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Anthony Calvo

Portfolio Reflection

The assignments, classes, and papers of this course have helped me develop as

writer significantly. My portfolio demonstrates this development as it shows my

beginning in the audio narrative and finally the result in my research paper and Ted Talk.
In high school I had mild confidence in my ability as a writer, but after this semester it
has become a more definite confidence. After having done the various assignments in my
portfolio I know that I can go on to write papers of different lengths and styles,
coherently and persuasively.

The reading assignments throughout the semester have contributed to this

increased confidence. One major reason for this increased confidence is a better
understudying of the writing process. Each essay over the course of the semester required
a writing process. Despite being delivered via audio the Audio essay had several distinct
pieces in its process. I began by following along with Dr. Es free writing assignments in
class to try and choose a topic. From there I outlined the topic and eventually turned into
into first draft. Afterwards I met with Dr. E and added her suggestions to the audio
narrative. Finally I sat down to record paragraph by paragraph. Once the assignment was
submitted and I received further advice from Dr. E. Taking her advice I re-recorded my
essay with more clarity and slowed down the speed of my voice. The rhetorical analysis
paper began with watching the movie and filling out a work sheet that helped me gain

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perspective on the movie. Again I outlined my paper and went on to write my first draft. I
then ooh my first draft to the writing center. The writing center recommended that I
establish more of a central claim and reinforce it throughout my paper. I followed their
advice and submitted. After submitting and hearing Dr. E/s thoughts on the paper I
decided to do a major revision on it. As advised I changed several incoherent sentences
and gave my paper a more central thesis. In addition I integrated quotes more seamlessly
throughout out the paper. The Research paper probably took the most preparation. It
began with class periods of choosing a topic and then submitting a proposal. Once the
proposal was approved I moved onto researching and submitting my annotated
bibliography. Finally I outlined the paper and wrote several drafts before finally
submitting. I then used my research topic in my ted talk. I began by cutting out pieces
that are not essential to the talk. Then I outlined my talk and made a power pout
presentation. Finally after a lot of practice my presentation was going about 9 and a half
minutes, but when I presented in class it went about 2 minutes shorter. Finally I reflected
not the talk after re-watching it and wrote a small reflection on it.

I used rhetorical almost constantly though out this course. On each essay

assignment it was presented to a specific audience for a specific purpose. Specifically on

the ted talk the manner in which I spoke and moved my body ( or at least attempted to)
was designed specifically to engage and persuade the audience. In the rhetorical analysis
paper I looked upon how Marks development was shown to the audience. The director,

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David Fincher, uses strategies such as referencing, acting, and sound to persuade the
audience. As an audience member in the future I will definitely see these characteristics
in other films and be able to analyze them just as I have in the Rhetorical Analysis essay.

Multimedia has played and intricate role int eh development of my reading,

writing, rhetoric, and research skills this semester. This is shown in my portfolio
throughout the various assignments and papers over the semester. Composing things like
the info graphic and Ted talk taught me that rhetoric, writing, and reading can all be
achieved in a nontraditional way. Also that this non traditional way can have several
benefits in comparison to older ways as they often provide a more holistic explanation of
the text. In begin allowed to manipulate text and move it freely across the page while also
including images and sometimes videos or audio the writer expresses ideas more clearly
to the reader.

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After reading several great pieces about writing and rhetoric I feel that my arguments are
better structured and more persuasive. The portfolio shows understanding of argument
and rhetoric through its usage of advice from reading and Dr. E. In the Audio Essay
initially I simply wrote out my story and then went refining it. Finally I recorded it and
submitted it. After having been submitted I took Dr. Es comments and fixed certain
issues like the speed of my voice and the clarity of my story. In the rhetorical research
paper I had to first watch the movie several times before being able to come up with a
cohesive rhetorical argument. I finally decided to examine how Marks development is
shown through acting, sounds, and referencing.

The purpose of the audio essays as to expose us to narrative writing and multiple

mediums. Using audio allowed for development of not only writing and story telling
skills, but also development in oral communication. My writing reflects on using
mediums other than written word and also attempts to show through a story rather than
simply stating it. The rhetorical analysis essay on the Social Network had multiple
purposes. The essay required critical thinking and the application things previously
learned in class. The purpose of writing the essays as to be able to clearly and reasonably
articulate findings from the analysis of the movie. The research paper was probably the

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paper I am the most proud. I think the reason behind this has to do with the core purpose
of the paper. The paper focused on being able to take large amounts of unrelated data and
somehow relate them to one another to support a claim. This required a lot of synthesis as
different texts that had completely different purposes could be used in conjunction to
make a strong argument. The reason I liked this paper so much was because it was on a
topic I particular enjoy. I am most proud of it because sit was also the most daunting
assignment in that it was the longest and most work intensive. The paper highlights my
strength of being able to learn information quickly and synthesize it in a manner that
makes sense to the everyday person. I also an engineer and potential entrepreneur I would
need to be able to convince people of my finding s in a progressional manner. Although
he Ted talk was incredibly stressful ultimately I think it was necessary. Again as an
engineer I will be required to present my findings numerous times and the skill is
incredibly important. The purpose of doing the talk was to introduce another method of
literacy, presentations. Presentations require more than just the written word and more
than just the spoken word, but a combination for the two and images, videos and body
language.

The skills used show exactly how the assignments built upon each other. The firs

audio narrative required for the use of audio in order to present a case, while eventually
the Ted talk required audio form the audio narrative, written word from the essays, body
language, and courage. The narrative essay was meant to have claims shown rather than

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supported. This idea continues onto the rhetorical analysis as quoted are to be shown and
then discussed thoroughly rather than simply stated. The research paper goes even further
in requiring in detail research from multiple locations that needs to be shown and
explained in order to establish credibility. Finally the ted talk needed to provide many of
these same research claims in order to establish credibility and confidence as a presenter.

I have definitely learned a lot in this course. I have learned to write a wide

assortment of essays of different styles and lengths. Also I have learned to communicate
more effectively through multiple mediums. Multimedia literacy is ever growing and it is
constantly begin updated along with technology and culture. This class has helped me
become literate over multiple medias which I think will be a valuable skill in the future.