Conor WardProfessor McLaughlinMultimedia Writing and RhetoricApril 29, 2015

When planning for upcoming projects for this class, I took a very systematic approach. I would first generate some general ideas for my topic, then fins the supporting research and then finally create an outline. It was only after I had written an outline of sorts that I felt comfortable beginning to write. This process is most evident on the page concerning my research paper, where you can see I first had to construct a proposal and then an annotated bibliography. These processes helped me to come up with a plan for how I wanted my essay to play out. Over the semester, I began to plan out my essays more in depth each time. For my narrative, I did not know what I was going to write about until I started writing. Whereas with my research paper, I knew exactly what information each paragraph would hold. Thus, I would say that my writing process has evolved to become much more in depth than it previously was.

In my first essay, the audio narrative, did not have a full understanding of rhetoric and argument. My narrative had very little rhetorical devices and it had no argument at all. However, as the semester progressed, I think I got a better understand of what both rhetoric and argumentation are. I think this progression is most evident in my rhetorical analysis essay in which I was able to learn and understand these concept by analyzing the work of another person. My analysis of these concepts helped me to better understand what exactly they are and therefore this essay helped me to incorporate these concepts into my writing later on.

I feel as though I came into this class with a pretty good idea of how to do research and read through sources. However, I also feel as though I have definitely improved in this area. This improvement can be seen between my research paper and the rhetorical analysis. In my research paper I definitely feel as though I better analyze my sources. Additionally, I feel as though I better relate my sources to my argument, meaning that I did not try to force my sources to prove my point. By this I mean that my sources more naturally helped me to prove my argument whereas in the rhetorical analysis I had more trouble finding sources to prove my point.

Outside of this class, I have not used multimedia very much for school work. However, I do feel that knowing how to use these technologies is very important. I felt that the rhetorical analysis was the best project to connect rhetoric to multimedia, because the assignment directly asked to find how the two are used in unison to create an argument. Additionally, I feel that this is a great lead in for the research paper, because it helps to give a better understanding of the two topics.

I think the purpose of the audio narrative was to help students get acclimated to the idea of multimedia. I believe the purpose of the rhetorical analysis is to show how multimedia and rhetoric can come together to form one thing and I believe that the research paper is the culmination of this, in which students get to investigate how multimedia has effected an area of their lives that they otherwise may not have noticed. The purpose of the TED talk, I believe, is to show students the full capabilities of how multimedia and rhetoric come together in modern society. Through each assignment, I believe that I received a firm grasp on the intended moral or outcome of the project. Thus, I believe that with each project I received a building block that eventually culminated with the TED talk.

Of all the works this semester, I feel the most proud of my research paper and rhetorical analysis. I am the most proud of these projects, not only because I received the highest grade on them, but also because of the revisions I was able to make on them. I feel as though the improvements Ive made as a writer are best showcased in these revisions and therefore it is through these projects that I can look back at the growth I have made. In both essays I made several significant revisions ad therefore I truly feel as though I learned from my mistakes. If I had not made these revisions, odds are I would not have leaned as much as I did. Moreover, I am proud of these works, not because of what I actually wrote, but what I had learned from the process of writing and rewriting the,