preview

Writing in Mathematics Seminar

Decent Essays

Mathematics is different from some other disciplines such as art and music in that it builds upon itself. It has traditionally been based on a series of axioms and theorems derived from these axioms, from which more theorems can be derived. Therefore, when an essay asks us to eliminate a concept fundamental to mathematics, it is difficult to make a choice since each concept has its merits and is necessary for understanding concepts that build upon it. This essay, although not feasible to implement in the real world, accomplishes the goals of a Writing in Mathematics seminar, which are to encourage students to think creatively about mathematics, increase the students’ skills in writing effective arguments, and show the students that there …show more content…

The ultimate goal of this seminar is to enhance our writing capabilities, with mathematics as the topic of discussion. This assignment challenges us to think about the arguments of the opposing viewpoints, because both sides are necessary for mathematics to function properly. We have to anticipate the arguments of the other side and build a strong case against those points—thereby encouraging us to write more persuasively than a typical assignment in this class would. In my essay, I chose to eliminate the triangle. I had to take into consideration that other people could argue triangles are important in engineering, and I built an argument on how triangles are not necessary with some creative uses of circles. This exercise in counterargument allowed me to practice different persuasive techniques. The higher level thinking required by us is twofold—creative workarounds to mathematical concepts and advanced methods of persuasion. While this assignment does challenge our writing abilities, it could do more. We are offered a choice of three topics to write about, so we are free to pick a topic that is the most comfortable for us. A good writer can create an argument for either side of any topic. If the assignment did not give us any choices, we would be challenged to write about something that we are not necessarily comfortable writing about. Students who write in their comfort zone will not try to improve their writing

Get Access