As this year comes to an end and I’ve put the final touches on my portfolio, I’ve had extensive time to really evaluate this semester and my own progress in this Writing and Rhetoric course. Through the use of multiple medias and varying topics, my writing process and skills have clearly evolved.
When I first began this semester in January, I could not help but roll my eyes at the idea of another writing course. For me, it seemed silly to take an entire course devoted to writing when I’m forced to write papers in every other class anyway. After the first couple of weeks, however, my eyes were actually opened to just how much I could learn about this topic I thought I knew everything about already. The idea of rhetoric and what it means was never really clear to me until I read Herrick’s Overview of Rhetoric. Even for my last project, I found myself coming back again and again to read over the definition and and rhetoric’s purpose. This really enabled me to not only understand the concept of rhetoric but how I can use it to my advantage in capturing and convincing an audience. An idea that was originally very abstract, actually became very real and tangible to my by the end of the semester.
The most interesting part of this course that will be the most helpful to me in the future were the multimedia components. From the first day of class, where we did the activity discussing screens and what they mean and how they influence us, I was very interested in how the “old” concept of rhetoric would apply to modern times. While the blog seemed to be tedious at first, it was a great way for me to utilize some typical rhetorical methods in a more informal and practical way than your average paper. Being an FTT major I found this course very engaging and pertinent to my field of study. With readings like Lancioni’s Rhetoric of Frame and Bolter and Grusin’s Immediacy, Hypermediacy, and Remediation, I was able to clearly see rhetorical elements at work in everyday things like television, photography, and film.
The convergence of rhetoric and multimedia, allowed me to test my writing and critical thinking abilities across all platforms. For the first project, the Audio Narrative, it was my first taste into the use of rhetoric in a more unconventional way. Since it was the first there are obvious issues with the focus and theme, but the use of rhetorical elements in order to captivate and hold the listener were utilized pretty accurately. Being an actress the vocal intonation was pretty easy for me and I think it did well in conveying the mood. The idea, however, was lacking and sort of missed the idea in describing how media affects my life. Also my process beforehand was still reminiscent on my old ideas of how to start a paper so that was lacking as well. For the first taste of rhetorical situation, however, I’m still proud of this introduction.
Next came the rhetorical analysis, which in many ways was not as strong as the audio narrative. It was at this time in the semester where I was truly struggling with trying to bring together the new ideas I was learning in class and marry them to my old writing process. The result was a less focused and disjointed paper. My pre-writing process was definitely a lot better with several pages of planning being written before even starting. I’m very proud of this slight improvement because I believed in many ways this set me up to create much better pieces later in the semester. My idea was strong, but I seemed to lose touch with the most important idea of rhetoric: the audience. The paper was a little planned and left something to be desired. While I did edit this paper in certain ways to get a clearer and more defined purpose, I left my biggest edit to the Research Argument.
The third, and without a doubt the most stressful, paper was the Research Argument. That said, it is also the paper I’m most proud of. This paper took all of my attention and time and I’m really happy with the final product. The research took many days, and while I usually HATE this type of work, I actually found everything really interesting. It was during this process where I truly realized what was needed to create an effective and intriguing rhetorical piece. In this paper you can clearly see how my writing ability has transformed. There is clear integration of outside sources that, while not directly supporting my claim, inadvertently help me prove my case. I edited this paper the most for the portfolio because I wanted it to be an evident display of my abilities. I changed the ordering and deleted most of the extraneous detail that muddied the paper. I’m very proud of this paper and I think it’s one of the best research papers I’ve ever done.
Finally there is the TED Talk. I had the most fun with this project because I was so invested in the topic. I loved preparing it, performing it, and analyzing the finished project. I am also the most critical of this project because I expect the most out of anything that involves public speaking. I find several issues with my delivery(speed, stance, and movement) and that makes it hard for me to judge this unbiasedly. The research and process component was still up to par with my research paper and the facts are melded into the presentation in a way that shows my understanding of the topic. I also was able to utilize more rhetorical elements than in other projects because of the type of media. I think this project will be the most beneficial to me for future classes and life.
After finishing this course and going over my portfolio, I am able to say I have improved immensely over the semester. I now not only understand what rhetoric is but how to use it in papers and life in general. Also the multimedia aspects are so pertinent to my life that I now utilize the things I learned in this class everyday. While I might not have been the most receptive student at first, this class was more helpful than I could have known.
Thank you, Dr. E for a great semester! Have a good summer 🙂
Cassidy Lynn 