Griman 1 Tess Griman Ms.

Ingram Portfolio Essay-1102-095 1 May 2014 E-Portfolio In the previous semester I struggled with figuring out how I was going to incorporate all the appropriate and needed information in an orderly fashion. This year I have found that this assignment comes easier to me because I know how to organize all my information in a way that comes across as clear and can be easily located. The layout I chose this year was primarily chosen for its aesthetic appeal, but also for its overall difference in order to differentiate my portfolio from this year and that of last year. Visually, I wanted a theme that would encompass all I hoped this new year and spring would be, lively and welcoming. Upon encountering my portfolio, my About page, is the first page the reader will see. It is here that the reader will get some insight into whom the author, myself, is and what the purpose of this page is. I have written a short biography on myself and included pictures that correspond with the story that I told in my bio. At the bottom of the page I also chose to include my concept map. I put it there because it is what helped me to organize my thoughts and my portfolio by simplifying everything. Spatially, I have organized my tabs according to the order in which each paper was completed. After my About tab is my Portfolio tab because it is the most important. Anyone who visits my page, will find a more detailed explanation for the purpose of my website and each written work here. Next is my Exploratory Essay, which was the

Griman 2 second paper I wrote in this class. My midterm was placed in the middle of my tabs for obvious reasons. For my Multi-Genre project, I placed the works that makeup this assignment in a dropdown bar to better organize my space. In the dropdown bar my two genres are followed by my reflection paper, and my annotated bibliography last because that was the order in which I completed the assignment. Although I have chosen to put my Blog last, this does not in anyway reflect the way I felt about it. In fact, I felt that the blog was very beneficial to me in that it helped me to improve my writing and experiment with different writing styles. My blog was basically my foundation. On a few of my tabs I included pictures at the top that are relevant and emphasize the assignment that they correspond with. Out of all the papers that I have written in English so far, I believe that the Exploratory Essay was my favorite. I have never felt as strongly about something I have written as I did that paper. I also believe that, that was the first time I looked forward to really writing a paper. My enthusiasm was clearly displayed through my lengthy page count. Before even writing my first draft, I made list of all the things that I was passionate about to help me pinpoint my topic. This brainstorming, which can be found under the Exploratory Tab, helped me to narrow down my ideas and arrive at my present topic, Human Rights. In my first draft, I took a risk by adding subtitles. I knew there was quite a bit I wanted to talk about, so spatially I organized all my information under each subtitle. In all honesty my first draft really was a, Shitty first draft, my idea wasnt quite developed enough yet. The positive feedback I received from my peer group gave me the encouragement I needed to continue to mature and grow my idea. My peer group also helped me grow more as a writer by setting

Griman 3 parameters for what makes someone a good peer editor. By the time I had completed my second draft, I was more confident about what I had written. I had added two more subtitles, Progress and Move On, and Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, and rewritten Christopher and Is story to include some more background information. I really wanted the focus of the paper to be on the why; why was I so passionate about same-sex marriage and why should this conflict be resolved? It was my hope that my new addition to Christophers story would appeal to my readers pathos and come to influence any existing thoughts, either positive or negative, they had. Conflicted by his strict religious upbringing, Christopher had a difficult time growing up knowing that who he truly was and loved, contradicted what his parents had taught him. For fear of disappointing his parents and losing their love, his adolescence was filled with denial, lies, and shame for he was. Under my new subtitles I included the economical benefits, which might appeal to my readers ethos and logos, I also mentioned the far worse unjust treatment of homosexuals in other parts of the world. According to the feedback I received from Ms. Ingram who said that, As a reader, it feels almost done to me-it just needs some polishing, I revised my third and final draft by fixing some punctuation errors and rewriting a part from, The Media and Growing Support section to clarify it. It seems that one of Macklemores most profound qualities is his ability to leave people speechless and amazed. His recent performance at the 56th Grammys is a great example of this because it is sure to be one no one will ever forget. Macklemore, along with his musical partner Ryan Lewis, Queen Latifa, and Madonna took part in quite the grand celebration. Same-sex couples and heterosexual couples of all ethnicities and ages were married before an audience of 28.5 million people on live

Griman 4 television proving that Macklemore will not rest until there is worldwide acceptance of everyone. This assignment really helped to set the tone for how I wanted to expand and continue to grow on this topic.

I must admit, I was quite pleased to find out that our midterm was only three questions this year as opposed to the seven we had last year. Nevertheless I still found it a bit difficult to answer every question fully. I think the question that I found most challenging to answer was the second one. Analyzing someone elses portfolio led me to really think critically about how my own might look to someone else. The feedback I received from Ms. Ingram pertaining to the last question, proved to be quite invaluable. In her comment she explained, When you discuss Tammy Baldwin, you mention her lifestyle choices. Do you think her sexuality is a choice? Or is it something inherent in her, in all of us? How might your answer to this question-as well as the way you write about it, your word choice, tone, etc- affect the argument youre trying to make? Up until this point, I hadnt quite realized the significance and weight that certain words could carry in my argument. Particular words could affect someone more if used properly. When I went back and reread my answer, I came to realize that my previous answer lacked sophistication, so I went back and revised my answer to, As the first openly gay United States Senator to be elected into office, I would like Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin to be my first choice. I am choosing her in hopes that she would appeal to the other peoples pathos and logos, and prove that great leaders do come in many varieties. With the invaluable information that I received, I was able to go forth and better my argument so that it was stronger and more well thought out.

Griman 5 The Multi-Genre Project provided me with the opportunity to get creative with my argument and to look at different ways that I could exhibit it. When you click on my Multi-Genre tab you will find yourself looking at the rubric for this assignment. I added the rubric so that my readers could better understand the assignment if they wanted. My first genre, a brochure, was created around a factitious organization that supports the legalization of same-sex marriage for unbiased reasons. In order for me to appeal to my readers ethos, I devised a mission statement, address and website for my organization. Just Love is an assembly of like-minded individuals who seek to provide fact based arguments for as why same-sex marriage should be legalized in North Carolina. Visually and Spatially I needed to design a brochure that would be an easy and quick read for everyone. By utilizing the different spaces that a brochure provides, I organized my information so that the reader could pick and choose what he wants to read. Visually, my use of pictures that relate to the topic either further support my claims or just serve to break up my text. Because this organization takes an unbiased approach to the subject, my information appeals more to someones logos than it does to their pathos. After I had created my brochure I came to find that I was curious about arguments that my opponents might make, so I proceeded to create a brochure against same-sex marriage. My reasons for doing that were also because I wanted to build a stronger argument by looking at their perspective. My second genre, a letter, was chosen because I hoped that it would carry the most weight out of any other genre I could have chosen. In order to write this letter, I had do some research into what was the correct format when addressing someone in politics is. I also had to do some research into what would carry the most weight for a Republican Governor. In the

Griman 6 opening to my letter, I explain how and why I would make my argument. Followed by that are the statistics that I calculated which I had hoped would resonate with him and grab his attention so that he would read what else I had to say. Linguistically I chose words that were simple and professional. I wanted to make sure that there would be no room for possible confusion when he read it. That great influx of revenue would also mean that not only would the state prosper, but so too would small and large businesses alike Regardless of your own personal view on the matter, I implore you to think about what could be best for the state that you love. I really depended on that last point to make a connection with him and change his mind about any negative opinions he might have previously had about legalizing same-sex marriage. After I had finish my genres, I reflected upon why I had chosen the genres I did. In my reflection paper I detailed my thought process of how and why I had made certain choices. Overall, I felt pretty confident about the choices I had made. I was however lacking in my, discussion of the rhetorical choices I made in my genre pieces. Realizing my error I went back and revised my reflection to include the mention of several modes I had used. I also utilized the Linguistic, Visual and Spatial mode in my letter. Linguistically I chose words that were clear, simple, and professional. Visually, I had to Google the correct format for how to write an official letter. The address, font, and spacing all were very specific in this format. Spatially I chose to arrange my information in a way that would grab the governors attention so he would continue to read what else I had to say. Lastly is my Annotated Bibliography. The majority of my information came from sources that I worried werent varied enough. I also worried that my annotations werent long enough because I used a lot of sources that were either other

Griman 7 organizations or facts from government websites. Upon my completion of this assignment I found that I had learned more than I thought I would. I think the most important lesson I walked away with was that in the end, everything comes down to knowing your audience and making sure that you make the appropriate word choices that will influence their thought the most. Last semester in my blog I struggled with finding my inner voice and gathering up the courage to say what I was thinking. This year it is quite evident that intellectually I have grown and matured. In all honesty, my experience with my first college English/writing class was wonderful. I learned so much about myself as a person and writer. It made me more confident in my major choice. What I enjoyed most about that class was all the opportunities we were provided to experiment with different forms of writing, i.e., the blog, the readers response letters, and the different types of papers. The focus of my blog this year was on the writing process and revision and feedback. For every assignment that I did this year, I relied heavily on the feedback I received from my peers and Ms. Ingram to give me the direction to make any necessary changes. Had it not been for Ms. Ingrams comment on word choice, I might not have noticed its significance. The other day when we were reading and providing feedback on each others paper, I was given the opportunity to read over Pauls portfolio essay. In his essay he mentions that to him it really does not matter what grade he gets because in the end, he has gained so much from this class already. For me especially, being a communications major, that really resonated with me. I admired his honesty and realized that I too have gained quite a bit of invaluable information this semester that

Griman 8 has helped me to grow as a writer and even person. I think it is fair of me to say that I deserve at least a B, but regardless of how I do academically in this class, I will always look back at this class with fondness.