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Kelly Dancy
Dr. Bret Zawilski
RC 2001
8 December 2015
Final Portfolio Reflection
Over the course of this semester, I have learned a lot about writing in general as well as
who I am as a writer. Through projects like a rhetorical analysis, multimodal ethnography, and a
research paper, as well as reflections on my own use of rhetorical strategies and effectiveness in
writing, I have learned how to better engage with my audience as well as the kind of writing that
is accepted in my field. The various readings and class discussions this semester have opened my
eyes to new kinds of writing and the academic legitimacy of different types of media. The
numerous projects and assignments in this class have prompted me to take a step back and really
look at the kind of writer that I have become and ways to improve more so than any other
experience or class.
This semester, the concepts that I found most intriguing and applicable to my own life
were those that explored the processes of writing, editing, and peer review. I have never been a
writer who is good at making corrections and new drafts. Instead, I have always edited myself as
I write and made first drafts that were actually more like fourth or fifth drafts. This semester, I
challenged myself to work more diligently on making improvements to things like style and
arrangement in my second, third, and subsequent drafts. I was relieved to start the course by
reading about Shitty First Drafts and to learn that my first submission did not have to be
polished and that it is okay to turn in something that I may not necessarily be proud of (at first).
This concept especially helped me with projects one and two, as I found myself less stressed

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about the first drafts of these papers and, as a result, more likely to accomplish something
substantive.
My writing process has changed over the course of the semester because, as I already
mentioned, I was forced to create multiple drafts of a single assignment and make significant
changes each time in order to improve it. While I am not sure that I would call myself a better
writer after this class, I would say that I am more confident at writing in stages and using these
drafts to develop my ideas, rather than attacking a project and getting it all done in one fell
swoop. I can say with certainty that adopting this process has made my papers better, even if I
am not necessarily a better writer. The process that I have used this semester looks a lot like this:
1. Create a rough outline of the project. What are my goals? How will I accomplish them? 2. Do
research, if it is a research paper. For my major issues essay, I spent probably over twice the
amount of time doing research on my topic than I did writing about it. 3. Begin writing. This
process for me can take days. I do not really enjoy writing an entire paper in one sitting and I
think that I do a better job when I do not do that. 4. Revise! The process of peer review really
helped me with this step. My classmates offered me helpful and thoughtful advice for making
good corrections to my papers. Our one-on-one meetings also proved to be tremendously helpful.
I learned that writing in my field can be very formal, depending upon the subject and the
source. Some of the online sources that I found pertaining to issues about education looked and
read in a very casual way while others, like Clark and Zygmunts A Close Encounter with
Personal Bias: Pedagogical Implications for Teacher Education, were highly formal and used
lots of sources and factual backing. One worry that I have for future courses is that since I am
and English major, professors and peers will expect exceptional writing from me, something of a
caliber that I am not able to produce.

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Right now, my education classes seem very simple and not incredibly challenging. I am
not sure if this is a popular opinion, but so far I have not been given a writing topic in which I did
not find it fairly easy to assert my position as a member of the discourse community. While I do
foresee it becoming harder to effectively write essays and research papers in these classes as they
get harder, I do not think that I will struggle too much. I would attribute this confidence in part to
my experiences in this class and the knowledge about writing and my field that this course has
allowed me to gain.
I learned the most about my field and the different types of writing that are often
employed by members of my field during the rhetorical analysis. In doing my research to find
two articles to compare, I learned that writing that is made by and for educators can vary greatly
by style as well as subject. Composing the rhetorical analysis was different from previous types
of writing that I have done because it prompted me to take a critical look at the way that different
rhetors attempt to achieve their goals, rather than asking me to achieve a goal of my own. In
doing this, I took a critical look at my own writing and how effective I would be considered in
the eyes of another student or critic.
Composing a multimodal ethnography allowed me to access a new appreciation for all
kinds of media and communication, not just traditional essays. I never realized how difficult it
would be to use a format like Instagram to communicate the ideas that I wanted. At first, I did not
intend to create a supplementary blog, but I soon learned that I would need to if I wanted to make
my project clear and understandable.
The research paper helped me to understand more about a topic that is gaining popularity
in my future field, and it also exposed me to the writing of respected professionals who are
currently making a living out of what I hope to do one day, I am grateful to have completed this

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project because I was able to learn more about trigger warnings, and also about the kinds of
styles of writing that are acceptable in my field.