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
theuseof
Selma
asasource.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.