Dadhaniya 1

Harshil Dadhaniya
Professor Lynda Haas
Writing 39C
May 31, 2016
Reflection Essay
I still remember how scared I was in the class orientation in the first week. Dr. Haas was
talking about the quarterly plan and I thought to myself, am I in a writing boot camp? The
amount of work we had to do throughout the quarter had me aghast. Being an international
student, I was less exposed to rhetorical analysis in my country. In high school, my essays were
mostly the summary of the development of the plot and story or focusing on broad topics of
discussion. Writing 39B introduced me to critical reading and rhetoric. Taking that class taught
me how to rhetorically analyze a piece of text. Writing 39B & C are opposite ends of the pole.
Both of them teach completely antithetic things. Writing 39C has been all about research,
argumentation, and digital rhetoric. It has helped me ameliorate my communication and writing
skills. Throughout this quarter, I have been working on making a cogent argument to invoke a
global solution through my Advocacy Project (AP) and supporting it by the scientific research
from my Historical Conversation Project (HCP). I was introduced to online databases and library
resources to find credible research article, which I used to create a historical conversation and to
make lucid and logical arguments. Research helped me in understanding the subject better,
evaluating the value of articles and learning various citing methods for myriad sources. Research
led to drafting and revision of my essay to make it into a pellucid rational argument. Practicing
digital rhetoric through the social media campaign helped me in exploiting a new side of

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rhetoric. The social media campaign gave me additional knowledge about the use of ethos,
pathos and logos. Altogether, this class has challenged my ability to create an efficacious
argument using various forms of genre.
Throughout the recurring process of researching, writing, and revising; library databases
have been a huge support. They provide ample of information to make compelling arguments.
Although, while researching I realized that library resources are string specific. While
researching for both of my projects, I used library databases to find the research that had been
conducted more than 20 years ago. I used online journal publication databases like PLoS one,
PNAS etc. for the more recent research; their journals were less restricted than the library
database. For my HCP, I used google and these journals to gather historical evidence to prove
dolphin cognition. The library databases were a major help as I had to gather historical
evidence. The library had research articles on various different scientist who did experiments
nearly 30-40 years ago. On other hand, for my AP, my topic was the harmful effect of sonar on
dolphins. For this project the library database was not much of help, as it is a very recent
problem. Most of the sources in my essay are from the research done on general search engines.
One of the major problem of researching on search engines is the vast number of results. If my
string had 3-4 complicated words then it would give results for each and every word. Thus,
persistence and openness were necessary to accomplish the task. I showed openness to the idea
of my peers; also, to mode of research. I focused on going beyond the library database and
focusing on other public records which had research access. I often took research and
argumentative suggestions from my peers for my projects. Their opinion helped in looking at my
subject from a different view. In a research class being accessible, and getting second and third
opinions makes life much easier; as, it helps in seeing flaws in the work which arent visible to

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the person who wrote it and thus, make the work more efficient. In my pervious writing classes I
often gave up while working on an essay because I wasnt able to find information. In this class,
persistence helped me complete all my assignments. If research was not available on library
database, then I tried to use other databases; if, even that didnt help, then I used google and
google scholars. This way I kept looking for articles using different strings and modes helped in
completing all my tasks within the time limit. Persistence for completing the task no matter what
helped in learning the objectives of this class. With the help of library database, other public
record database, and general search engines, supported by these two habits of mind, I was able to
consummate the research part of this class. In the future, I will keep these things in mind to go an
extra mile to make my work more productive.
Withal, I ran into multiple problems while writing my HCP. After receiving the peerreview and comments from Dr. Haas I became aware of a few major mistakes in my essay:
names of important scientist to show that I have done enough research in the field, smooth
transition between paragraphs so that the essay doesnt sound broken, correct in-text citations,
introduction to multi-modal elements, and controlling idea to make the reader clear of the main
argument of the essay. Correcting in-text citations and introduction to multi-modal elements
were easily amendable; however, just including the names of important scientist to show that I
was thorough with the topic felt a little challenging. In the first draft of my HCP I had written,
After that, I will be talking about different sophistications that prove that dolphins possess
cognition using various experiments performed on them. This sentence sounds vague, and gives
an impression that enough research is not done. I changed the following sentence in my final
draft to, I will be talking about different sophistications that prove that dolphins possess
cognition using various experiments performed by esteemed scientist in the field like Louis M.

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Herman, Lori Marino, Ronald J. Schusterman, Eduardo Mercado III and others. This sentence
from my final draft shows that I will be talking about dolphin cognition, and Ive done enough
research to know the various specialist in the field. This gives more scientific and historic
dimension to my essay, and also makes the introduction more efficient. Next, I worked on fixing
the transitions. Transitions are a very important part of the essay as they connect everything.
Transitions dont let the reader loose attention, they help in making the flow of the essay smooth;
and make it one single unit. I had a couple of transition errors, but the major one was right before
my conclusion. This error was very crucial as I wouldnt want my reader to lose attention at the
very last moment of my essay where Im about to conclude what I understood from all the
research I mentioned above. Figure 1 shows a sentence from the first draft of my essay. As we
see in Figure 1 the
transition is very
abrupt. It concludes
Figure 1. Sample from first draft of my HCP

the experiment and

puts the whole argument forward in one line. After talking to Dr. Haas and my peers I changed
the following to the sentences in Figure 2. As we can see in Figure 2, the transitions is longer. I
mention
other
sentences
that help me
in supporting
the idea that
Figure 2. Sample from the final draft of my HCP

dolphins

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possess cognition. The extra sentences that I added to my existing transition helped me in
making the flow smoother. They also helped me in concluding the experiment I mentioned right
above this part and simultaneously helped in talking about the conclusion. This transition change
made the essay more complete. I was able to make all these changes to make my essay better
because of engagement. Engagement is another habit of mind. My involvement with my peers,
Dr. Haas and in my work made it possible for me to complete this assignment accurately.
Researching and understanding raised questions in my mind. When I discussed those questions
with Dr. Haas it gave me more insight on my project. Using this insight and knowledge I tried to
update my essay to make it better. After the changes were made, the engagement with my peers
helped in getting a second opinion about the essay, and helped me in understanding the residual
errors. Investing time in the peer review comments made me understand these errors I made in
my essay; ultimately, it helped me in revamping my essay. If I wouldnt have engaged with my
peers, Dr. Haas and in my work; my essay would have not been the same.
Digital rhetoric, argumentation, and multi-modal communication was major part of
Writing 39C. Through my personal experience from the social media campaign, Stop Animal
Entertainment, I learned that in a media campaign the first thing to do is getting the attention of
the audience. First there has to be an audience to get their attention. To get this audience I used
social networking. I asked my friends to help in my campaign and if possible tell their friends to
support for a good cause. Another technique used was follow for follow. My group followed a
particular page and in return they followed us back. This way we got more followers. After the
audience was set, to get their attention we used clickbait. These clickbaits had syntax which
either appealed the logos or the ethos of the audience. With these clickbait we had to use creative
pictures and videos to show the horrific truths behind the use of animals for entertainment.

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Creativity, another habit of mind, was necessary in this project to make it successful. I had to be
creative with the images that I used. For example, Figure 3 shows one of my original posts. In
this figure we see that I have made a
collage of three different pictures. All
three of these pictures show different
animals. I wanted to tell my audience
that cruelty in circus is not only limited
to elephants, but also other animals.
These pictures show the horrible
condition of animals. The bear has a
rope going through its nose which looks
Figure 3. One of my original posts from the social
media campaign.

extremely painful. The elephant is

strangled by ropes and has blood all over

its body. These picture show the cruelty and appeal the ethos of my audience. I used that specific
font to give an imagery of dripping blood. By using creative images and clickbaits I applied the
habit of mind in my project. As this project was a group effort, each of us had specific
responsibilities. We were all responsible for our 3 posts every day. We were responsible for
other tasks given to us during the campaign like setting up the petition, setting up the website,
working on the research etc. I set up the petition for our campaign and we got 925 signatures
from all around the world to support our cause. These responsibilities were discussed together
and then assigned, and a few times one of us volunteered. If we wouldnt have been responsible
for our work throughout the campaign we wouldnt have been able to reach the millennials.
Another habit of mind that we applied in this project was: flexibility. We had to be flexible with

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the post and the issues that we covered in the campaign. For example, if I had planned a post and
one of my group mates posted it before me, I had to be flexible to think of something else to
avoid reiteration. On some issues, if we had disputing opinions then we had to be flexible enough
to choose something that was agreed by everyone and beneficial for the group. I had to show
flexibility in the timing of the post. If all of us post at the same time then we wouldnt have been
able to reach many people. So we had to show flexibility by posting at different time, at least a
gap of one hour between two posts. I used multi-modal elements in my essay to say speak
without using words. These elements helped me in making my essay less wordy at the same
time. Utilizing these multi-modal elements helped me in appealing my readers pathos, which in
turn helped me in making sound arguments.
For my AP, I didnt face as many problems as the HCP. The historical context came
straight up from the HCP. I had to decide between which experiments I choose. I choose selfrecognition because it was the basic test of cognition. For my other experiment, I decided on
using cross-modal abilities of dolphins. My AP topic was the harmful effects of sonar on
dolphins. Using cross-modal abilities to show that dolphins also have their own echolocation
technique that gets affected by mid-frequency navy sonar seemed most logical. For the definition
of my problem, I focused on using logos. I tried to get a scientific study to prove that sonars
affect dolphins to make the problem credible as it is a very recent problem. In addition to the
scientific study, I added newspaper articles to show the media coverage and statistics related to
the problem. The only mistake I made in my first draft was writing the paper in 1st person.
Because of my negligence to the syllabus, I thought the format of AP was same as the HCP.
Peer-review helped me in rectifying this error. One of my peers told me about my error and I
corrected the error by making the paper in third person. I faced a problem in the solution part of

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the AP was my problem was very novel. Being a neoteric problem, there arent many counter
examples to my problem. As I had done a lot of research I was able to think of some counter
examples myself. With the help of Dr. Haas I turned these examples into situations so that I
could write them in third person. Curiosity drove me throughout the class. All the subjects of my
essay were riveting. At a few points in the quarter it became very difficult to cope with the work
load, but the curiosity to know more kept me going. The desire to know more about the life of
dolphins helped me never to lose interest in my projects. After writing the HCP, working on the
mid-week assignments, and completing the social media campaign I had a good grip over the
techniques taught in the class.
Since I have finished my HCP, I have been practicing metacognition. Confucius, a
Chinese philosopher and politician, said, By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by
reflection, which is the noblest; second, by imitation, which is the easiest; and third by
experience, which is the bitterest. The noblest way to gain wisdom is the reflection of ones
own work. In addition to the comments from Dr. Haas and my peer, I have been working on my
own reflection and revision strategy. I was able to clearly spot the differences in my HCP and
show them above. For my AP, except for changing the speech of my essay from first person to
third person, I didnt make many major changes. I applied metacognition in all my assignments
and that is what is helping me draft this essay. Metacognition helped in making my arguments
stronger. It helped in correct utilization of multi-modal elements, grammar, transitions,
conclusion, and introduction. It is often said that mistakes realized by oneself are not repeated.
The mistakes that I realized throughout various assignments have not been repeated in the next
assignment. These revisions play a major role in getting a solid essay. Revision helped in tying

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loose ends of my essay, to make the flow better. Revisions helped me progress both as a writer
and communicator.
I have made striking progress form the beginning of the college. From writing summaries
and literature, I went to critical reading and rhetoric and from there, I went to argument and
research. I have learned great deal through the Writing 39 series. For example, one of the
techniques that Ill apply everywhere is skim-reading. Pursuing a career in Engineering, in the
near future I will definitely have to do research. Ill use the technique of skim-reading in all those
classes. This technique is not just restricted to engineering, it can be applied to any research
class. In addition to this, applying the habits of mind to my work will make my argument
stronger. All these techniques will help me even after I am done with college. I have improved
my skills in critical reading, rhetorical analysis, research and argument, through the Writing 39
series. These classes have changed my perspective towards writing. Instead of being afraid about
assignments, now I look forward to working on them. I let my thoughts flow and then organize
them logically. All in all, this course has helped me grow as a writer and communicator by
introducing me to useful skills like skim reading, and making me practice these so that they are
in my muscle memory.
Dr. Haas has not only improved my grammar, research and arguments skills, but also
exposed me to a new world of animal rights. Her efforts have made me more conscious about the
welfare of animals, not just restricting to pets; but, to the whole animal kingdom. Her efforts to
raise awareness about animal studies while teaching argument and researched have worked. The
Writing 39 series has helped me look at text with a different perspective, and these skills will last
with me for the rest of my academic carrier.