Welcome

Drag to rearrange sections
Rich Text Content

Old West Cowboy Images – Browse 39,822 Stock Photos, Vectors, and Video |  Adobe Stock

My portfolio contains a high portion of the work I wrote during my time in Writing 39B. Some of the assignments I did, from  homework  to a full-fledged project, has pushed and enhanced my writing skills. The projects have been fantastic and they have genuinely reflected my progress as a writer. You can go over each homework or project I've completed in this portfolio if you so wish. I've included a deeper analysis of my work under each post. 

Starting on the first week of this quarter, one of my first assignments a Rhetoric-in-Practice exercise in which I had to introduce myself by writing in whatever genre I wanted. This was one of many RIP exercises that put my writing skill to the test. However, the subsequent weekly assignments often challenged me to adapt to other genres I had not known about before. Completing these exercises proved to be tough for me since I usually didn't need to adjust to various writing styles all when it came to each assignment. Whenever I got feedback for my assignments, my professor would often say that it was "good" or "great," as well as giving some nice comments that felt honest and thoughtful. This gave me a lot of confidence in my writing skills and indicated that I was becoming better. When it came to assignments that dealt with two genres, however, I would chose the take the "easier" route. I typically avoided the more imaginative options, such as writing a song, a poem, a new chapter ending books we were reading. Although I wish I had seized the opportunity to try harder genres, I was pleased to see my writing skills steadily improve.

Within the quarter, I was also given weekly Critical Reading (CR) exercises in addition to the RIP exercises to help me prepare for bigger assignments, such as my Rhetorical Analysis (RA) paper and my Rhetoric-in-Practice project. I found the CR activities to be very vital towards my learning. Before, I  wasn't very good at textual analysis, and I had no idea what rhetoric was, however, these  assignments challenged me to look for traits in given literature that related to the class topic, which was based around Westerns. I was able to practice my analytical abilities through the CR activities without having to worry about it having to come out perfect. My classmates also provided me with fresh ideas, which deepened my knowledge of the assigned novel, No Country for Old Men. In doing all of the short activities and readings that were assigned, it really broadened my view on the Western genre. It also helped prepare me for the bigger assignments that I was assigned during the quarter. 

The first big assignment that was given was writing a Rhetorical Analysis essay of the novel No Country for Old Men. For this essay, I had to apply all  studied so far about analyzing literature and providing evidence to back up my interpretations of the novel's rhetoric. For the topic of my essay, I wanted to emphasize on how the drug industry impacted character's in the story. Given the seriousness of drugs nowadays, I chose this because I was well aware of the issue in today's society and understood why individuals become engaged in drugs. My first draft for my essay started with one of my Critical Reading exercises, which had me do a free write for what I wanted my essay to be about. This activity contributed to the construction of my thesis on dehumanization and the desire to run from your problems, as well as laying the groundwork for my rough drafts, and eventually to my final draft.

Through working on this essay, I learned quite a lot about what audiences anticipate from reading certain essays. I made tremendous progress in the draft in terms of not utilizing apparent facts and claims, such as summarizing the story. Another key aspect I learned was to focus more on my analysis than on giving too much unnecessary information that did not contribute to my argument. I wanted to write in a certain way in which the viewers could understand the point I wanted to convey even if they hadn't read No Country for Old Men. Consider all I wrote in my RA, I enjoyed how I tied in my conclusion to the much broader perspective of how the drug industry is still a major issue today society. While this essay was far from being a flawless piece of work, I still found a lot of enjoyment from working on this assignment and has helped me a lot in writing. 

Following the RA essay, came the Rhetoric-In-Practice project that I had to do for the class. For this assignment, rather than having to analyze a piece of work, I had to become a rhetor for a topic I wanted to talk about. Seeing how this project allowed me to make a presentation in any form of way, I decided to make my project to be a video since I always find these forms of presentations to be the most appealing to audiences. Originally, I had the idea of making a little podcast for my project, but I decided to go for a video instead as it allowed me to be more visual with my presentation than just being my voice. I've done video production before, and I think making a short educational video would really make my project feel different from that of my peers. In addition, the topic I wanted for my video was to go over the Western genre and some aspects people might not know about it. At the very least, I was able to get very creative with building my topic. 

My video was originally aimed for a much bigger audience because I was uploading it on YouTube. I attempted to make the wording be simple and informal since I wanted it to appeal to everyone. Additionally, I wanted to retain a teaching mood while still incorporating elements of fun to keep my audience invested. Some of the material in the video was simple to create, but the project was took a lot of time to complete. Some of the reasons for this was because I had to find a lot of useful information that would support my claim. Putting together all of the video clips, images, music, and voice-overs was quite a hassle for me, as well. Eventually, I was able to keep the amount of editing in my final work to a minimum and ensure that everything in the film sounded nice. In the end, I really liked the final product of my RIP project.

Overall, it was a lot of fun working on my Rhetoric-In-Practice educational short video project. It provides essential information about Westerns while also exposing the clichés that are promoted, and it makes me feel like I'm motivating people by educating them more about the genre. While there were several setbacks along the way, I had a great time working on this project.

Returning to the introduction of my journey towards becoming a better writer, I believe I deserve an "A" in this class. Ultimately, I've grown tremendously as a writer from someone who did have have a lot of skill in writing. The exercises and projects have improved every area of my writing. Writing is no more a subject I will stare at and shy away from, despite how challenging it is. However,  I still have a lot of room for improvement, so I need to take it one step at a time. But, with this quarter coming to an end, I believe I can continue to improve in writing. I give my thank to Writing 39B course for pushing me forward in writing.

rich_text    
Drag to rearrange sections
Rich Text Content
rich_text    

Page Comments

No Comments

Add a New Comment:

You must be logged in to make comments on this page.