The beginning to the end of my portfolio clearly shows the process of writing.

As a
whole my writing got increasingly better especially as I dove further into the writing process
each time. For my narrative, the first piece of writing, I only wrote a draft and then fixed it
along the way. There was no outline accompanying it. For my rhetorical analysis, I had
multiple outlines, rough drafts, final drafts, and redos. This shows from my first piece of
writing to my second, I dove further into the process. The last writing piece, my research
paper, I went through many steps to reach my final draft. This reflects in the grades I got on
each assignment. In each assignment there are multiple drafts, but the key thing to writing
as a process are the steps before the drafts. I have found I am much more confident in
writing when I create an outline. This shows that I truly need to trust in the process
because my biggest fear and obstacle is the blank page. I have luckily overcome this with
practicing writing as a process. It allows the pressure to write miraculous things instantly to
be absent. I just let myself write and then revise later on.

The word paper assignment from a professors mouth, always made the hairs on
my neck stand up. I always told myself I was a bad writer; therefore, I never gave myself the
opportunity to learn to be a good write or enjoy writing. I have thoroughly enjoyed the
projects. In my portfolio it clearly strikes at the argument and rhetoric of each piece. My
narrative reflects rhetoric in the source of tension. This tension is built between a process
many people know, the college decision, and family. Both of these topics are relatable, but
are brought to light in a different way. In my rhetorical analysis the focus is on the claim that
happiness is portrayed from community and families. I argue this claim with emotional
appeals found in the film from certain scenes. The beginning of the paper I clearly explain
who the target audience of the film is and add evidence to make it known to my readers that
the audience is not an assumption. I analyze the rhetorical situations and explain the
evidence I have found in the video that supports the claim. Another piece of writing that
includes a different side of rhetoric is my research paper. This paper takes on the role of
persuasive appeals directed at my audience, the Board Members of Indiana Public High
Schools. I would suggest that my research paper demonstrates argumentation the best. I
believe it was much easier to do this because I was passionate about my topic and truly
believe it needs to be implemented. The end of my portfolio is the highlight piece, my TED
talk. This shows rhetoric live, it allows my passion to flow onto my audience. The persuasive
appeals are much more convincing as they are emphasized with my voice, but also backed
with evidence throughout my presentation. The TED talk leaves my audience interested in
solving this problem as they realize it is going to affect their future as well.

Two projects that I did substantial revisions on for this portfolio were my narrative and
research paper. In my narrative I reconstructed the way I integrated tension, that way I
reduced the amount of storytelling. I allowed the readers to experience the outside stresses I
experienced throughout this college decision and the unexpected gains I got from this
choice. In my research paper I focused more on the introduction and relating it to my intro of
my TED talk. This creates a more engaging introduction.

The portfolio is not just a place to store many different stories, but a place to gather
my stories around a central theme, rhetoric. This has been established through the back
work of critical research, reading, and thinking skills. The most important part to analyzing
and creating rhetoric is critical research. This has been shown through every piece except
my narrative. Within pieces there are quotes integrated and provide evidence that
strengthen my claim. The way in which I integrate my sources throughout my papers shows
my knowledge of academic citation. Pass drafts of my writing assignments show that
through Writing and Rhetoric I have learned how to cite sources properly. Without research I
would not establish credibility as a writer. Many of my sources I used to support my claims
were print sources like a book or articles. This was extremely important as they held very
true information and NOT fake news. My thought process is very clearly laid out through my
outlines and multiple drafts laid out in my portfolio. It shows the path I took to reach my final
product. These all have developed my writing skills and have increased my confidence as a
writer.

I have enjoyed writing in this course because I write on engaging information that
pulls me in. Through learning and practicing skills with multimedia it makes it current to our
world today. I have learned new ways to view films, that otherwise I would just glimpse over.
My rhetorical analysis shows my ability to connect medium and message the best. When we
were first given this task I felt like I was drinking from a water hose, but as I began to dig
and uncover hidden messages and themes in Happy I realized I was just drinking from a
faucet. In my rhetorical analysis I make connections between the movie scenes and claim of
happiness supported with outside sources regarding rhetoric or happiness. This set up
allowed me to have a clear connection between the two and clearly show my knowledge of
the connection between medium and message.

Even though my rhetorical analysis includes the most amount of connection between
medium and message, I am very proud of my TED talk. I was super excited to give a TED
talk and it allowed me to convey my passions to the audience through my presentation. I felt
this was a good culminating project as it gave us the opportunity to put all tools to use that
we learned from Writing and Rhetoric. This showed my strengths of presenting, persuasion,
credibility, and passion. Prior to this course I lacked persuasion, credibility, and passion. I
found a subject I was excited about and it allowed me to highlight my strengths as a writer,
but as the face of a presenter.