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My PWR Story: Toamatapu Lohe

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After graduating high school, it was daunting to learn that assignments would no longer be one to three page responses but 7 to 10 page research papers in college. While struggling to figure out the process of writing these lengthy papers for my PWR classes during freshmen and sophomore year were especially helpful. As an English major with an interest in the arts, I took a freshman PWR class on advertising. While working on my papers Professor Lee offered tips on how to write concise arguments and gave great feedback. I wrote my final paper on advertising in James Bond films and learned not only about the close relationship between commerce and art but how to construct a strong argument that doesn’t rely on vague statements but concrete statements and sources.

Then sophomore year I took a PWR class about Broadway musicals and enjoyed it immensely because of the subject matter and Professor Goldberg. She met with me outside of class to help me focus my argument on “Singin’ in the Rain.” The whole experience was satisfying because I was able to compose an essay about the film and state that it represented how America’s enjoyment of entertainment shifted from the stage to the screen. My classmates were intrigued by the argument because the actual film only talks about the transition from silent to sound films during the late 1920s. But the multiple clues within the film and historical evidence from the 1920s supported my argument.

In both of my PWR classes, my professors guided me throughout the entire writing process and now I have two wonderful essays that I look back on happily.

Toamatapu Lohe

English / Film and Media Studies
Class of 2016

If you have a Stanford Story you would like to share, contact melissas@stanford.edu.