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DazhanaBauerJackson
Dr.Hass
August23,2016
Reflection
AsastudentattheUniversityofCalifornia,Irvine,youarerequiredtotakecertain
writingclassesknownastheWriting39series.Overthecourseoftheseclassesithasbeen
broughttomyattentionthatrhetoricisanimportantfactorinyourwriting,whichissomethingI
didntexactlyfocusonbefore..Thereisagreatamountofworktobedonewhiletakingthese
coursesspecifically39Cduetotheresearchaspectofit,butovertimeeverysingleassignment
hasapurposeandeventuallywillhelpthemainessaysinthelongrun.Ilearned,whiletaking
Writing39Band39C,thatthepurposeofeachassignmentistohelpyoulearnsomethingnew
andteachyousomethingthatmaybeonedidntknowpreviouslytotheassignment.Italsoisto
improveskillsasanacademicwriter,anindepththinker,andasaneverydayindividual,while
instillinginyouthatrhetoricisarguablyoneofthemost,ifnotthemost,importantaspectof
writing.
DuringmytimeinWriting39B,IwastakenbackwhenIreceivedfeedbackonmyfirst
paperbecauseInhighschool,Iwasconsideredanexceptionalwriterandwritingcamepretty
easytome,wellnotsomuchinthe39series..ThroughouttherestofthatquartereverythingI
didImadesurewasdonewithpurposeandabsolutelydidnotslackbecauseIcouldnotafford
to.Towardtheendofthecourse,Ilearnedthatrhetoricisthemostusefultoolusedwhenit

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comestoacademicwriting..Irealizedthattheuseofexceptionalrhetoriccanpersuadesomeone
tobelieveinsomethingtheyneverwouldhavebelievedinbefore,andwasexceptionallyuseful
becausemyRIPwasonconspiracytheories.ItwasnotuntilcomingtocollegethatIknewhow
touserhetoricthroughoutmyacademicwriting.
Writing39Cisthefinalcourseintheseriesandfocusesonargumentandresearch.This
classtaughtmehowtoimplementrhetoricinmyacademicwriting,andconvincepeopletodoor
believethingsbysimplyprovingthemthroughresearch..BeinginDr.Hassclass,Ibelievethe
mainfocusistogetyourreaderintoyourtopicbeforeanythingelse.Ourfirstpaperwasthe
HistoricalConversationsProject(HCP)whichisthepaperinwhichwepresenttheproblems
withacertaintopic.WhiletalkingabouttheHCP,Dr.Hassmakesitclearthatourjobistopack
theargumentwithsomuchrhetoric,thatyourreaderwantstokeepreadingtilltheend.Inmy
mindatthetime,thestrongestmodeofappealwasthelogicalappealbecauseonecannotargue
withlogicanddata.Ifthefactsarethere,itismucheasiertodefendandargument.
TheAdvocacyProject(AP)wasthesecondmajorpaperofWriting39C.Ourfocusofit
wastopresentasolutiontotheissuespresentedwithintheHCP.Beingthatourcoursetopicwas
aboutAdvocatinganimals,dependingonwhichonechosenourAPessayhadtorelatetotheway
peoplecanadvocatingforanimalsandhowsocialmediahelpstheadvocatingofthem.During
myresearchfortheHCP,Ifoundmultiplegroupsthatadvocateforwolvesandanimalsasa
whole,IusedthistothroughoutmyAPtoprovethesolutionsandshowthatthefirststepis
sharingtheinformation.Afterthis,alightbulbwentoffinmyheadrealizingthatitisnot
stoppingpeoplefromkillingbutinformingthemonwhatisreallygoingandwhatthetruthabout
themreallyis.Ithencameupwithmyessaytopic,whichwashighlightingtheevidencealready

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found,andadvocatingfortheimplementationoftheEndangeredSpeciesActpermanentlyfor
wolves.MyclassmatesandIallhaddifferentideasonhowtoadvocateforwolvesbutweall
agreedthattheissuewasthesame.
Idefinitelysawalotofgrowththroughoutthisclassspecificallyandfoundmyself
understandingthingsinadifferentway.Usuallybeforeourfinaldraftwasdueforourtwomajor
assignments,Dr.Hasswouldhaveclassmatespeerreviewaswellasshewouldreviewpapers.I
hadotherinstructorsthatwoulddothat,butInevertookitseriously.Whenshecritiquedmy
essay,aswellastheotherstudentsalightbulbclickedthatmypaperscanonlygetbetterfrom
hereonoutsowhynotfollowthestepsthroughout.Aftertakingthesenotesandmakingthese
changes,aswellaschangingparagraphsandsubmittingmyfinaldraft,Ifeltextremelyconfident
initbecauseIknewfrompositivefeedbacktheworkwasthere,justcertainthingsneededtobe
critiquedabit.GettinginstructorfeedbackbeforeIturnedinthepaperandcapitalizingonthe
suggestionsassuredmethatIwasontherighttrackinmypaper.

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Figure1:ThiswastheamountofissuesonmyfirstdraftoftheAPanditdefinitelycould
usealotofwork.
Theconfidenceinmyworkdidnotcomewithouttheprocesswork.Thisclassconsisted
ofasubstantialamountofwork,buteachassignmenthelpedmedevelopasawriterinoneway
oranother.Thevideosofphilosophersaswellasreadingofarticleshelpedmewiththe
productionoftherhetoricwithinmyessay.Ievenusedafewthroughoutmyessay.Watching
theassignedviedos,eachspeakertalkedaboutasystemwhichneededtobebetter.Theygave
statisticsandalotofemotionintheirspeeches,whichcapturedtheaudience.Eachpresenter
wouldcaptivatetheiraudienceandinstillsomuchfearinthem,thattheaudiencewasalmost
forcedtolistentotheirsolution.Theirsolutionswerealwaysthesimplestofsolutions,which
causedtheaudiencetotrulyrespectandbelievethespeakerinhistalk.Watchingthespeeches,I
wasnotreallyfocusedonthesolutionformeitwasmoreabouthowthepresentationwas
presentedinitsentiretyandsimplyhowtheywentaboutitbecauseeachandeveryonewent
aboutitinadifferentway.Ineachofthevideos,thespeakersusedtheirethostobringthe
audiencetherephysically,theyusedtheirresearchtobringtheaudiencelogically,andapplied
emotionalappealstothestatisticstoattacktheaudiencesemotionalwayofthinking.When
lookingoutsidethecontentofthespeech,yourealizethatwhatevertheytalkedaboutmaynot
havematteredtoyouafterlisteningtotheirspeeches,itnowmattered.ThisisthegoalItriedto
achievewhiledoingmyHCPandAPessays.

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Figure2:Thiswasthefirst10pagedraftandasyoucanseethereismuchlessissue
throughoutandmorejustneedstobeskimmedthroughopposedtojuststartingover.
InWriting39B,Itookpeerreviewsforgrantedanddidnotreallyuseittomyadvantage.
ItwasnotuntilaboutthetimeIwaswritingmyfinalessaysofthequarterwhereIrealizedthat
peerreviewsarecrucialwhenyourgoalistohaveagreatessay.Apapercanonlygetbetterwith
editing.InWriting39C,fromthestartIknewthatIneededallthehelpIcouldget.Peerreviews
aremeanttogiveyouaseparateviewonyourwritingthenmaybeyoucannotsee.Itisalways
beneficialtoseesomeoneelsesperspectiveonyourworkbecauseitcanstimulatehigherlevel
thinking.Higherlevelthinkingcanhelpyoutakeoneideathatyouhave,andexpandonitto
makeitmoreappealingtoyourreader.

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Whilethepeerreviewshelpedthedevelopmentofourhigherlevelthinkingskills,the
blogentriespromotedtheuseofourhigherlevelthinkingskills.Blogentriescalledforusto
thinkaboutthetopicindepthandreviewwhatweactuallylearned.Thequestionsintheblog
reviewswerenotquestionsthatwereimpossibletoanswer,buttheywerequestionsthatforced
youtoexerciseyourhigherlevelthinkingskills.Duringweek7,InoticedthatIhadgainedsome
strengthintheareaofinsightanditbecameeasierformetowritelongerwithlesswork..When
makingmyclaimintheHCP,thepracticethatIhadwithusingmyhigherlevelthinkingskills
helpedmegivesomeheavysupportwithmyclaim,givingthereaderareasontocare.Iknow
nowthatadeepunderstandingofyourtopic,andbeingabletosharethatwithyourreader,is
crucialtowritingagoodessay.
Inwriting39C,IlearnedthatIstillhavesomethingstoworkon.OneaspectofwritingI
trulyhavetoovercomeishowmuchIwrite.ForaslongasIremember,Ihavealwaysbeena
lengthywriterbutalwaysfeellikeInevergettothepoint.Ipresentgoodargumentbutdon't
analyseitwellandultimatelythatispointless.Goingforward,Iamgoingtotrulyworkonthis.
EspeciallyasanacademicwriterwhereyourreaderhasmanyotherpaperstoreadIwantto
statemystanceandgettomypointassoonaspossible.OnepartofmywritingthatIwanttobe
abletocarrywithmeaslongasIwrite,ismyabilitytopresentalargeamountorrhetoric
throughandapplyitinaproperwaybecauseitisthekeytogettingyourreaderinterested.Doing
thisgivesyourreaderfactualinformationtothinkabout,andattackstheemotionalsideoftheir
personalitysothatthereaderwillwanttocontinuetoread,andhaveahigherchanceofagreeing
withyourclaim.

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Figure3:Thisisworkfrommy39Bclassandasyoucanseeitisveryvagueandthe
evidenceisnotverythoughtful.Iwouldliketosayithascomealongwaythroughoutthisclass
whenitcomestoevidenceandpresentingideas.
Ultimately,increatingthesetwomultimodalcompositions,Ihavelearnedthatrhetoric
isanartthatcanbeusedineverydaylife.WhenthinkingofsolutionstouseinmyAP,Iwas
strivingtofindsomethingthatnotonlywouldfixtheproblemspresented,butalsohadthe
potentialtofixotherproblems.Whentalkingtomyhighschooladministratorsaboutmycareer
pathineducationayearago,theywereecstaticbecauseoftheshortageinblackmaleteachers.
Beingthatmytopicwasaboutminoritiesineducation,allIhadtodowasdiscoverotherbroken
avenuesineducationthatneededbetterment.Iknewthattherewasavastamountofdata
availableforthistopic,whichcoulddefinitelykeepmyreadersreading.Theonlythingleftfor
metodowasthrowpathosintherewiththelogos.Rhetoricinlifeisthesameway.Presentinga

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probleminafearfulway,andpresentingasolutioninasimplewaycanwinovertheapprovalof
anybody.Thiscoursehasgivenmeasubstantialoftoolstouseoutsideofwriting.AsIcontinue
witheducation,andwherevermycareertakesmeIwillusethesetoolsinhopesofcontinuingto
becomeawellaccomplishedacademicwriterwiththeabilitytobuildonmyaccomplishments.