Safron

Zac Safron
Ms. Knudson
UWRT 1103
October 19th 2016

Workshop Memo
For our in class workshop I had my peers randomly and anonymously edit my rhetorical
analysis. My paper was placed at the front of the room where people would go up, read and edit
the essay, and then place back at the front for someone else to review. I got lots of good
feedback, including spelling and grammar errors, edits on how to help my argument, edits based
on the repetition in my essay and also just some positive feedback. I changed all the grammar
and spelling errors, and changed some of the argumentative edits. I got a good amount from the
peer review, but not as much as I expected. I got lots of good feedback on the writing and the
topic. I chose to use the edits I agreed with, but there were a few suggestions I chose to ignore.
Overall I feel the peer review helped my paper and I thank my classmates for that.

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Atkins Library Study spot, or UNCCs most popular hangout

College is a place where students come to get a degree, make new friends and experiences, get
involved and most importantly, learn. At the heart of every collegiate learning experience is the
wondrous yet terrifying library. The Atkins library at UNC Charlotte is filled with resources,
books, and study areas for students to utilize for their studying needs. When Atkins was created I
believe the intention was a safe-haven for learning, where students could come to have a
professional environment focused on productive learning. Even though the library was intended
to be the central location for all things learning here at Charlotte, it has turned out to be a
clamorous and distracting study space, where students can fraternize with no noise regulations on
the lower floors. The creators of this space have failed to account for any possibility for noise
issues, as there are no signs or even suggestions to keep quiet as it is a learning zone. While the
library does offer quiet floors, they lack essential resources like computers or group work zones.
I believe that the library is a false advertisement with its size and modern feel, tricking students
into believing it is the best possible place to learn when in reality there are other less distracting
options.
The audience that the Atkins library is targeting is students that attend UNCC. It does this by
offering hundreds of desks and workspaces, school computers, printing, a coffee shop, private
meeting rooms, thousands of books, silent zones, and librarians to use for help. It does a good
job of targeting a growing campus, by having modern and high-tech study equipment that helps
groups work efficiently. I believe the bare library also referred to as Club Atkins is a wonderful
learning space with lots of potential to work in peace. What the creators didnt predict though, is
the students not respecting this peaceful work place. I feel the library is working alright at its
current function. The overall atmosphere of the library is focused on schoolwork and studying,

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but there have been many times I was not able to concentrate because the people around me were
being obnoxiously loud. If the library is being designated as a place for schoolwork to happen
and students to have an uninterrupted learning environment then shouldnt there be some control
of the environment? I have seen it transition as my work has gotten more intense and required
more of my focus. As I look around, I see many groups talking loudly, laughing at videos and
jokes, and only semi-focused on school. I understand the claim some people have, by saying that
if the lower floors are too loud for you then move up to the quiet floors, but what if Im trying to
complete a project with a group or need to use a school computer. Compared to the open and
welcoming lower floors, the lower floors are very cramped, cold and almost depressing. The
quiet floors, being the 5th-8th are essentially silent floors, making it rude and very difficult to
work as a group. There are small cubicles and no computers, so it is clearly not intended for
group work or any work needing a school computer. Saying this, how is one supposed to
efficiently utilize the library when there is no current regulation for how loud people can be or
what they can bring into the library?
The library uses many appeals to draw its target users in. Mainly, it relies on the fact its a
library, and uses the general college stigmas of how the library is the central location on campus
to study. When students think of a library the first thing that naturally comes to mind is books.
Once a student starts their college career, and finally figures out their room is a horrible place to
study and that the library is where pretty much everyone does their work, studying becomes the
overall theme of the library. When you get walked through Atkins during your SOAR tour, it is
presented as this grand place where education takes its finest form, but once you are here enough
you quickly learn that it is a loud, distracting and most importantly unregulated place. What they
dont tell you when you walk through those doors onto the tastefully tacky green carpet, is that

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students can do almost whatever they want here. Unlike your typical high school library where
the librarians rule the land, and constantly walk around to monitor the noise level, the Atkins
library has no one regulating the noise of the students, the food or drink they bring in, or even
what they are doing in the library. Atkins appeals to ethos, logos and pathos to all the students on
campus. To appeal to ethos, the Atkins library uses is a scholarly look and feel, intended to
convince the users of the library that this is the place on campus to learn and achieve good
quality work. They do this by having statues of historic forty niners, and displays of historic
events throughout the library. This mixed with all the books and computers appeals to the users
work ethic. It convinces them that the library is where you should go to work, if you want it to be
the best work possible. To appeal to pathos, Atkins induces the emotions of comfort and peace
by having ample work space and also the coffee shop imbedded within Atkins. This brings
students in, and offers them incentives to work in Atkins. There are lots of different seating
options to utilize, some meant for comfort and an ergonomic work environment. Another way
they appeal to emotions is by offering a full coffee shop until 11pm every night. This draws in
users by knowing they can get a pick me up, or a light snack whenever necessary. The appeal to
logic is the resources available in the library. They range from school computers, to a place to
charge your laptop, to a professional printer, to books, librarians and many places to do your
work.
The Atkins library uses a pretty formal look, to give off a studious and hard-working feel. The
layout of the library, including the rows of books, desks and computers everywhere and the
various study/meeting rooms establishes a professional feel, and makes the user feel like this is a
place real work and learning could get done. We have a very modern style library, being much
more high-tech and 21st century student friendly than most schools in the state. Climbing ten

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stories tall, and having over 50 private rooms able to be reserved the library also is one of the
largest in NC. The language this large and professional tone is using, is that it can accommodate
for such a large campus, where there is a need for a space for students to go to focus only on
school work. With its size, technology, resources and private meeting rooms the library truly
does portray the use the creators were going for, where they lost focus was what the students
would bring to this professional space. The main space in the library that speaks to my thesis, is
the ground floor to the third floor. The lack of regulation is the biggest tool I am using to argue
the inefficiency of Atkins. I have overheard dozens of conversations from the adjacent tables
simply because there is no employee tasked to maintain the noise level of the study space.
Students are entrusted with the right as adults to maintain their own noise, but as college kids get
more stressed and more over whatever homework they are working on, the more distracted and
ergo louder they become. This observation made me come to my conclusion that the library is
not the best place for everyone to study. I always pride myself for being a respectful person, who
acts as how I would like to be acted toward. Whenever I work with a group I maintain a loud
whisper as I call it, and I try and keep the conversations non-school related as quiet as possible.
There have been countless times when I have had to physically change where I was working in
the library because the groups around me were not respecting the fact its a library, and has a
socially acceptable noise level.
In all the library does an excellent job of portraying a professional and comforting work
environment, where students can utilize resources and achieve real learning. I believe with the
evidence I have provided based on my first hand experiences, that this is just a cover. I think that
Atkins has a true potential for learning, and I do agree that lots of work does get done here, but

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until I can peacefully work with a group without worrying about the dinner plans of the group
next to me, I am not convinced its the best place to work.