Progress in the 39 Series

The introductory courses of the 39 Series have shown me the importance of critical reading and rhetorical analysis. In the past, critical reading was particularly difficult because of my lack of knowledge on rhetoric. Looking back, I have come a long way as all aspects of my knowledge on rhetoric have been continuously tested for the past ten weeks.

Writing 39C has been one of my most influential class at UCI. It has helped me expand on my rhetorical analysis even more than I believed was possible, provided me guidance in essay preparation, and taught me the importance of source analysis. On top of all this, I have discovered the importance of multimodality in crafting a research-based paper. Comparing my progress from the beginning of this quarter has shown me how much I am capable of improving in a matter of ten weeks and has motivated me to look forward to future advancements of my skills.

My Composing Process 

When I first began my Historical Conversations Project, I had no clue where to begin. The guidance of my professor was a godsend, otherwise I am not sure how I would have placed myself on the right path when it came to organizing my ideas. I was very grateful for the HCP Research Planning assignment, as it helped me quickly realize where my confusions lied and pinpointed the areas I needed to invest more time researching. Although nearly half of my ideas did not make it into the first draft, writing them down in the Prewrite still saved me plenty of time as I took note of the most realistic ideas that had thorough research available.

One of the more difficult parts of the HCP for me was figuring out how I would structure my ideas. The picture below displays my initial brainstorm for my first few paragraphs of my HCP.

I spent plenty of time reflecting on how I could introduce readers to my topic, but  only have the final copy of my written draft to show for it. Writing my ideas on paper before translating them to a word document was extremely helpful as it helped me visualize my rhetorical goals and take note of areas in need of improvement as I transcribed it.

When it came to learning the benefits of outlining, I owe it all to the Advocacy Project Planning. I took the same approach when preparing my ePortfolio and it turned out to be very useful for brainstorming ideas to write on. I decided my ideal process is starting out with one outline of broad topics, then filling them in with detail as I see fit. For the following outline, I began my first ‘draft’ of my outline with the subtopics I planned to include in one way or another, then followed up with more detail. This helped me overcome roadblocks when I ran out of ideas and provided me with a guide to follow during times of confusion.

A comparison of my bare outline to the next draft where I added more detail

Rhetoric, Argumentation, & Multi-Modal Composition

One of the most critical skills I have gained since completing the HCP and AP is recognizing and addressing both sides of an argument. The Advocacy Project Planning assignment was critical in my learning process. After its completion, I recognized how a paper’s argument could be strengthened by simply addressing opposing ideas in an appropriate manner. I also took note of the many academic papers I reviewed as I began preparations for my Advocacy Project, taking note of a common element among the strongest: addressing counter claims. With this information, I tried to address both sides of the arguments I made in my Advocacy Project while trying not to overwhelm readers with too much information.

A paragraph in which I believe I fairly addressed a counterargument that claimed Trump's wall would work based on evidence from a small town

Multimodality has been one of the trickiest elements of a research-based composition for me to learn. In my HCP, its use was highly lacking as my view of elements that could be included was quite skewed. I believed that an author’s words were much more important than any other aspects of an essay. As a result, I only included three elements in my entire fifteen-page essay.

I quickly became aware of its usefulness as I read multiple arguments on the topic of my Advocacy Project and witnessed the powerful role these images played in portraying the arguments of these pieces. After witnessing this, I decided to include many emotional images that were meant to offer readers a realistic view on how my issue effected the victims I chose to advocate for. What I failed to see was how important it was to include a variety of multimodal elements and not only one type, as I failed to visualize the studies and surveys I discussed which could have taken my paper to the next level.

The only visual-text multimodal element I included in my HCP

In comparison to the only visual-text multimodal element I included in my AP

Although my Advocacy Project's image was a slight step up, it should have been many more steps up than that. On the bright side, crafting two multimodal compositions has shown me how important it is to portray my argument in more than just words. It has also shown me how important it is to be truly passionate in what one writes, as the difference easily shows. Many pre-writes, outlines, and drafts later I have seen that splitting up work makes it fun and easier to be passionate about, which has been a significant lesson for me.

Revision

I have been aware of the drafting process since the beginning of the 39 series, but I never realized the variety of use cases it had until recently. My eyes were opened as I began to use it on my Critical Reading Responses, writing them up in my notebooks as a first draft and continuing from there. Critical Reading Response 5 in particular played a significant role in helping me realize how useful this technique was. I never would have imagined something so simple as summarizing each paragraph could be broken down using a draft system, but it made the task much easier for me. Instead of constantly worrying about whether what I was writing was correct, I could write what first came to mind and clean it up when converting it to a word document later on.

In a way, the assignment also taught me to not be fearful of changing large portions of my essay. As I saw the slight level of improvement in only changing sentence structures, I applied the same ideology to my second draft of my HCP and was well satisfied with the results.  

The criticism I received from my teacher for my AP in particular was spot on, and I always treat this criticism as most important. Her response led me to realize that I wasn’t adapting the right ethos when discussing my problem, in addition to why it is important to adapt my ethos based on the type of text I am writing. (Provide evidence of before and after)

Throughout my entire time in Writing 39C, the largest and most difficult revision I had to make was during the Advocacy Project. Upon completion of the 2^nddraft, I was under the assumption that I was nearly done with the assignment. I wrote a much more in-depth introduction, provided more insight on my topic, and finally finished off my conclusion. I was shocked when my professor had the following to say of my work:

I was under the assumption that I had already built my advocacy voice correctly, so hearing this let me know I certainly was under the wrong impressions. After a long reflection over where I could have been going wrong, I finalized my decision at me simply overthinking this concern. I took another look at a few of the essays in our class theme book and discovered that my tone could be improved on a bit more to seem more like an advocate than I believed. In order to do so, I first had to sit down and think about how to make people care about the topic. I arrived at the conclusion that I should speak as if I am in the audience, and not outside of it.

This was a new concept to me, so it was a bit hard to master. The screenshot above shows just a small portion that I added to my essay as I tried to humanize the need for immigration reform by using words such as “need” instead of “should”. I also added more images to evoke more emotion from the audience, such as an image portraying the poor wages these immigrants were receiving in the United States.   

Another piece of criticism that helped me take on the role of an advocate was to split my sentences into two where appropriate instead of allowing them to run on. This is a problem I never realized I had until recently, but it was vital in helping me fix my tone.

As I continued my revisions, the one thing I never stopped adding was sources. My research was never considered complete until I reviewed as many perspectives on my arguments as I could. Doing so allowed me to continue incorporating ideas that supported my argument while also addressing ideas that went against my own and strengthened my arguments.

Takeaway

Overall, Writing 39C has been quite the tough ride for me. There have been a few nights of researching where I never thought I would see the end, and many afternoons of joy as I check in to see pleasant scores on my assignments. It has been one long journey which I enjoyed putting the time in and can easily say it is one of the few classes I received my money’s worth.