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Dishant Donga
Professor Harrison
Writing 39B
8/22/2014
Reflection Essay
When I first stepped into our writing studio (the website), I had no idea of what to
expect from the course or from myself, as this was my first ever online class. To say that I was
born-ready to tackle the heavy course load of Writing 39B would be a massive understatement;
however, I was optimistic all the same, and knew that, with diligence, I could also thrive and
make the best of this 10-week journey into the mystery genre. My quest, in this course, began
with the close examination of Conan Doyles early works, and ended with similar analysis of its
modern iterations. Through and through, Ive incorporated the eight Habits of Mind
(Curiosity, Openness, Engagement, Creativity, Persistence, Responsibility, Flexibility, and
Metacognition) in my writing endeavors to overcome and learn from my imperfections, and
make subsequent progress; From the Literature Review essay, to the Wiki Pages, the Rhetorical
Analysis essay, and everything in between, I firmly believe that Ive developed into a better
writer and a more sophisticated critical thinker.
The Literature Review essay was our first, and probably the most difficult, major
assignment in the course; we were given the task of incorporating vast amounts of scholarly
sources into a well-developed and sustained argument. At first, I felt a bit overwhelmed with
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the amount of information that we had been given. As I recall in my week 4 reflection blog, I
voiced concerns about attempting this particular assignment as it was not something that I had
done before in High-school. From the essays that Ive written in the past, none of them had
come close to prepare me for this challenge; even though I wasnt quite sure on how to
approach the assignment, let alone answer the numerous specifications of the prompt, I knew
that that I had to be flexible and open to new ideas. And these new ideas, that I had once
neglected, have lead me to become a more adaptable and responsive writer. In retrospect, the
Literature Review essay was a big eye-opener for me; it reminded me that not all writing is of
the same variety and hence, cannot be treated the same way. Furthermore, Im taking a
paragraph from this essay and revising it to the best of my ability; Daniel and Hanpeng have
pointed out to me that a particular body paragraph (2
nd
) consists of errors that could be
corrected. Upon closer analysis, Ive realized that there are deeper problems resided in my
work other than the obvious grammatical and syntactical errors. After going over the
paragraph once again, Ive noticed that Ive done it completely wrong; Ive summarized the
scholarly sources, instead of synthesizing them to support my controlling idea (thesis) which is
precisely the point of this essay, to review literature and not summarize it. And a summary, at
the end of the day, is just a glorified regurgitation; It provides little, if any, authentic reasoning
or rationale. Along with other comments from the professor, I became more aware of my
habitual tendencies to go off tangent. This process of self-reflection, known as metacognition,
one of the eight Habits of Mind, has aided my efforts in improving as a writer, reader, and
communicator. And I hope to take it with me into future classes, and, eventually, work place.
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One particular assignment that I really enjoyed working on was the collaborative Wiki
project, which is meant to replace the RIP seminar offered in a traditional course. My group,
which consisted of me, Danielle, Amy, and Yiling, was assigned to research and publish all
relevant information that pertained to the Lifestyles of the Lower Class during the Victorian Era.
Although Danielle was the group leader, I felt compelled to help and be responsible in any way
that I could; so I volunteered to format the pages for the all of the members in my group. In
addition to that, I had to create my own page that pertained to the lower class. Specifically, I
focused on the Homeless population, and their day-to-day lives. Having taken a few history
classes in high-school, I was hoping that my prior knowledge in European History would aid me
in completing my wiki page. I was genuinely surprised to find out that there is so much yet to
learn about the homeless and their lifestyles. With my curiosity in full effect, I began to search
every corner of the internet for any and all information that I could find regarding the
homeless. As expected, the more information I gathered, the more I struggled. I wasn't too sure
of what to include in my page, and what to discard. Knowing that the information that I had to
present must provide background to Conan Doyle's work, I knew that I had to filter my
information and only provide what is pertinent to the topic. Here, persistence played a key
role. I had to be obstinate in finding the appropriate information, and go beyond the general
knowledge that the audience might already know about the homeless population. In addition,
this project urged me to be more creative, as I had to display the information and pictures that
I had gathered in a visually pleasing manner. Overall, Im glad that I got to experience working
with such individuals, and am even more satisfied with my progress with finding and relaying
pertinent information.
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Next, let's address my progress thus far with language and grammar skills. After
completing many modules on Connect, I feel more comfortable with syntax and diction related
issues. Prior to these exercises, I had a tendency to write in a choppy fashion: my writing was
riddled with improper fragments, syntax errors, and had very limited sentence structures. I can
only improve these skills with more practice, and these weekly assignments have helped me
tremendously. Though it's not perfect yet, I've become more adept with such skills; and
hopefully, I can continue upward trend as I progress through my undergraduate
studies. Engagement - probably the most important "habit of mind" - was much needed for me
to overcome this major obstacle.
Our second major assignment of the course, the Rhetorical Analysis essay, the same
essay that Im taking into full revision, shed light on new ways of uncovering rhetoric in a
different medium and genres. Here, we applied our knowledge of cinematic elements and film
terminologies to learn how writers and cinematographers have twisted the plot, or
conventions, of Doyles stories to appeal to a current day audience and context. Prior to
completing this essay, I was not aware that editors spent so much time and effort into
procuring their intended sound and video effects; but I realize that, they do so in order to make
the context become more apparent, and that without it, the film or series would lack its much-
needed credibility. CBSs Elementary, in particular, was my most favorite show as I had totally
immersed myself into binge watching all of their 48 released episodes. The more I watched, the
more I began to slowly grasp Robert Dohertys (show producer) vision behind creating a
meaningful context that has been modified to meet and welcome a new audience. In fact, I
took two different scenes from these episodes to analyze for my essay, and argued such that
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Sherlock Holmes has indeed been altered to fit the perspective of a 21
st
century audience. After
reviewing all the comments from my first submitted draft, Ive realized that, once again, Ive
failed to devise an arguable claim. As of right now, this seems to be my biggest weakness; the
fact that I can produce essays with articulate descriptions without the crucial and sustainable
argument. Spending countless hours to write an essay to get the same comments every time
was more than frustrating; but eventually, I figured out a way to combat my old habits. In my
final draft, I made sure to correct the biggest issues that once plagued my essay; and Im proud
to say that this essay is my best work yet.
This 10-week journey into the mystery genre started with a simple, yet effective 3
minute video that illustrated my efforts of creating a mystery story. And such effort has
progressed into bigger and bigger things; through this course, Ive strengthened my ability to
analyze certain genres, conventions, and scholarly sources. Even more, Ive finally begun to
slowly grasp the ability to write thorough and sustained arguments, which was my biggest
concern in prior writing classes (Writing 39A). From writing formal essays, to completing weekly
writing activities, to analyzing a whole new medium of film and television, it has all been a very
rewarding experience. As an engineering student, Ive seldom had a class as efficient and
applicable as this one and Im happy to have been involved in such a rigorous and rewarding
curriculum.