ConnorTomshack

Dr.McLaughlin

WR13300

29April2015

WritingandRhetoricReflection

ThepurposeofthisportfolioistodocumentallofthemajorworksthatIhavedoneover

thecourseofthesemester,inordertoachievetwoends:todemonstratemyunderstandingofthe

writingprocessandtotrackmyprogressoverthesemester.Myunderstandingofthewriting

processisprimarilyshowninthesupplementarydocuments,documentsthatweremadein

preparationforthefinaldraft.Theyprovideevidencethateachofmymajorworkswerethe

resultofaprocess,andwerenotsimplyhastilywrittenattheendwithoutanyprocessatall.The

portfolioalsoshowstheevolutionofmywritingprocess.Thewritingprocessismuchmore

evidentinthelatermajorpapersthaninthefirstcouple.

Theportfolioalsoshowsmyunderstandingofargumentation,andhowthathasevolved

overthesemester.Thisismostevidentlyshownintherhetoricalanalysisandtheresearchessay.

Inbothofthese,thethesisissupportedbyappropriateevidenceandthepotential

counterargumentsareaddressed.Thesetwopapersinparticulardemonstratemyunderstanding

ofrhetoricastheyaretheonesthatemployargumentationthemost.Myunderstandingofcritical

researchandthinkingskills,however,arebestdemonstratedbytheresearchessayandtheTED

talk.Thesetwoprojectswereprecededbymoreresearchthantheothers,andthisresearchand

criticalreadinghasallowedmetoimprovemyskillsinfindingappropriateresourcesforstudy

acrossmultiplemediaanddecidingwhichofthesesourceswillbeofthemostuse.

Beforethisclass,mostofmyrhetoricalandwritingassignmentswereentirelytext,with

theoccasionPowerpoint,buteventhesePowerpointscontainedmostlytext.Myresourceswere

alsomostlytext.Thiscoursehasbeendifferentinthatitrequiredmetocreatecontentin

differentmediaandusevariousmediaassourcematerial,forexampleintheaudionarrativeand

theuseofSelmaasasource.Ifeelthatmyskillsinmediaotherthantexthavethedevelopedthe

mostthissemester,andIthinkthisdevelopmentinmultimediaisalignedtothelearning

outcomesofthecourse.Eachassignmentwasorientedinsomewaytoreflectthis.Theaudio

narrativewasanaudiopiece,andthoughitwasapersonalnarrative,itmaintainedarhetorical

elementinthatithadaargumentbehindit.Therhetoricalanalysiswasmadeonamore

conventionalmedium,butthesubjectmatterwasafilmratherthanabookorotherwrittenpiece.

Becauseitisadifferentmedium,analysisofafilmisentirelydifferentfromtheanalysisof

writtenworks,inthatithasdifferentmethodsofexpression,differentlimitations,anddifferent

expectations.

Theresearchpaperbuiltonthisbyencouragingtheuseofmultiplemediaassourcesin

research.Additionally,mostofthetopicsfortheresearchpapersrequiredresearchinorabout

mediaotherthantext.Thisessayalsobuiltontherhetoricalelementsoftheanalysispaper,in

thatitalsowasargumentative,withaclearthesisandevidencetosupportthatthesis.TheTED

talk,formoststudents,wasawaytotacklethesametopicastheresearchessay,butina

completelydifferentmedia.Itmaintainedtherhetoricalelementsoftheresearchpaperbut

requiredmuchmorepracticeinordertoperformwell.Atleastforthemostpart,allofthese

intendedpurposesofthedifferentassignmentsareevidentinthesubmissionsthemselves,inthat

submissionsutilizerhetoricandmultiplemedia.

IwouldhavetosaythetheprojectthatIammostproudofistherhetoricalanalysis.Ifeel

thatthatassignmentinparticularhadthesoundestargumentandthemostdevelopedevidence,

andshowcasedmyunderstandingofrhetoricandmultimediabetterthantheotherprojects.Ithas

aclearthesis,plentyofappropriateevidencethatsupportsthethesis,andaddresses

counterargumentswell.Theotherprojectsdoallthistoo,butIfeeltherhetoricalanalysisin

particulardoesallthisthebest.