a long way.
