Ashley Byerly

604 New Salem Rd

Randleman, NC 21317

May 7, 2018

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

9201 University City Blvd
Charlotte, NC 28223

Dear Reader,
The goal of this portfolio is to display all the work I have done throughout UWRT 1103. Through
showing my entire work, one is able to see the evolution in my writing. When looking at this evolution,
you can see how the assignments changed my perspective on writing as well as how I approached a
writing assignment differently. This ranges from research to completing a personal essay.
While going through this digital portfolio, the best way to see this evolution is to go through the menu.
The menu is laid out in a chronological order aside from the supplemental assignments which are fine to
view last. Not only is the evolution easily seen if one goes through the menu in order, it is easily
analyzed. You are able to see the progress and the way the different types of assignments affected the
writing I produced through this course.
As well as seeing the evolution in my writing itself through this portfolio, you are also able to see the
specific Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) that are meant to be covered in this course. Things such as
Rhetorical Knowledge are able to be seen through the genre project. Rhetorical Knowledge centers
around audience and changing tones to appeal to a certain audience effectively. Through the genre
project, different options were analyzed in order to fit the chosen audience I had decided on when starting
my inquiry project. I was also able to morph my tone into one that would best fit the audience I was
trying to appeal to. To be specific, the website I created had one that was informative which was to
appeal to the older audience who are the parents of mental illness victims as well as showing there is hope
which was to appeal to the teens and young adults who may be suffering through some sort of mental
illness.
Along with Rhetorical Knowledge, there is also Critical Reading which can be seen through my inquiry
project (annotated bibliography). Critical Reading is mainly focused around analyzing different types of
sources in order to gather the best information as well as the most credible information. While creating
this annotated bibliography, I had to prove credibility with all the sources I decided to gather information
from. This ranged from researching an organization to find out all biases they may have to researching
the author of a journal article to see if they were really qualified to write the article itself. I also used a
variety of resources. These resources differed in the types of audiences they were appealing to.
When it came to all of my assignments, they fit under the category of Composing Processes. The
past/future authoring essays, genre pitch, and the annotated bibliography (single entry) all fit under this
umbrella because they involved peer reviews as well as multiple drafts. The drafts were either reviewed
by my peers or my instructor which allowed for different types of feedback. As for the genre pitch, I
brainstormed with my peers which allowed for direct feedback from me and them. This allowed for me
to come up with something that I knew would appeal to the audience I desired seeing as my peers were in
the same age range as my intended group. The genre project itself also fits under Knowledge of
Conventions which focuses on the format and look of something in order to appeal to a specific audience.
My webpage was directly focused around a certain group of people and I designed it to fit this specific
group of people. The dark theme was to focus on the hard truth that is mental illness as well as the words
that were made into a bigger format so that they would stick out to a parent who may be reading it. If I
had chosen a different audience, then my project would have had a very different look and formatting to
it.
All assignments including the part on the home page of my digital portfolio fit under the category of
Critical Reflection. I reflected on all types of writing assignments ranging from research to personal
essays to projects and even discussions (which can be found under all tabs in my digital portfolio). The
personal essays were used for reflecting as well as the discussion answer found under the supplemental
assignments tab. The reflections on the essays allowed for me to use writing as a means of reflection on
things such as my life and even my mindset on a daily basis while doing everyday tasks. I also
acknowledged my standing with my own writing through these reflections on every essay or project. I do
think these reflections are necessary because it’s a way of analyzing my standing as a writer after each of
assignment. It’s like a form of personal assessment which can be used to improve in the long or short
run.
Aside from Student Learning Outcomes, there were three main habits of mind I gained from this course
and the assignments completed during it. One of them was curiosity. I came into UWRT 1103 as an
already curious person (at least that was something I believed myself to be). I gained a new sense of
curiosity through my inquiry when it came to research. Before, I would just find a source through a
library or online and do a small amount to make sure the facts on that website or in that book were
legitimate. After doing the annotated bibliography for my inquiry, I realized that there is a lot more to
researching the credibility of a source and now I find myself being even more curious about the reliability
of the so-called “facts” I see online or in a book/article. I also became curious about the types of
audiences and the types of genres that appeal the best to them through my genre project.
The second habit of mind I gained through this course was persistence. I gained this through my inquiry
and genre projects because I had to stick to the original goal of appealing to a certain audience rather than
just sticking to one question while researching. This was teaching me to move away from research paper
style to purely inquiry. I also had to complete the multiple projects while also making sure each one was
different enough from the last even though they dealt with the same idea (meaning the same inquiry
question). Along with persistence, I gained flexibility through my peer-reviewed assignments. I took
feedback and had to be flexible enough to change what I had an improve it using the feedback I received.
I also recognized that conventions played a part in these assignments and took them into account when
creating the final drafts.
As for the class as a whole, there were a few main things I learned about myself in the process of
preparing this digital portfolio. I learned that I needed a way to analyze my progress and this portfolio
was a good way to do it. While one goes through a course and completes several assignments, it’s hard to
actually see what the benefit of doing the work will be. While creating this portfolio, I was able to see the
evolution of my writing and I could then see the overall benefit of completing these assignments. The
things that I would do differently would be that I would consider more when reflecting. With each
assignment, I completed a reflection that was mainly about the overall assignment rather than what I
personally got out of it. I would change that by focusing more on myself as a writer after completing any
type of assignment. The thing that I would do the same would be keeping the format the same. I liked
being able to see my progress in my writing in a chronological order. I like the way I have this portfolio
laid out because it benefits me the most when I want to think about my progress after this course. The
thing I know about myself that I didn’t know before I took this course is that I grow the most when I can
see progress at the very end. I always thought of myself as someone that would only benefit if I saw the
progress along the way. I had figured that it would make the most sense seeing as it would be a form of
encouragement along the way. However, I preferred seeing it at the end because it made it feel like
everything was worth it. I wasn’t a huge fan of writing before this, especially when it came to personal
essays, yet I feel like reflecting and seeing the difference in my past authoring essay and my genre
project, I really grew as a writer. I feel like I became more versatile and can be comfortable in writing
multiple types of assignments.

Sincerely,

Ashley N. Byerly