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Sharon To
Dr. Lynda Haas
WR 39C
27 August 2015
The Inevitable End: A Reflection Essay
As with most courses I have taken during my short time as a college student, I have come to
realize in Writing 39C how much room I have to grow both as a student and as a person, and I have
developed a better sense of gauging my own skill and ability with regards to the objectives of the course
(in this case argumentation and use of rhetoric). These qualities come with nearly every learning
experience, but there are also many other lessons I have learned that are uniquely a result of having
taken this class. Writing 39C is an intensive writing course that cultivates students abilities of argument,
research, and proper use of rhetoric through writing and reading exercises as well as three main
assignments: the Historical Conversations Project (HCP) essay, the Advocacy Project (AP) essay, and
the Social Media Campaign (SMC) group project. Every element of this course required concentrated and
extensive research and thorough peer review and personal reflection, all of which I had limited prior
experience with, but was able to learn from as I continually applied my gained knowledge of critical
reading and skim-reading. One of the things I found particularly interesting and enlightening, was our
focus on digital rhetoric which includes social media and multimodality. Because of the ubiquitous state of
technology in which I was raised, social medias functionality as a tool for spreading awareness had gone
practically unnoticed until taking this course. As I researched for the SMC, I began to realize how often
organizations initiate social media campaigns as well as the effects their efforts have on the general
public and the change they are able to provoke. In addition to promoting better argumentative, research,
and rhetorical proficiency, this class has been a significant proponent of the eight Habits of Mind
(curiosity, openness, engagement, creativity, persistence, responsibility, flexibility, and metacognition).
Every assignment throughout this course improved multiple attributes, forming us into more intelligent and
mindful students.
As this class was a research-based writing course, our assignments served to better develop and
reinforce our knowledge of the reiterative process of researched-based texts. Our first major assignment,

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the HCP, was my first experience with writing an essay that required such thorough research. Prior to this
course, I was under the impression that the writing process was linear - we research, we write, we revise,
and were done. However, it was through writing the HCP that I was first introduced to the idea that the
writing process is recursive. Rather than moving from one stage to the next, research, writing, and
revision are all equal parts of the writing process that are needed at all times. This was apparent in every
assignment we completed whether it was the HCP, the AP, or the SMC. Throughout the construction of
the HCP and AP drafts, I revisited online databases to narrow down my research toward specific studies,
or I would examine the references of studies I was already using to try to find more information on a
certain topic. My initial exposure to the reiterative research process with the HCP really helped me
develop my openness towards this new method of writing. I stumbled through it as I wrote the HCP, but
with more practice and persistence, as well as a conscious recognition of what I was doing in relation to
what I felt would be more effective, I improved my ability to better execute the reiterative process of
writing a researched text.
It was also through exposure to other pieces of writing that I was better able to grasp this novel
writing process procedure. The critical reading and skim-reading practices in particular that we completed
on Connect were extremely helpful in walking through how to get the most out of a text when researching.
Figure 1 depicts the reading tasks that were included in the Power of Process exercise on Connect. By
first looking up the authors, I was better able to get
a sense of what they would be talking about in
their writing piece, knowing what positions and
ideas to expect from the reading. Highlighting and
annotating important ideas and excerpts were
helpful in that I thought more deliberately about
which ideas I felt were important and significant.
Also, summarizing the pieces in the end allowed
me to understand my interpretation of the text and
see which ideas appeared the most salient. The
annotations and the summaries were most helpful

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because they kept me engaged in the text and aided me in establishing which ideas and evidence I
recognized as most important. I took the practices I felt were most effective and applied it to the research
I did for my own writing. Initially, it took a longer amount of time and was more difficult, but by the time I
was writing my AP essay, I found myself naturally following the Power of Process wheel by first
researching the authors and skim-reading to identify salient ideas. The exercises we did with both the
Irvine and the Jolly text helped me internalize the utility of skim-reading and critical reading skills.
Because the research process was conducted throughout my writing, I reevaluated the
organization my paper based on new information that I chose to utilize. For example, in the HCP, I found
the Miklosi & Hare study after beginning to write the paper that discussed another aspect of canine
communication. Because it appeared to fit together more cohesively with the dog body language study by
Bahlig-Pieren & Turner, I moved the latter from its previous location following the Odendaal & Meintjes
study to provide a better logical flow and integration of evidence. In my first draft, however, these studies
were in a more disorganized manner, as I had not paid attention to the way they corresponded until it was
pointed out to me by Dr. Haas. This instance also exemplifies my need for improvement on being
consistently aware of how my pieces of evidence fit together into one comprehensible argument. The new
order was more coherent because I decided to focus the Bahlig-Pieren & Turner study dogs portrayal of
emotion rather than internal feeling of emotion to align with the body language infographic that I provided.
Additionally, I found myself altering the direction in which I was taking my paper depending on the
research I conducted and the information I sought to include. This practice occurred during the writing
process of both the HCP and the AP. I initially wrote my HCP with the purpose of discussing the growing
recognition for canine consciousness; however, as I did more research, I started to address their level of
intelligence and emotional capacity, using consciousness as more of a detail rather than the focal point.
As for the AP, I started it without having determined exactly what I wanted to advocate, but the more
research I did the more clarity I found. The research portion of the AP was a bit difficult at first because I
had used the method of research I used for the HCP and was unable to find as many or as useful
sources. Because of this predicament, I altered the way I conducted my research my extending my
research to non-scientific studies, veterinary journals, and national animal welfare organization sites
which helped me accumulate a fair amount of resourceful information. This process of adapting my paper

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to accommodate new information and altering my research method required much flexibility when the
process did not go as planned and persistence to continue research and modification.
Another large focus of Writing 39C lied in the practice of argumentation and rhetoric. I found that
my argument was more persuasive and effective when it was focused on a topic that I was curious
about. In deciding on my topic of the HCP, I had naturally gravitated toward canines as the subject of
interest due to my curiosity about dogs - the way they think and what they feel. I tried looking into other
topics like the treatment of farm animal or the intelligence of chimpanzees, conducting some minor
research on these topics to see if I would be more interested in something else. However, as interesting
as they were, I felt more captivated by the topic of canine cognition and emotion, and because I was so
intrigued, my research and paper would be more engaging for both me and my audience.
To further strengthen our arguments, we were required to include multi-modal elements in both
the HCP and the AP. In my peers writing as well as my own, I came to see that the multi-modal
component does indeed help support the argument the paper makes if it is used effectively. The
interesting part about using visuals to make an argument is the need for concise descriptions and
compelling images. For the HCP, the AP, and the SMC, I created an infographic for each to support my
claims (Fig. 2). The process of creating the infographic was helpful in that I was able to exercise my
creativity to create a persuasive and informative image that would appeal to the audience, and process
the information on a more concentrated level in order to properly articulate it to the audience.

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By organizing and running our own social media campaign, I was able to truly understand both
the immense influence new media has on the world and the way we obtain information, and the need for
us as content creators to tailor the way we present information to fully take advantage of the mediums we
choose to utilize. The SMC was very different from the HCP or AP essays because of the need for active
participation and interaction with a live audience as well as the different demographic of the audience. My
group in particular chose to advocate change for an issue that would most effectively be received through
graphics and images, the use of animals in the fashion industry. Because this campaign was not
necessarily for a scholarly audience, but more directed towards peers and fashion consumers of varying
age groups, our campaign concentrated on appealing to pathos and ethos rather than logos. This
approach differs from written text arguments geared towards scholarly audiences since those would be
more effective if appealing to logos over pathos. The SMC gave me a better understanding of the need to
alter rhetorical techniques based on audience and medium to make effective and persuasive arguments.
This assignment reminded me of the rhetorical triangle that I learned about in my previous Writing 39B
class and allowed me to apply the rhetorical situation to real-world situation - advocating for a cause.
While planning our social media campaign, my group and I decided on which social media
platforms to use based on their ability to support the type of content we wished to share. Because our
campaign was more graphics-based, we opened
an Instagram account as it was the social media
platform that best supported photo sharing, and
because we were aware of the extent of its user
base. We also used Twitter as a means of sharing
videos and articles that appealed more to ethos
and encouraged the audience to take a stance
against animal fashion by commending popular
brands and people who are joining the movement,
and documenting the progress made in the
industry overall. Figure 3 includes one of the
tweets that we created during the SMC. This tweet

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in particular received the most traffic. We had learned that the best way to appeal to pathos in our case
was to share provocative images such as the one featured in this tweet to show our viewers what the fur
industry is like and capture the attention of Twitter users. We also chose to include an intriguing statistic
to correspond with the image to add to the effect. In addition to our group and class hashtags, we
included #FurFarms to broaden our audience towards a wider community that may be following that tag.
In or other Twitter and Instagram posts as well, we included hashtags that we saw had a decent amount
of traffic and were related to our posts because we learned that hashtags were an effective way to
connect with related people or organizations and expand our following base.
The arguments we made over social media with the SMC were very different from the traditional
scholarly essay. Traditional essays allot pages for one to make an argument and require an academic
tone and many credible sources along with ample background information and development in order to
be effective. With social media, all posts and arguments are restricted to a character count; messages
must be conveyed in as few words as possible, but must also be intriguing and appealing. However, even
without character count restrictions, text over social media cannot be too verbose because social media is
such a fast-pace medium that effective arguments must be concise and captivating in order to get any
attention. Therefore, the clickbaits we used for the SMC were sentence-long captions meant to introduce
or support the content we were sharing, allowing the images or videos to speak for themselves.
With the completion of the first drafts of our essays came a revision process that served to
enhance our arguments and make them more effective. Revision plays a large part in the formation of an
argument because it seeks to rectify fallacies and weaknesses in an argument that can be corrected in
the next draft to make the paper stronger. The feedback I received from both my peers and Dr. Haas
were very positive and also helpful in that they were able to shed light on weaknesses that I had in my
paper. In my HCP, for example, such weaknesses included the lack of transitions and a few
organizational issues. It was also brought to my attention that throughout my paper, I hadnt been
connecting the studies and the evidence I presented back to the main idea. For instance, in my HCP final
draft, I added These results illustrate the attachment that dogs form between themselves and humans;
they are sentient beings who draw connections and behave according to those connections, even if it is in
a way humans have yet to fully understand to the end of a study the kennel study (HCP Final Draft 6-7).

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This sentence serves two purposes: it transitions into the next study, which addresses human-animal
attachment on a hormonal level, and it refers back to my initial argument that dogs are capable of feeling
emotions.
While receiving feedback was beneficial in providing me with revision ideas from fresh eyes and
different perspectives, offering feedback to my peers was also just as valuable. By reading others
students writing and contributing suggestions, I became more aware of my own writing. For instance, for
the peer review process of the HCP, I noticed that one of my group members hadnt introduced their
sources the way we had practiced, and so by reminding him to include an introduction, I became more
conscious of whether or not I was doing so in my own paper. Also, when revising the AP, the lack of
counter-arguments in my partners paper made me realize that I also hadnt addressed counterarguments in my own, which made me revisit my draft to fix what I was lacking. The peer review process
required contemplation and reflection on my own work even when I was reviewing someone elses, and it
allowed me to recognize my own thought process and compare it to how it differs with my peers, an
application of metacognition that I hadnt before experienced.
I believe that one of the biggest improvements I have made due to this course has been in the
practice of metacognition. The weekly blogs that we wrote allowed me to evaluate my progress on a
regular basis, and by discussing and commenting on the work I had done, I gained a better sense of my
abilities and areas of improvement. The self-reflection blog posts served as a way for me to consistently
evaluate myself throughout the course and provide personal and internal feedback on my work. In doing
so, I also took responsibility for my creations. Evaluating my essays, projects, and overall activity
throughout this course was a way of taking ownership of my actions and the results that would follow.
This class has taught me how to better frame an argument as well as how to more adequately
utilize rhetorical techniques. The skills that I have cultivated throughout these past ten weeks extend well
beyond writing and into every field. As made clear by the social media campaign, argumentation and
rhetoric is relevant in every situation and takes on so many forms aside from the traditional written essay.
Aside from the purely academic perspective, I have also learned so much about animal issues as a
whole. Klugers TIME articles were informative and compelling, and I felt that they were a great way to
introduce the focus of this course as well as stimulate interest in the topic. Reading my classmates HCP

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and AP drafts also gave me in-depth information about other animals as well, and I was able to learn
more about those topics that I hadnt researched. Of course, I also learned an immense amount about
canine cognition and emotion due to my own research, and the knowledge in these fields that I have
gained are already manifesting themselves in my own life. I pay more attention to the way my dog
behaves in certain situations, and I am more conscious of the material of my clothing and the content of
my food. On top of growing as an academic writer, I have also learned how to be a more contemplative
and knowledgeable individual thanks to Writing 39C.