Final
Portfolio
Starting
College is a difficult adventure. That is why Rhetoric 110 being one of my
first classes was so significant. Not only did this class expose me to new
forms of communication and educate me on more professional ways of writing, but
I also learned how to navigate college through going through this class as a
test run. Going to college for the first time is very challenging, because you
have to work hard in your classes, make all new friends, get used to a new area
and completely take care of yourself. This makes it hard to prioritize your
time. For me, all this stress results in myself neglecting responsibilities
when it seemed like I could. Rhetoric 110 Written Communication as one of my
first classes had a drastic effect in how I developed over the semester. This
class focused on teaching communication. I learned new aspects that will make
my writing more successful such as using ethos, logos and pathos. What was
interesting and drew my attention in this class was how we were exposed to new
forms of communication. We studied communication in the form of letters,
articles and graphic novels. I expected that I wouldn’t learn much in this
class, and that it would be just like my English class last year. I was wrong.
My knowledge for how to communicate with different aspects greatly expanded
when I was exposed to those new forms of commination. I absolutely became a
better writer and gained a better understanding of what makes good rhetoric.
This class also demanded time and responsibility, so it taught me a lot about
how to manage my time and navigate the stressful life of college. This class
that required a lot of my effort forced me to come to terms with College and
get prepared. I will explain my journey through this class by first explaining
where I started, then all the details of my progression and wrap up where I am
now and what I have learned.
When
I started this class I thought I knew everything there was to know about writing.
Over senior year my writing skills dramatically changed to the point where I
felt I was good enough. During senior year I had to write college essays. I
over did the college process as my obsessive-compulsive personality does from
time to time so that I applied to twenty-one colleges. I had to write countless
essays because of the huge number of colleges I applied too. Between the months
of September and January I think I wrote and ensured that 15 essays were as
perfect as they could get. My writing skills changed tremendously from the
start of that writing period to the finish, where when I finished perfecting 15
essays I was a much better writer. Here is an example of two of the essays: … I
then went on and finished out the year and absorbing my last bit of high school
knowledge. When I came to college I thought I had learned all the skills on
writing. I thought I was a master at writing argumentative 5 paragraph thesis
essays. However, I soon discovered that I was completely wrong. I learned so
many new things throughout the year and was introduced to so many different
types of wiring, besides thesis writing. This in the end changed the way I
thought and wrote me last argumentative essay in this class. I started the
school year writing like this… and I ended writing like this… Follow me through
the journey of how this class changed the way I read, write and think.
Learning New Methods Of Writing
One of the
first lessons I learned in Rhetoric class was the rhetorical moves ethos logos
and pathos. These were new concepts to me, but I learned them quickly. After we
discussed them in class we wrote a post about how we used them. I feel that I
had a very good understanding of what they were, when I wrote about how I
used the rhetorical moves.
Studying
the readings in class and seeing how powerful authors used these rhetorical
moves helped me understand how to use them.
As I
learned more in class as I was able to comprehend how these rhetorical moves
made the writings so powerful, as I did in my reaction to
Douglass's narrative.
I was then able to inhibit these moves into my writing. In my Personal Letter I mastered the use of ethos,
logos, and pathos. The fact that I had never heard of these terms before this
class but was able to use them so effectively in my paper show how much I have
progressed.
Learning How Important Revising Is
I never
thought revising was that important. Of course editing and revising your paper
before turning it in is essential, but I had never rewritten a paper after
turning it in. For my midterm portfolio we were supposed to revise a paper. So
I revised my Personal Letter since I thought it would be the best
representative of my writing, and fixing it would be most useful to me. It
absolutely was. I read the comments professor
Lotspeich wrote, and
used them to rewrite my paper. I completely agree with everything Professor
Lotspeich suggested, and my new Personal Letter is much stronger. Revising
that Letter actually helped me become a better writer. I have been confused as
to how much I should use commas, and when is the appropriate time. Reading his
comments on how I over used them, and after rewriting and seeing how much of a
difference it made, I realized that I must to use fewer commas. Instead of
learning how to write for a specific assignment this method of revising, and
discovering what my weakness is as a writer helped me progress in my writing
skills. I also discovered that I need to address the audience more in my
conclusion, another skill I will remember. This class taught me how important
revising is, since it helps you understand your strengths and weaknesses, and
makes you a better writer in the future.
Gaining My Confidence
While
confidence may seem like a minor and unusual lesson to be learned in a rhetoric
class, it proved to be vitally important for me as a writer. The moments I
gained my confidence were both in the writing center. During my Personal Letter
drafting process I was worried I didn't have enough ethos or logos. When I
brought my paper in my tutor loved it. He showed me how I did in fact use logos
and ethos effectively throughout the paper, and many other ways it worked well.
He explained to me my strengths as a writer as well as what I needed to work
on. When I wrote my Analytical Review paper I was
terrified that I was writing it wrong. I was confused with the structure and
positive that my paper was horrible. When I brought it into the writing lab I
was happily surprised again to here that my what I doubted was actually
successful. He explained to me how the structure I was using was effective, and
helped me plan how I was going to finish the paper. He told me how much he
liked my writing style and successful it was. Hearing that my papers were
better then I thought they were, and that I was a great writer was influential.
I became confident in myself and started taking more joy out of writing. That
is important because when you truly enjoy something you work hard and produce
great work. Before I would get distraught that I had no idea what I was doing,
and had a hard time getting into my papers. After gaining my confidence I have
been able to follow my instincts and give my writing everything I have in order
for it to be the best it can.
As
you can tell, my journey through this class has been riddled with events that
will shape my writing forever. I have learned the fundamental rhetorical moves
that create powerful papers. I have learned the importance in revising even
after a paper is turned it. I gained my confidence, which will support me by
giving me the courage to keep working and write freely, in order to write the
best possible written communications. This class has not been too easy for me
or a waste of time. This class has taught me so much about written
communication, and I am excited to see where the future of this class teaches
me.
1)
Challenges and Success—point out how I will use
artifacts
2)
How the collaborative group helped me and how I
lived up to it
3)
What I was exposed too—with examples batman MLK
letters, etc.
4)
How I developed with what I was exposed too---
with examples of my work and reading notes
5)
How this class prepared me for life
Show slides of my
work prior to this class and explanation of my previous education
Show draft of
writing assignment and where I was when I wrote it
Show revised
draft, which proves progression
Show examples of
my challenges and successes
Show examples of
working in a group
Show what types of
communication I was exposed
Show how being
introduced to those forms of communication with examples
Paragraph on how
this class prepared me for life and how I want to further develop as a reader,
thinker and writer.
