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ChristineChoi
Writing39C
Prof.GregMcclure
29August2015
ReflectiveIntroduction
Over the ten weeks of taking the online Writing 39C class, I learned how to think and
write like a scholar, researcher, and a rhetorician. Before taking this class, I was extremely
nervous because I was not familiar with writing a research paper and I lackedthewritingskills.
WritinghasalwaysbeenachallengingcourseformesoIwasnotsureifIwouldbesuccessfulin
this class. However, I was worried for nothing because this class was more interesting thanany
of my other writing classes. The topic of my argument and research Writing 39C class was
loving animals and since this certainly caught my interest,Iwasmoreenthusiasticthanafraidto
write essays. Working on the Historical Conversations Project, SocialMediaCampaign,andthe
Advocating Project truly helped me learn differentwaystocreateandsupportastrongargument
withresearchinwritingandsocialmedia.
TheReiterativeProcessofCreatingaResearchedText
One thing I learned from this class is how the research process affects the creation of a
strong essay. When I first had to write a researched text, I mainly used Google as my research
tool andclickedonallthesourcesIfoundthatwerefairlyrelatedtomy topic, animalemotions.I
did not even check if they were reliable sources so I certainly did not research in depth. If they
were just relevant, I triedtoincludethemallinmyessay.Iwastryingtosqueezeallthe research
studies that I roughly researched in so my writing was repetitive and nonspecific.I realized that

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during theprocessofresearch,Imustresearchindepthandfullyunderstandthestudyinorderto
write a descriptive researched text. I also learned that arranging the elements in historical order
helps keep the essay organized. So from then on, I used Google Scholar and the online library
resources to find relevant articles and books. To review one literature in depth, I first searched
for the general topic using the terms such as animal emotions and chimpanzees grieving or
mourning. Then when I found an interesting study mostly in an article, instead of just blindly
using that one article as an evidence in my essay, I started to research in that particular study.
This grew my
curiosity to learn more about a specific topic. For example, while searching for
chimpanzees grieving and mourning, I found a research done by Tetsuro Matsuzawa in an
article. Matsuzawas study was briefly introduced in the article so I switched the focus and did
moreresearchonMatsuzawaandhisparticularstudy.
One research led to another research that was all related to each other. The terms I used
for research changed from animal emotions, chimpanzees grieving, Tetsuro Matsuzawa,
Matsuzawas study of chimpanzees, and the grieving of Jokro. This helped me find more
evidence that were descriptively written. Researchingindepthandreadingvariousliteraturethat
were focused on one study made me become an expert in the study I have researched. Since I
was first educated by all theresearchIhavedone,itwaseasierformetoexplainandanalyzethe
study in my essay. My
final draft of the HCP was written in depth with more analysis for the
pieces of literature I reviewed since I was more meticulous during the research process. This
helped me learn that the time and effort put in the research process results a well written
researchedtext.
Rhetoric,Argumentation,&MultimodalCommunication

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WorkingontwomultimodalcompositionsandtheSocialMediaCampaign,Iwasableto
experience how supportive an image is to an argumentation and persuasion. Multimodal
elements help readers visually understand the evidence or the problem. One picture is more
effective than awrittenexplanation.Forexample,ifreadersreadaparagraphfrommyfinalHCP
draft without any images, they would clearly understand my explanation but they would not
visualizethesameimageIamtryingtoexplain(
Figure1
).

Figure1:AnexampleofaparagraphinmyfinalHCPdraftwithoutanymultimodalelements.

But if an image, picture, chart, or a graph is included, I can effectively argue or persuade the
readers. The image included in my final draft
(Figure2)
,attractsthereadersattentionandhelps
themunderstandmyargumentmoreeffectively.

Figure2:AnimageincludedinmyfinalHCPdraft.

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The experience of planning andimplementingasocialmediacampaigntaughtmethatan
argument on new media platforms should be accurate and influential. The group name of our
social media campaign is PAFAC, which stands for People Against Farm Animal Cruelty. We
focused on the topic of animal cruelty on farm animals and spent most of our time researching.
We used
Facebook
as our main home base and used
Instagram and
Twitter as our other
platforms. Before posting anything on our media platforms, we made sure the information was
accurate and credible. I was especially careful on what I post on the media because throughthe
discussions we had in class, I learned how effective social media is in the society today.Apost
on the social media has the power to influence and affect ones life so I wanted to share my
knowledge of farm animal cruelty and motivate people to end such cruelty. Therefore, I mostly
made an argument that motivates the followers to take action while using an image as well. An
Instagram post below (Figure 3) is an example of how I made an influential argument to end
farmanimalcruelty.

Figure3:AnInstagrampostonourgroup'ssocialmediacampaignthatmadeaninfluentialargumentand
receivedonethemostlikesfromourfollowers.

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While working on the social media campaign, I was able to make an
engagement
through the learning of farm animal cruelty such as signing a petition and eating less meat. I
became
open to the idea of going vegan and actually tried to go vegan for at least a week
because I feltthe
responsibilitytofirst takeanactionbeforeaskingotherstodoso.Imaintained
the
persistence
to sustain the interest in animal cruelty and expanded my
creativitybycreating
ourown
infographic
forthecampaign.
During this writing class, I learned that there are significant writing styles for each
different genre. When writing for a
blog for example, I tend to write as if I were writing a
personal journal. It is not formally written nor isitstructuredinanessayformat.Itwassimplya
time for me to practice my
metacognition and honestly reflect on the progress I have made so
far. For a
literaturereview
,Ilearnedthatitisappropriatetoestablishtheauthorscredentialsand
thesis. So I introduced theauthor usingbiographicinformationandwroteabriefsummaryofthe
authors message before reviewing each literature. Imade suretokeepmywritingformalunlike
the social media post. The writing style for a social mediapostwasdirectandstraightforward.I
learned the textshouldberelatabletotheviewersandapproachasaconversationalwritingstyle.
The different style of writing was a challenge to me but through the practice of
flexibility and
adaptingtocertainplatforms,Ilearnedhowtobeacreativewriter.
AcademicWriting:ReviewandRevision
I would say my writing skills improvedthemostbythehelpof peerreviewandrevision.
During peer review, I was thankful that the reviewers pointed out the mistakesinmy essay.For
the first HCP and the AP draft, they pointed out how I lacked details and my writing was too
repetitive (Figure 4). These were the mistakes I did not see while writing the draft. I was also

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advised to rearrange the elements, focus on creating strong topic sentences for eachparagraphs,
and work on the transitions. I was recieved many helpful comments from my peers but I also
learnedalotwhilereviewingtheaccomplishmentsandmistakestheymadeintheirpapers.

Figure4:ScreenshotofhowtheprofessorandapeerreviewerbothmentionedtherepetitionandoverwritinginmyfirstAPdraft.

One thing I learned while reviewing others essay is the importance of an introduction.
After reviewing a peers essay that was well written, I realized that the introduction was more
specific compared to mine. Before the peer review, I only introduced the topic and social
problemofmyessayandthehistoricalcontextIwilluse(Figure5). Ididnotaddspecificsabout
what each paragraph will cover or the importance of my writing so my thesis was not strong
enough. Revising my introduction using my peers essay as a model, I wrote the best
introduction I have ever written so far (Figure 6). The introduction in my final HCP draft
describes each section of the essay which helped me strengthen my thesis and also keep an
organizedwritingthroughoutthepaper.

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Figure5:IntroductionofmyfirstHCPdraftwhereIlackedthespecifics.

Figure6:IntroductionofmyfinalHCPdraftwhereImadeanimprovementcomparedtothefirstdraftabove.I
explainedeachpartofmyessayandalsoexplainedtheimportanceandpurposeofmywriting.

TransferofKnowledgeandSkills
Now that I look back at the entire quarter, I am proud to say that I have made many
accomplishments as a writer and a researcher. In the beginning ofthequarter,Iwasnotfamiliar
with research as I mentioned before.Ididnotknowwhatkindofresourcesthereweretousenor
didIknowhowtoincludeoutsidesourcesinaresearchpaper.Butnow,asIcanseemyself write
argumentative sentences using research evidencetosupportmyclaims,IcansaythatIimproved
much as a researcher and writer. I will be using the knowledge I learned from the Writing 39
series in all of my future classesjusthowIusedit inmyAnthropologyclassthissummer.There
were several assignments where I had to write an argumentative or persuasive paper and the

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research and writing techniques I learned helped me receive a high grade. The multimodality
that I used in this class would also be something I would continue to use in other writing
assignments. Furthermore, just how good research comes from an open mind, I will continueto
keepmyheartandmindopentobecomeabetterwriterandperson.