Meagan Speck Portfolio Essay

I find it very difficult to summarize this course in just a few pages, but here goes nothing! This course has taught me a lot about my writing as well as myself as a human being. At first, I was under the impression that this course would be too eccentric for me. I thought to myself, how is reading Peace, Butter, and Jelly going to help me improve as a writer? Is meditation really the answer? Then I soon found out this book would help me understand self-inquiry. Before discussing this term, I never knew the importance of asking questions during the writing process. Instead, I would just write without thinking and reflecting. Since Ive used this method, my writing has improved greatly and every sentence seems to have importance. As you will see from my final assignments, my writing style has grown a lot since the first assignment, which was the WILTBY essay. I have learned how to write different styles of writing, ranging from the personal narratives to argumentative research essays. This e-Portfolio is proof of the time and hard work I have put into this course, and also evidence of what academic writing concepts I have learned this semester. The first writing assignment of this course was the WILTBY essay. At first the question was hard to process and I didnt know what direction to go. Was I suppose to write a narrative of my life leading up to today or should I focus on the roles that make up me currently? I ended up going into detail of the roles I play in my life such as daughter and friend. This assignment incorporated a lot of self-inquiry as well as the work process. I was forced to ask myself deep

questions about who I am as a person. The work process consisted of three drafts and a wonderful workshop group. My group was great at giving constructive criticism, which really helped the quality of the assignments. When you have outside perspective, it opens up ideas and new ways to approach the paper. Besides my workshop group, Peace, Butter, and Jelly also helped me write the WILTBY paper. It compelled me to reflect deeper into my life. Because of this book, I also included a poem. This was risk-taking for me because I dont really consider myself a poet, and I didnt know how it would flow within my writing. After the WILTBY essay and completing Peace, Butter, and Jelly, it was time to choose our research topics for the semester. My topic changed so many times before I decided on one for sure. It started as occupational stress, and then ended up being focused on posttraumatic stress disorder. I went this route because of my fathers personal experience with it. I really wanted to know about the policy of disability claims and why not everyone was getting them. As soon as we chose a topic, we had to find sources and create an annotated bibliography. I had never written one of these previously, but I now know why they are so important in the writing process of a research paper. I began this assignment when I was still on the topic of occupational stress. After doing some research on this topic, I found that occupational stress was too vague and I needed to specify my inquiry question. Overall, this assignment led me to realize that I needed to change my research topic or I would be all over the place in my 3-sided assignment and argumentative paper. Not only that, but I brushed up on my work citations and found some credible resources for my future papers. I also ventured into the library for the first time this semester because of this assignment, learning how to look up

articles and find books. The annotated bibliography definitely improved my researching techniques! The most challenging assignment of this semester would have to be the 3-sided assignment. I had to explain three views of my inquiry question, which was Are PTSD veterans getting the proper treatment for their condition? It took me awhile to find the third view of this argument, forcing me to use critical thinking skills. With a little help from my workshop group, I was put on the right page (literally). Instead of including two law firms, I replaced one of them with the actual veterans point of view. My group thought this would add something to gain the sympathy of the audience, and I could have not agreed more! As you can see, the writing process has helped me immensely. In addition to that, my writing improved because I received feedback and actually took something from it! After doing the work for the annotated bibliography and 3-sided assignment, it was easier to make a decision of what my argument would be. These two assignments basically laid out the groundwork and now all I needed to do was persuade my audience of what I believed. My thesis statement was, PTSD is a problem that has to be corrected immediately due its harmful side effects such as depression, which could lead to suicide. The point of this paper was to make people aware that not all veterans are getting the right treatment and the reasons behind it. I also go into detail about what is being done, and how its not all that effective. It was easy explaining that, but I then ran out of things to say. At three pages, I was ready to quit and I couldnt think of anything else to include. Again, work shopping pulled through! With the feedback of my group, I was given other ideas to strengthen my paper. For example, they told me to include something

personal. This was a great idea because I needed to include pathos in my assignment. In my opinion, that is the most effective way of persuading someone because people act on their emotions. My group also encouraged me to mention the other perspective, and to take away its credibility. I also had to reevaluate my in text citations because I had done it wrong the first time. Out of all my works, I take the most pride in this piece. Like I mentioned before, this topic is really personal to me because of my father that is in the military. My passion for this inquiry topic is definitely shown through my in depth research and serious/ concerned tone. Last but certainly not least, the course required cover letters for every assignment and a blogger. These were both tools that required us to reflect on what we were writing at the time. For me, personally, the cover letters helped me a lot with the writing process. It made me think about what I do well and what I need to improve on. Reflecting on all of my assignments definitely improved them because I took more pride into what I was writing. I never thought writing about your writing could be so helpful! Blogger was another tool that improved my reflection process. This assignment, however, was a more thought out and lengthier process than the cover letters because we were expected to answer the questions with more detail. Blogger happened to be my favorite assignment of the year because it was more informal than the rest of the assignments. Plus, I enjoy blogging online because you can get creative. As you can see, all of these assignments have contributed to the growth of my writing. For example, all of the works made me learn a new writing technique. Before this course, I had never written an argumentative paper. It was a tough assignment to start until I learned the effectiveness of pathos, ethos, and logos. Without including all three of these techniques, my

argument would not be as persuasive and my point may have never gotten across. My growth is also evident in the several drafts I did for every assignment, showing I made a strong effort to improve my writing. My engagement in the course is simply proven in the workshop process. Not only am I the one receiving feedback, but I also input my opinion and leave comments on other peoples writing. In the response section of this e-Portfolio, you can see that I do participate in the workshop process. My goal in this class was to improve as an overall writer and acquire new writing techniques. I feel like I have accomplished this task, learning the importance of self-inquiry, risk-taking, feedback, and critical thinking. Throughout the course, I have put forth a great amount of effort in every assignment even when I found it at one time impossible. I have also been prompt with every draft as well as prepared for all the class workshops. At the class workshops, I am also engaged in the class and make sure to give good feedback to my fellow peers. Besides engaging in the classroom, I also did a lot of work outside of class. For example, I researched many sources for my research topic. Because of all my effort and growth this semester, I believe I deserve an A. I feel like I have went over and beyond in this course, putting in a great amount of work to make my final products top notch. You can also tell from the e-Portfolio that the quality of my writing improved a lot draft from draft. The best example would be my argumentative paper. My first draft looks pathetic compared to my final product. It just shows that I have improved as an overall writer. I am so appreciative of this class, and all its taught me. Even if formal writing isnt my favorite style to write, I enjoyed learning new academic writing. I truly believe all of these skills will help me in the future with my intended career in journalism.