Thelma Barraza Ms.

Megan Weaver Rhetoric 101-05 December 6, 2013 Portfolio Reflection The component of this portfolio reflective essay is to exemplify how I have evolved as a literate individual by focusing on certain aspects and features of my written work. The growth in the portfolio emphasizes the learning process whereas the showcase portfolio emphasizes the products of learning. I have developed process skills such as self-evaluation and goal setting. Also, I identified strengths and weaknesses, tracked the development of one or more products, documented achievements and progress towards becoming a better writer to help support my evidence. In Rhetoric 101 my literary identity has been shaped through various enablers. Receiving an A grade is something important to me as a writer. I believe that if my work is sloppy or confusing, the presentation is careless and gives off a negative impression. I try to be well prepared for class, be respectful of others time and have the readers full attention so that anyone who revises my paper is not distracted and can concentrate on the writing itself. My written work shows how I have molded through teachers, resources, and class. My thought process has also greatly evolved; I am able to comprehend texts and depth and communicate them in a coherent matter. Throughout this semester, I focused on the significance of my learning style that consequentially helped me to develop my skills as a communicator, critical thinker, and ethical reasoner. Various in-class and out-of-class activities contributed to the development of these skills, however there are three particular assignments and a written journal that I felt were more influential in the process.

The Daily Writing Journals involved texts that enabled us to explore literacy, reading, writing and text. They have also progressed from the beginning of August to November. An example would be language. To begin with, I never fully understood what language was. I originally thought it was a spoken or written thing that helped people communicate with one another. Now, I understand that it is an ongoing process, which includes constant emergence of new words. Language is a complex structure with subsubjects such as dialects; these are a reflectance of individual cultures around the word. I believe small inquires such as those have broadened my horizons as an intellectual. Using parts of the free-writings or writing journal entries has allowed me to write with greater honesty and accuracy. When I was given the assignment to write an essay, I would brainstorm and look back through my journal to try and get some inspiration. Anything in my journals that mystified me, I would take the time to further investigate to better understand when writing. This helped me adapt to specific situations and research supportive information regarding any topic. Moreover, my three essay assignments were improvements alone. An important approach to successful writing is the technique employed. The key is to exercise the skill of inquiry, organization, and revision. As with all my writings, my first step is to choose a topic. From there I gather the materials that pertain to the topic and outline my papers, brainstorm, write, organize and finally revise. I have learned a lot about the process and the elements of assessments. One of the first assignments was the Rhetorical Analysis based on a personally significant text that could be tangible. To prepare ourselves, we did an unguided mediation in class to help organize our thoughts as they came to us. This exercise encouraged me to slow down my thought process and recall more insignificant details that would not have been

recognized initially. Before, I used to write anything that came to mind and lastly, put into a paragraph format. Consequentially, with the thoughts and sensations still fresh in my mind, I was able to speedily and precisely put them into words. Being able to do so dramatically complimented my writing form, with which I generally include various, and excessive details and adjectives. I also noted that I seemed to do less going back and crossing out. This exercise opened my eyes to the significance of my learning style. I had never used this composition technique prior to writing a paper and by doing so I came to understand that it worked for my kinesthetic learning style. As evidenced in my portfolio, I have better organized my essays to get points across easily. Throughout the course of each individual essay, I developed the ability to write topics that stem from organic thoughts and ideas. Truly, the brainstorming idea we did for our Daily Writing on November, 11, 2013 was a change. Letting ideas flow out onto the paper and connecting them between each topic lead me to come up with new ideas. This helped me break from the confined five paragraph essay formats that I have always used. The rhetorical analysis, genre recreation, and literacy are all assignments that are key examples of being able to write an essay with introduction and conclusions that branch out and explore new ideas. Using this new arrangement I have improved my writing ability. A few things I have discovered to be just as important as being able to turn in a well written final essay, is the capability of reading other students work. Being able to revise, edit, restructure and proofread my own work is critical to my writing style. Nonetheless, being able to look at someone elses writing and gives constructive suggestions, ideas and comments shows interest and informative criticism to the individual and subject.

During workshops I discovered that I liked to revise and get feedback on my work so I could progress into a better writer. Revisiting my own papers is an ability I try to practice frequently. Strengths in a writer lie in the ability revise and edit as needed. While on the other hand, my weaknesses lie in the area of sentence structure and paragraph formation. As evidenced by the first two pieces in my portfolio, I transition from serious, informative style of writing to an imaginative and figurative style. Peer workshops are creative methods that have helped me incorporate myself into the paper to show someone else my perspective on a topic. On the other hand, a goal of mine that I am currently working on is to write stronger introductions and conclusions. I struggled to break out the typical clichs and appeal to the readers emotions. A piece of writing, no matter how brilliant and revolutionary, is ineffective if the reader cannot understand it or becomes bored with it. Thus, I have become aware that it is always important to think of the audience and to tailor the writing to the audiences needs. After all these improvements, my essays have become easier to read. In this class, we wrote a few personal essays such as the Literacy Narrative; however, I was never able to find a balance between writing honestly and keeping the readers interest. Although I am now able to put more me into the essays, I am still practicing sparking and keeping the readers interest. Even though I feel that my essays are well organized, I need to improve my transition between paragraphs. In addition, my writing pieces showcase redundancy. I have the tendency to repeat my ideas throughout the paper. One of my goals is to improve this as well. As I looked back over my portfolio, I was able to see the progress that I have made as a writer. After completing this portfolio, I see myself as a writer who continues to improve with

each paper. I view myself as someone who is able to convey my thoughts in writing, even in different styles when given the opportunity. I have realized that I am not as weak of a writer as I once thought myself to be. There is always room for improvement though, which I was able to see by accessing my weaknesses.