Franco1

JonathanFranco

MeghanTinsley

WR100CheckOneBox

4December2014

WordCount1351Words

FinalPortfolioIntroductoryEssay

Oneofthemostvitalaspectsofwritingisdevelopmentdevelopinghowoneapproaches
andutilizesresearchmaterial,howoneexpresseshisownthoughts,andhowoneusesthis
processtobecomeabetterwriter.TheprimaryobjectiveofastudentinaWR100courseisto
develophiswritingskills.AsIreviewthefollowingworkspresentedinthisportfolio,Iam
confidentthattherearenoticeableadvancementsandimprovementsasIprogressedthrough
thesemester.TheexperienceoftheWR100coursehasnotonlyexpandedmyskillswithregard
toacademicwriting,butalsowithregardtomycriticalthinkingskills,especiallyinthetopicthat
iscoveredbythisspecificclassraceandracismonaglobalscale.Ibelievethisexpansioninmy
writingskillsinconjunctionwithmycriticalthinkingisabundantlyclearintheartifacts
containedinthisportfolio.
Theprocessofplanninganacademicpaperisofcourseuniquetotheindividuals
approach,butnonethelessthereremainsabasic,corestructurethatresonateswithmany
writers.Thiscoreprocessmayincludeagatheringofasmuchpertinentsourcematerialas
possible,choosingwhichdataisthemostpertinent,andthenusingthematerialtoeither
supportorrefuteapointthattheessaywriterisarguingfororagainst,respectively.My
personalapproachtoessaywritingcertainlyincludesalloftheseaspects.Iamalwayssureto
citesourcesthatIfeelarearticulatingthesamethoughtsthatIwant,butindifferentwords.


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Accordingly,itisalsoimportanttodiscusstheopinionsofthosewithviewsinoppositiontomy
own.Similarly,Imustaddressquestionsthatmyaudiencemayhave.IkeepthismindasIwrite
mypapers.Whatisespeciallyhelpfulaboutaskingmyselfwhatquestionshavebeenleft
unansweredisthat,whenIresearchmysourcematerialandIseethatitiseasiertoarguethe
opposingpointofviewofwhatIoriginallywasgoingtoargue,Ireconsidermystance.Thisissue
rarelycomesup,butitisaninvaluableexercisethathasbecomeastapleofmywritingprocess.
Theconceptofaskingmyselfwhatquestionsmyaudiencemayhavewasnotsomethingthatwas
emphasizedinpreviouswritingcoursesthatIhavetakeninhighschoolandmiddleschool,and
so,inthatrespect,thereiscertainlyametamorphosisthathasvisiblytakenplaceinmywriting.
TherevisingprocessiswhatIbelieveseparatesgoodwritingfromgreatwriting.Fora
masterofacademicwriting,thereisnoendtotherevisingprocess.Ihavefoundthebestmethod
forrevisionistoreadtheessayaloud.Employingthisprocedurecausesanyawkwardsentence
constructionstobeeasilyidentified.Afteraninitialrevising,Iscanoverovertheessayprompt
toensurethatallofmypointsarerelevantandfullyrespondtothepromptquestion.Ialsohave
personalgoalsthatIstrivetoreacheachtimeIwriteapaper.Isthispaperanimprovementon
thelast?CanImakethisargumentmoreconvincing?Ifindthatpersonalgoalsthatare
juxtaposedwithgoalslaidoutbytheinstructormakeforstrongresults.Inmyexperiencesin
highschool,Ididnotemphasizetherevisingprocessassomethingthatwouldresultinabetter
endproduct.Itwasnotagoalofmine.However,nowthatIamwritingpapersonthecollege
level,Ihavebeenkeentotakeintoaccounttheimportanceofrevisingandeditingmypapers.
Whilewritinghasalwayscomeeasiertomethanmostsubjects,therearecertainly
aspectsofessaywritingthataremoredifficultthanothers.OneareawhereIbelieveIstruggled
waswritingatightknit,academicpaper.Ihavealwaystakenamorecasualapproachtomy
writingasIbelieveitiseasieronthereader,butacasualapproachissimplynotsufficientfor


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manywritingsituationsonthecollegelevel.AsyouwillseeintheselfassessmentthatIwroteat
thebeginningofthesemester,Imadeitagoalofminetobecomeanimprovedauthorof
academicpapers.AsIreviewtheartifactsinthisportfolio,specificallythefinalpaper,Iam
pleasedwithmyprogressinthisarea.AseparateissuethatIdealtwithwasactuallyconstricting
mythoughtsratherthanstretchingthem.Thefirstpaperinparticularwasashortone,andsoI
hadtofigureouthowIcouldconciselyexpressalloftheideasthatIwantedtodiscuss.This
becamelessofanissueovertimethroughoutthecourseasthewordlimitswereexpanded.
Nonetheless,Ifoundittobeachallengeatthestartofthesemester.NowthatIhavehadthe
experienceofwritingapaperinsuchcircumstances,Iwillfeelmuchmorecomfortableand
preparedforthenexttimeIaminasimilarsituation.
Inordertoeffectivelyshowtheoverallstrongqualityofmyworks,Ihaveselectedto
includeinthisportfoliowhatIbelievetobethebestexamplesofmywritinginthiscourse.ButI
havenotsimplychosenwhatIfeelismybestwork,butalsoconsideredwhichworksdepictmy
journeyofimprovementasawriterandthinker.Myselfassessmentfromthefirstweekofthe
semesterprovidesgoodinsightintowhatgoalsIhadmadeformyselfandhowIcouldapply
skillsthatIacquiredfromthiscoursetomyfuturewritingendeavors.Thefinaldraftsofeachof
thethreemajorpapersshowaprogressioninboththequalityandcapacityinthestrengthofmy
writing.Itisimportanttonotethatthesecondpaperwaswritteninthestyleofaletterandthus
isagreatcontrasttotheothertwopapersthataremuchmoreacademicintheirpresentation.
OnecanthenseethatIexcelinbothstylesofwriting.
Thethreeothersupplementaryartifactsweredifficulttochoose.AsIsaid,Ilookedto
includethebestworksinoverallqualityandtheworksthatbestdepictmydevelopmentin
writing.Withthisinmind,thefirstartifactthatIchosetoincludeinmyfinalportfoliowasa
briefassessmentoftheMichaelBrowncaseinFerguson,Missouri.Ibelievethisartifact


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encompassesmythoughtsonsituationssimilartotheBrowncaseandthusracerelationsin
generalintheUnitedStates.Eventhoughitisaveryshortassignment,Istillcitestatisticsand
putforthanargumentthatIbelievetobehighlypersuasiveconsideringhowconciseitis.
Mysecondartifactisacollectionofcommentsfromapeerandmyinstructoronadraft
ofmysecondessay.ThecommentsthatIbulletpointinthisportfolioareverbatimfromthe
marginsofthedraft.Thesecommentsnotonlyservetomakemeabetterwriterbygiving
straightforwardadvice,butalsothecontrastbetweentheadvicefrommypeerandinstructor
providesvaluableinsightthatmakesmethinkthoroughlyaboutwhatcourseofactionIneedto
pursueinordertomakemypaperevenbetter.OnecanreadthecommentsandthenseehowI
appliedtheadvicetothefinaldraftofpapertwo.
MythirdandfinalsupplementaryartifactisanexaminationofanEduardoBonillaSilva
essayinwhichIanalyzedhowanexperiencedwritersuchastheaforementionedDukeprofessor
formulatesastrongargument.Thisactivityundoubtedlyhelpedmebuildasolidfoundationfor
writingmyacademicpapers.TheperspectiveofanexperiencedscholarsuchasBonillaSilva
helpedmetoapplymyownuniquevoicetoatopicthatalreadyhasplentyoftalkingheads.
Withsomanyvaluablelessonstobelearnedfromsuchanengagingand
thoughtprovokingcourse,Ihavesoakedupalloftheknowledgeandinformationthatwasatmy
disposal.ThisknowledgehasimpactedmyskillsagreatdealandnowIcanconfidentlypresent
theworkinthisportfolioasatestamenttomyimproved,compelling,androbustwriting.