Introduction

Given my previous and current experiences in Writing 39C, I found it fitting to spend my first few hours contemplating how to approach this reflection. This quarter has been the third time I have attempted to complete and pass the last course of the Writing 39 series due to previous health issues. With that said, I can confidently say that Writing 39C has been the most dreadful, taxing, and challenging course I have ever taken in my three years at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). While the freedom to research, write and argue anything relating to the course’s theme was thrilling, the process was frustrating. However, the time, effort, and emotional/mental frustration that came with this course have gone beyond what will be presented within this portfolio. Although I have learned and attempted to demonstrate using multimodal rhetoric and creating an argument, I cannot adequately convey a critical aspect of writing experience that I learned in this course in this simple introduction. As a result, I am excited to convey my learning experiences in this course. 

Writing Process

It is important to know that the Context Project (CP) and Advocacy Project (AP) encompass my entire Writing 39C journey. I started the CP passionately. I have been interested in academic testing since high school when I was part of the academic class that required taking and submitting the SAT and/or ACT when applying to colleges and universities. I remember mentally suffering trying to balance my high school coursework, extracurriculars, and studying/improving on my SAT score throughout my sophomore and junior year. In the end, I took the SAT at least 4 times before achieving an acceptable score. This anguish fueled my passion to research more about the history, problems, and current opinions of the SAT and ACT. However, because I did so much research on this topic, I had so many ideas and struggled to organize them. I created many brainstorming drafts and was able to narrow it down into a few significant topics within a single outline that led to my dissatisfaction with my CP. 

With my outline, I was able to focus and productively write my body paragraphs. However, I was so strict with writing my outline that I left no room for improvement or flexibility which ultimately diminished my passion for writing the CP and affected my punctuality for the AP. I felt unsatisfied with my overall work and progress. My essay seemed repetitive and boring.

Thankfully with the help of Professor Huang, I was able to overcome this dissatisfaction. During office hours, she gave me a new direction with helpful comments (Figure 1. Professor Huang’s comments on my CP) that I considered when editing and expanding on my CP.

In comparison to the CP, the composition process of the AP was one of the most unique and stressful experiences for this quarter. Much like the introduction of this reflection, I had no idea how and where to start. With the COVID-19 pandemic that caused American universities and colleges to suddenly change their admission process by postponing the SAT and ACT from their application, I impulsively researched the consequences of removing and continuing the SAT and ACT for future applicants believing that was sufficient for my AP.

It was not until later that removing the SAT and ACT has been a discussed topic for the past decade, however it has not been addressed until now. As a result, my research and argued solutions were fairly new and had a lot of speculation along with previous old research data as its foundation. In a panic, I kept researching in a frenzy, often reading and summarizing data that I thought would be important in my AP later. Again, I repeated the same mistake that I made for the CP. As mentioned earlier, the postponement of the SAT and ACT has been a recent issue across American universities and colleges, therefore I was limited to a few topics and data sets such as universities/colleges requiring SAT/ACT scores versus those that do not require, effects of academic testing on students, and most interestingly repurposing the SAT and ACT. The last listed topic of repurposing the SAT and ACT has been a recent discovery for me, however, has been talked about frequently between educational experts, researchers, and professors. As a result, this intrigued me to the point I wanted to research more.

While the entire AP experience was stressful, I tried to remind myself of my peer review comments, Professor Cibula’s feedback (Figure #2 & #3 Feedback from Peer Review and Professor Cibula), and this course’s main topics of multimodal, rhetoric, and the importance of making a sound argument to which significantly contributed to my success at the end of the project.

Throughout this entire process of writing the CP and AP, I never felt satisfied with my writing abilities and even with my final drafts of each. However, with the abundance of constructive criticism that referred heavily through my editing and expansion of each, I was able to submit a decent final draft of the CP and AP. 

These projects have been very different from any other I have done. Not only did they further my writing skills, but I explored the importance of argument, use of various media, and modes to effectively sway an audience to consider an idea and message. While the success of my execution is arguable, I did my best to incorporate my learnings of multimodal writing, rhetoric, and argumentation within the CP and AP. I referred back to previous commentary and research and ultimately kept making multiple drafts of each, writing and rewriting until I felt satisfied with the best version.

Throughout the CP and AP, I was able to effectively articulate my argument and multimodal skills to the best of my ability while hoping to convene an important message. 

Revisions

Through the entire process of writing the CP and AP, I created many drafts which led to some form or complete revisions of my final draft of each. I received valuable feedback in the forms of peer reviews and previous office hours where I was able to notice critical writing issues that I had missed before. Along with receiving elaborate comments on my drafts, I was able to learn how to improve my writing and the overall quality of my CP and AP. Throughout the quarter, I made a lot of effort to take notes and the constructive feedback I had received, and this allowed me to benefit from the experience in the most unexpected ways. 

I spent a lot of time completing the peer reviews and contemplating the feedback I received. By noticing what my peers were doing effectively or needed improvement, I reflected this information back into my own CP and AP drafts. Furthermore, by looking at previous examples of the AP, I was able to improve my drafts and eventually added or changed the content to address the most concerning and pressing issues with my CP and AP. I gained a new perspective and furthermore developed my understanding of this course’s main point. 

Conclusion

Overall, from this course, I believe I have a better understanding of creating and developing an argument based on the context and research I conducted. Making arguments are present anywhere and everywhere within the contemporary world and can be used effectively within any situation to persuade and say an audience with a particular message based on your foundation of knowledge. 

Thank you for this great quarter, Professor Huang and Professor Cibula!

Sincerely,

Diana Quach