Alfonso 1 Michelle Coleen S. Alfonso Dr.

Lynda Haas Writing 37 15 March 2014 Looking Back Ten Weeks Ago
As I walked into the classroom the first day, I was really surprised to see that it was a small class setting compared to the usual large lecture halls that I have had for my other classes in the past. Clueless and not knowing what to expect, I diligently listened and carefully observed the class as Dr. Lynda Haas began to go over class procedures. And now, ten weeks had passed, being in Writing 37 has taught

me a lot of things. I was a little worried about taking this class before because I was never a big fan of reading and writing based off literary texts but this class changed my insight about writing. It has been a challenging yet wonderful experience taking this intensive writing class this quarter for this class did not just help me become a better writer but also a better communicator through various activities that cultivated my skills. The theme for our class this quarter was about Sherlock Holmes and the nature of mystery genre. We have read two of Sir Arthur Conan Doyles novels about Holmes namely: The Sign of the Four and The Hound of the Baskervilles which both became famous during Conan Doyles time. I became so persistent in finding more about detective genre specifically about Holmes use of deduction and how he solves the most impossible crime during his time. I became Writing 37 helped me improve my writing skills as I learned that writing effectively is not just about mere summarizing the plot but analyzing why it was written the way it was, what conventions were used, and what was its objective or message to the audience. I struggled the most in writing textual analysis because like what most of my classmates did, I basically summarized the text instead of analyzing its context.

Alfonso 2 By analyzing the nature of a mystery genre, I have learned what genre conventions are and the significance they impart to a story. The conventions such as the detective figure, sidekick, and deductive reasoning cater the mystery genre to make it more effective for the audiences understanding. It made me realize that in writing academic essays, specifically that of writing textual analysis, it is important to find the deeper meaning or what the text is trying to convey and analyze the material more and lessen the writing of the basic summary of the story. Through this, I was able to analyze texts better and clearly identified all the conventions used in the Sherlock Holmes stories and their modern-day adaptations such as House M.D., Pysch, Elementary, BBC Sherlock and the Sherlock Holmes movies. The essay that I have chosen to fully revise is my modern day text analysis. I found this essay easier to write to begin with because I had a better grasp of its information compared to my first essay about Conan Doyles original stories of Holmes. The strongest point of my essay is the connection I showcased of Holmes and House having a great deductive reasoning skill. After receiving constructive comments from my peers and professor, I realized that I still have to revise some parts to improve and make it better. Instead of using a lot of quotes to support my idea, my professor suggested that paraphrasing or summarizing it in my own words can also be done for my essay revisions. However, the weakest point is the analysis which was not specific enough and instead I did a generalized episode approach. Overall, I felt like I still did a better job in analyzing the modern-day texts because I was able to understand it better as they were made to appeal to the modern day audiences than the old Conan Doyle stories with heavy context. On the other hand, the essay that I decided not to fully revise was my Conan Doyle essay because I was not that confident for this unlike the modern. Although I did not choose this for complete revision, I chose to revise the part where Holmes uses the three qualities of a perfect

Alfonso 3 detective in detective who could have been the writer of the letter because I misplaced most of the actions Holmes did under the wrong categories. I wanted to clear up the list and show the differences from the observations he did, the application of his knowledge and the use of his great deductive reasoning. And now, after revising it, the information included are now accurate and are clearly differentiated from each other. Since we cannot learn fully just by reading or writing essays, the class was also conducted with a workshop atmosphere where our full participation in various activities was significantly important. Collaboration was greatly practiced in this class as we were divided into several groups which became our presentation peers throughout the whole quarter. Public speaking and expressing my thoughts in front of people has never been easy for me that is why it has always been a challenge for me to stand in front and present whenever we had to. I have been trying to better myself, but it is still really hard for me to just get out of my comfort zone. Looking on the bright side, I am really glad that we did various presentations as part of this class because I was able to engage myself more to the class. Through this, I was able to overcome my weakness and become a better communicator. Before analyzing the modern-day adaptation texts, we started with analyzing the time period when Holmes became popular which was during the late nineteenth century which was also known as the late Victorian Era. My group was assigned to do a presentation about the Victorian Empire Culture and we decided to divide the topics among the four of us. We made a group chat as our way of communication as we have conflicting class schedules. On our second presentation, we were given a chance to choose a genre convention about Holmess character where we decided to talk about how Holmes approaches a crime like a scientist. In the same manner, we communicated and divided the work to get things done faster as a group. Our

Alfonso 4 presentations were not as good as what I expected and I know we could have done better but because most of us kept looking from our note cards and did not have enough confidence, we lacked audience interaction with the class. I learned how to be more open in receiving comments from my peers after hearing all the constructive criticisms about our groups performance because I know that it will surely help us improve for our future presentations. I found the theme of Sherlock Holmes really interesting which kept me interested and curious about it. One habit that I further developed is my curiosity. I wanted to learn more his methods of crime-solving and how he always come up with the smartest conclusions compared to others. Another habit that I further developed is my sense of responsibility. Being in a group requires equal amount of effort but due to our different class schedules, it became impossible for us to meet up and talk about what we have to do. I learned that if someone in the group slacks off, everyone will suffer the consequences which I think is not fair to the others who worked really hard. I also liked the idea of having peer review for our essays because the feedbacks that I got from my classmates really helped me a lot. The best peer review that I got was from Dan Le since he pointed everything that I should revise without any sugar coating. Another reason why I liked his review on my essay is because he knows all the information that I know because he also wrote his essay about the same TV show, House M.D. for his modern-day textual analysis. The Rhetoric-in-Practice Seminar showcased everything we have learned and studied about Sherlock Holmes along with the different mystery genre conventions that were used to another Writing 37 class and gave them an update of all the conventions that are still being portrayed in modern-day adaptations of Holmes. During the RIP presentation, I was part of the props and visuals team who assisted in organizing and staging the props which really helped develop my creativity. As part of the visuals team, I also gathered information and pictures about

Alfonso 5 the role of police and clues for the introduction segment of the seminar. I gathered pictures for all the modern-day adaptation shows such as House, Psych, and BBC Sherlock and put them into the Google Doc that we used. Even though I didnt have a speaking part during the presentation, in preparation for this, I was assigned to be one of the directors for this whole performance. As a director, I worked on the revisions and improvement of scene five until eight. I sent out e-mails as a reminder for them to get their parts done as soon as possible so that we can already move on and just rehearse in the next class meeting. I kept in touch with my presenters and performers, updated the RIP outline and Introduction PowerPoint as changes were being made from time to time. I wrote the script for the third scene (Deduction of Emma Stone) of the murder mystery scenario portion and listed the staging of the characters, gestures/movements and facial expressions. After inputting all the information assigned for us on the outline, I started going over the presentation as a whole to see what can still be revised and what not, what to add and what to remove, and if there are still scripts that are still missing. I also made another Google Doc listing all the props/visuals that will be needed during our presentation and as well as the backdrops that were used during the murder mystery scenario. It was pretty overwhelming for me but I can say that it was really fun working with my classmates and actually sharing our ideas on how to make everything better because I felt closer to the whole class. I developed how to be open as I accepted a lot of ideas coming from my peers during the scriptwriting and directing process of the whole presentation. I also developed my sense of responsibility as I was given more things to do as a director and as a part of the visuals team. Finally, I learned how to be flexible in keeping connected with my classmates. Overall, it was really a big responsibility but I am really happy that we were able to pull it off and I can say that we had a successful RIP Seminar for our Writing 37 class because of everyones contribution of their hard work.

Alfonso 6 The other class presented about the topic of horror genre. Overall, their presentation was good and interesting. One of their strongest point was that they had good information about the genre of horror and its components. They used different examples of horror movies that we know today and analyzed it carefully. The images and videos that were used during their presentation were very effective in showcasing their topic. Everyone was well prepared and knew their parts. However, some points werent really that effective such as their engagement with the class. It was interesting at first but it got boring by the next hour. They did not time their presentation as they took almost an hour and a half just talking in front about their topic. And lastly, I felt that the flow of their information was all over the place as they divided their presentations with a total of six groups instead of just the whole class. Having the expertise on these writing techniques that I learned from this class will be really helpful for me throughout my college career here in University of California Irvine since I will still be doing a lot of textual analysis and essay writing for my future courses. Another thing that I learned from this class and I know is essential for becoming an effective writer is the ability to analyze genre conventions that make the genre unique. I have always had the idea that every writing class are boring, but being in this Writing 37 class changed my views and insights. This class taught me how to not just take it on the literal level or stating what is obvious but instead searching for its deeper meaning of what it is trying to say. I also learned how to work with different kinds of people with different working habits because in life, we will eventually end up working with different kinds of people and are obliged to adjust to what kind of person they are. No writing is perfect, but for the past ten weeks, I have seen myself grow as a writer and as a person as well which I know will be helpful to me

Alfonso 7 throughout my college career and my future. I will continue to strive to be a better communicator by having more confidence and practicing my presentation skills better.