Ashley-Hardy 1

Natalie Ashley-Hardy
Professor Haas
Writing 37
March 3, 2015
My Journey
January 5th, 2015. This was the first lecture for Writing 37 and I was extremely nervous.
Hearing numerous rumors and conversations about the difficulties Writing 37 includes forced me
to dread starting this class Winter Quarter. Luckily, this course was nothing I expected it to be.
Yes, it was time consuming and difficult at times, but it also taught me so much along the way.
Professor Haas has made the class manageable yet beneficial due to the vast amount of peer
reviews and insightful comments. Throughout the journey of this class, I have become a much
more proficient writer, communicator, and presenter.
The first assignment due is one I will never forget. It was an Introduction to Me
presentation and I had to present myself to the class in three minutes. Of course, I went first
which made the experience much more traumatizing then it should have been but everyone else
was in the same boat I was. We were all new to each other, the professor, and the class. All
presentations went smoothly, although some were definitely more confident with public speaking
than others, which was interesting to observe. For the next presentation, we had to show our
Wiki Projects on the animal topic that we chose. The group I was in decided to split the
presentation by topic, so we had Therapy vs. Guide Dogs, Therapy Horses, and the negative
effects a therapy animal encounters. We chose this topic because we were curious if the animals
were affected by assisting in therapy and/or if humans actually benefitted from therapy animals.
This worked out well, we each did our own research and shared information we found if it

Ashley-Hardy 2
pertained to the other group members topic. I contributed by making a document on Google
Slides so that we could all add in our information at the most convenient time possible and
helped ensure that all work was turned in at the time it was due. All contributions from team
members were even and we did not encounter any issues among the group. I now know that one
person needs to take responsibility of the group so that everything is organized and put together
in a timely manner. Collaborating takes a great amount of time and effort, but the final product is
a great accomplishment if all group members participate evenly. The last presentation was the
Public Service Announcement (PSA). Our groups had changed at this point and we were all open
to the idea of the confinement of pigs in gestation crates. This really brought out all three of our
creative sides as we had to come up with a topic, median, and become experts with iMovie,
which was not in our favor. After showing the rough draft to the class, we received constructive
criticism which helped us build as a team and make our PSA the best we could make it. We had
to be persistent with iMovie as it was extremely difficult to grasp but in the end, we made a
persuasive PSA with rhetorical appeals. Overall, I have grown as a public speaker and
communicator through these three presentations, yet there are many other components that have
helped me grow throughout the quarter.
During week four, the first major essay was assigned and it was the Critical Reading
Response Paper. This was definitely an unfamiliar territory for me as I have never put scholars
into conversation, never mind write an entire essay about it. Once I got a handle on how the
paper was supposed to be structured and how I was supposed to put the scholars into
conversation, the paper was not too difficult. The topic I wrote about was the positive and
negative effects of animal-assisted therapy and I was able to easily compare scholars views on
the topic as it is quite controversial. I enjoyed writing this paper as I was passionate about the

Ashley-Hardy 3
topic and had a lot of knowledge on the material I was writing. The passage I significantly
revised was the topic sentence for the second paragraph. Without a proper topic sentence, I need
improvement in the Conventions of Organization category on the rubric as it negatively
impacts the flow of my essay. In order to adjust accordingly, I changed the quote from the first
draft into a sentence that introduced the information presented in the paragraph for the final draft.
I showed what the study was about and the fact that the results are still inconclusive. Professor
Haas, Cynthia, and Jacqueline Ceja suggested that I revise this sentence as it has a major impact
on this paragraph and the rest of the paper. Having peer reviewers look over my paper and give
me insight helped out more than I could ever know. The advice given to me was similar to what I
gave them, so it really helped as we both gained from the revision.
Peer revision was not only used for the Critical Reading Response Paper, it was also used
for the Rhetorical Analysis. This was an essay that I struggled with as I did not know how to
rhetorically analyze a piece of data. The portion that I revised most was the introduction. As
advised from Professor Haas, Pedro Castillo, Cynthia Ramirez, and Jacqueline Ceja, there are
multiple things I need to edit within the first few sentences of my essay. The hook could be a
statistic about orca whales in captivity which would captivate the readers attention, the rhetorical
appeal should be clearly stated, and the addition of more specifics to the rhetorical situation can
make the essay much stronger. With these revisions, I can improve in the areas of credibility and
Language: Eloquence on the rubric. This essay truly tested my Metacognition. I feel that by
discovering the true meaning of a rhetorical analysis tested me as a writer, reader and
communicator. I am now able to communicate the authors/directors intended feelings for the
audience through analysis which is a drastic change from what I have ever written before.
According to Rollinson from the article To Give is Better than to Receive, Learning to

Ashley-Hardy 4
effectively review others writing may then ultimately lead to the creation of better selfreviewers, or students who are able to look at their own papers and accurately assess areas in
which they need to improve and revise them. This quote is absolutely correct. By having the
opportunity to read others essays, I was able to criticize correctly as I now had an idea of what
was expected which improved my ability to comprehend what I was reading. Engaging with
another individual creates vulnerability as writing requires time and effort which can have an
emotional effect on some. The amount that I learned from revising my classmates papers is
enlightening, it allowed me to focus on what could be wrong with my paper and what I should
change.
Many advantages have come about from collaborating with various classmates. A handful
of ideas and contributions for the forums and blogs came from group members, which was
beneficial. By having others revise and review my work and give me feedback, I was able to
analyze what they said and blog about it. The blogs have been extremely helpful for me as I had
the ability to write down my thoughts for revision and thoughts on certain projects which
allowed me to later reflect the changes I could make. I have never been a person to blog or write
down my thoughts, but in writing, it has been a helping hand. Due to all the different materials
we have read throughout this course, analyzing has become a major component. I have never
analyzed a graphic novel, documentary film, or scholarly article, so in order to be effective in
gaining from the reading, I had to change the way I normally analyze. Luckily, practicing skim
reading as a Connect assignment geared me towards the correct way of approaching these
reading assignments. For example, while reading We3, I had to gain a background on what
common graphic novels consisted of so I could understand what the author was intending for me
to get from it. Luckily, Eisner, the Comics Terminology article, and the Antennae article all

Ashley-Hardy 5
described what specific details are included in a graphic novel and why they are included which
allowed me to grasp the material presented. By knowing that the gutter is the space between the
frames (Comics Terminology), I was able to realize that I was responsible for interpreting what
goes on between frames. On the other hand, the documentary film Blackfish by Gabriela
Cowperthwaite, was a film I had watched before for pure entertainment. Yet, for the rhetorical
analysis, blog, and forum, I had to analyze rhetorically and find out which appeal was the
strongest and most apparent in the film. This was not too difficult for me to do as the film was
interesting and contained a lot of rhetoric. Overall, in order to write the blogs and forums, I had
to use outside sources and knowledge to make them as strong and beneficial as I could.
One of the main outside sources I used was the Connect assignments. They all related to
the assignments we had in class which was beneficial as I hadnt dealt with grammar and
research since the beginning of high school. I found that the most challenging topics were the
Research Process, Critical Reading, Grammar and Common Sentence Problems, Writing
Process, Reasoning and Argument, Verb Tense, and Style and Word Choice. I have a good handle
on Reducing Wordiness, Ethos, Pathos, Logos, and Paraphrasing/Summarizing. I can definitely
continue to work on Verb Tense, Reducing Wordiness, and enhancing grammar mistakes in
general to strengthen my essays. I will be able to use all that I learned from these assignments for
future writing assignments and essays in general. This is a report of one of the areas I struggled
with the most: Developing a Research Question and Keywords. I feel that my score is so high for
the unaware that I didnt know the answer section because it was my first time doing a Connect
assignment, so I was learning how to use it and how to answer. I also feel like I struggled with

Ashley-Hardy 6

this because I was never taught how to write a research question or use keywords in high school,
so it was a new area of writing for me.
On the other hand, the section Commas was one of the easiest assignments that we had to do. I

think this was easier for me because I use commas on a daily bases and am able to practice using
them.

The last major assignment we were given is the Rhetoric in Practice (RIP). For this
project, we were assigned new groups and had to make a Public Service Announcement.
Rhetoric is a huge component of a PSA as the goal of the announcement is to appeal to the
viewers pathos, logos, and ethos. The rhetorical situation contains the audience, situation, and

Ashley-Hardy 7
rhetor. For our PSA, we were representing the Animal Legal Defense Fund by creating a video
about the illegal use of gestation crates to confine pigs and we were targeting the UCI student
body. I was one of the researchers and creators for the project. We all combined the information
and pictures we found and put them on a Google document so that it was easily accessible. At
first, we began uploading a number of video clips, statistics, and images on a website called
Clipgenerator, yet we ran into a number of issues. So, instead, we decided to face iMovie which
was incredibly difficult to use. One of the members, Cynthia, tried to figure it out first and use
the information Jackie and I had found, yet it was just too difficult to do solo. So, after we
received feedback from our classmates and instructor, we all worked together in the library and
mastered iMovie which allowed our video improve drastically. We had to make the transitions
smoother, enhance our call to action, identify our rhetor, include more ethos, and allow the
statistics presented to be on the screen for a sufficient amount of time so the audience could read
and understand the information we were providing. Luckily, we were able to fix all of these
issues with a few Youtube videos, a few hours of practice, and a lot of persistence. Now, the PSA
appeals to pathos, logos, and ethos equally and gives the audience the urge to go out and stop the
use of gestation crates which was our initial objective.
In conclusion, the knowledge I have gained from this course will be used for the rest of
my life. The main things I have learned are how to collaborate with others, orally present,
rhetorically analyze, skim read, and use correct grammar. Oral presentations are the activity I
used to dread the most, yet due to the amount of practice we had in this class, I dont mind it
anymore. It is a lifelong skill that I will continuously use throughout college and my career and I
am so thankful for mastering that skill. The main tips I have learned about presenting is to gain
eye contact with the audience as often as you can, speak clearly, and have as little words/images

Ashley-Hardy 8
on the slides as you can. Although I have improved drastically in writing and communicating, I
can still improve on tenses, grammar, and analyzing to make my work have more of an impact
on the reader and be of better quality. All the skills and challenges I have overcome in Writing 37
will aid me in becoming a more proficient writer and communicator throughout my time here at
UCI.

Works Cited
"Comics Terminology." Www.teachingcomics.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2015.
Lundstrom, Kristi, and Wendy Baker. "To Give Is Better than to Receive: The Benefits of Peer
Review to the Reviewers Own Writing." To Give Is Better than to Receive: The Benefits
of Peer Review to the Reviewer's Own Writing. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2015.