Running Head: Portfolio and Reflection

Portfolio and Reflection

Gabriel J. Thomas
Oakland University

Portfolio and Reflection

Looking back at my accomplishments over this past semester, there is much to be said of
what I learned about writing and argumentation. In my pervious writing courses I thought of
arguments as something that was bound only to books, dialogs, or speeches. Now I am aware
that there are many instances in which arguments are used to not only change minds but also to
persuade people into action. The book Everythings an Argument opened my eyes to see that
arguments can take on many forms even as simple as the way that a person choses to dress.
Understanding the significance of this is probably the most valuable lesson that I learned in this
course because it applies to many things both inside and outside of the classroom
Of the assignments that helped me to understand arguments the most are research paper
and the visual presentation that went along with it .Since I am a visual learner the visual
assignment helped me to articulate the points that I made in my research paper in a way that
would not have been possible with only just next.
Learning to realize the intent of any kind of argument or rhetoric has helped me to
become effective at making better decisions. For example when I now see a news headline in a
newspaper or on TV I consider what could be the intent behind what caused the headline. I also
may consider why the headline would portray a certain tone. There are now many nuances of
things that I have come to realize that will help me in many aspects in the future.
This semester I learned that academic writing almost has a scientific approach. Scholarly
publications not only have to be peer reviewed to be credible but the sources that are used have
to adhere to a certain standard. Until now I never had to search for and use scholarly sources.

Portfolio and Reflection

As a student of rigorous writing courses for the past few years my persuasion,
argumentative, and rhetorical skills have been honed. One of the most helpful things to my
improvement was having the opportunity to have my content peer reviewed. Also having access
to the writing center helped me to have my content critiqued and analyzed in a way that I could
not have done myself.
The opportunity to do peer reviews for my classmates helped me to notice things in my
writing that I have not noticed before. I noticed that as I would comment on one of their flaws or
achievements I would find myself questioning what things I may have don that are similar to
that. Moreover, these observations would carry over into my future assignments as I would use
peer reviewing as a learning opportunity. My contribution to others papers go beyond just
pointing out things here and there. Rather I helped them to understand that their thought process
and approach may have led to tome of the flaws or good points. I can testify to this because one
of my class mates advised me to follow a certain structure to introduce my paper. This is now
something that I incorporated into future assignments both textual and visual.
At the beginning of this course I expected it to be more or less a repeat of writing 150
except with more work. However I was surprised to find out that I would learn how to analyze
arguments on a much deeper level. After completing the argumentative assignment I feel a sense
of accomplishment in knowing that the culmination of my experiences gained in my writing
classes have been used in this comprehensive assignment.
With the lead up to all of this I feel more prepared to use my argumentative skills in the
near future for whatever challenge may come to me.