Brittney's Portfolio 

 A. If you could name a song that represents your experience in this class, what would it be and why? 

 

 

If I had to choose a song that represented my experience in this class, it would have to be the disney song Let it go. The reason I

 

chose this song is because when writing you kind of have to let things go, like your frustration. You have to be able to clear your

 

mind and focus and let go of all the things that distract you from your goal. At times when writing I felt as though I was going to

 

burst from straining my brain to think of things. In the end you simply have to let go of all the things that are holding you back

 

and just not care about the fears or anxieties you're having about what you are writing. I also think it represents the class well

 

because it’s a fun and upbeat song and in class we seem to have a lot of fun. Many times there's always that one person who will

 

lighten up the mood when we all feel like pulling our hair out trying to focus. I feel if you just substituted the word write for cold

 

then the song would make a great anthem about writing and how it can be frustrating and anger you, but if you let go of all of that

 

then you can get past it and write something great that has a lot of meaning. The part where Elsa sings, “A kingdom of isolation

 

and it looks like i’m the queen,” can also be changed to mean that when writing your the queen or king so to speak. In class I am

 

the queen of my writing, and I am somewhat in isolation because I have to rely on myself to finish my work. In class you also

 

feel as though you have to keep your frustrations in and not show that you are ready to scream. I have felt many times in class

 

that I was ready to scream out loud because I wasn’t sure if what I was doing was going to be any good. In the end you just have

 

to let all of that go and think about the writing and what would make it great. The way you feel inside when writing can be like the

 

storm raging on inside of you, but you just have to relax and clear your mind and in the end you’ll succeed.

 

 

 

B. If you were to teach this class, what ideas would you emphasize? 

 

 

If I were to teach this class, I would emphasize ideas on how writing is used in the world today for almost everything. Many

 

people just assume that when you say i’m a writer, that the person speaking is an author or someone who has written a book. I

 

would emphasize that writing is used everyday by everyone and would show how it helps our society in many ways. I would also

 

show how writing relates to language and identity, noting how without writing language would not be possible and vice versa.

 

People need writing to communicate, it helps make connections with language, identity, and cultures. I would also talk more about

 

the rhetorical appeals of writing and how to better understand and use them in one's writing. I would put more emphasis on Ethos,

 

because it seems like much of the writing in college uses logos, and pathos is used by many writers as well. While many can see

 

and know when Pathos and Logos are use in writing, I think it is more difficult for one to be able to tell if a writer has used Ethos.

 

I would focus on what it means and how to identify if a writer has used it in his writing or not.

 

Another thing I would focus on is how to better understand concepts such as genre, literacy, and language. During class many

 

people had issues understanding the ideas because they were not what they thought they were. They looked up the definition to

 

better understand it, but it wasn’t what we talked about in class. I would find a way to make it easier to understand and maybe

 

explain or show some examples of the ideas. As pointed out in class many people think of genre as a classification of something

 

such as movies or types of novels. Before this class I made that same distinction and thought genre was just a way to classify

 

things. Even after I was told what it was for the class, I was still a little confused about what exactly genre meant. I also thought

 

literacy was just a word to refer to the ability to read and write, and so when I was told to write a paper about a literacy I had I

 

was highly confused. If I was teaching the class I would explain a little bit more about these ideas and how they relate to writing,

 

and explain the differences between the way they were used in class and the definitions of the terms.

 

There are many ideas I would choose to emphasize on if I were teaching this class and explain them in a way that would make

 

them easier to understand. The main ideas I would choose to talk about, would be the rhetorical appeals, what genre and literacy

 

are, and how writing is used in everyday life.

 

c. This is your opportunity to speak back to an author or a source that we’ve referenced in this class. If you really enjoyed a reading/resource, what did you enjoy and why? If you disliked a reading/resource, what would you suggest? Do you have an idea for an alternate reading/activity?

 

 

I really enjoyed reading the excerpt on Malcolm X, it was very insightful and interesting. I enjoyed this reading the most because

 

it talked about someone who had so much going against him, and showed how he managed to pull himself up and learn what he

 

needed to. For him to be able to do so without any help and books alone was the most amazing part of the story. I have always

 

been amazed at how there are some people in this world that can self teach themselves anything from languages to physics. Those

 

people are truly incredible and Malcolm X is one of them, rising from the man who couldn’t read or write, to one who wrote his

 

own book is simply an incredible feat. It shows his perseverance in the face of adversity and how he could overcome so much by

 

learning to read and write. It shows that being able to read and write can make all the difference in the world and help to connect

 

you to others who are struggling. I really disliked the excerpt from Amy Poehler, although she is okay as a comedian, I didn’t

 

think her writing was that great. It seemed to me she was more or less just trying to make people laugh and not put any

 

seriousness into her writing. She took her true profession as a comedian and tried to use it to make her book more interesting, but

 

I really don’t think that it worked well together. If I had to choose something to replace it with, I would choose the forward of

 

Stephen King’s On Writing: A memoir of the craft. I feel that Stephen King is one of the greatest writers and that his memoirs on

 

writing are very interesting. I think his take on writing is amusing and explanatory and that he does a better job of explaining

 

writing and what it’s really like. If I were to choose an alternate reading activity, I would choose an excerpt of writing on how

 

writing saved someone's life. Those stories are always interesting to read and seem to go along with the stories like Alexie and

 

Malcolm X’s. They are very interesting and allow people to see that writing is not always as bad as people make it seem.

d. Explain your writing successes and the things you would you could have changed. Then, focusing on a particular piece of writing (it could be any piece of writing you’ve done, for any class), please discuss rhetorical choices you made and why you made these choices 

 

During the semester we wrote 3 papers and many rough drafts, all of which I felt I did really well on. The first paper I chose to

 

make into a graphic novel which seemed to be the easiest, but proved to be more difficult than expected. If I could change my

 

process I would have made the sketches of what I was going to do first and then layout the rough draft. It was easy to do the

 

artwork and add what I was going to write along with it, but not having the words and pictures made out first created some issues

 

with the rough draft.

 

The second paper was on a genre and I chose to write about the series of Dragonball. This was my favorite paper to write

 

because I love the series and it was fun to learn things I didn’t know about it. If I could change anything it would be the way I

 

transitioned between each show. I feel that my transitioning between different subjects could use some work in my writing.

 

The last was an ethnography paper on a specific culture that involved doing interviews and observations. This was my least

 

favorite paper to do just because of the time constraints involved. I felt that if I had more time I could have put more into my

 

paper and added some more ideas to better represent the culture.

 

In my genre analysis paper I wrote about three different series of a manga called Dragon Ball. I chose to first examine each show

 

individually and then compare them to each other to see which one was the strongest and weakest and why. I looked at forums

 

and webpages dedicated to the show to read feedback from the shows rather than using my own opinions. I have personally

 

watched the series and love it myself and know which ones I felt were stronger as a series and which one wasn’t as great. I chose

 

to research others opinions so that the paper would not be bias and show only my opinion. My paper was more geared towards

 

the logos appeal of writing because I had to put in a lot of background information so that the audience would understand the

 

paper. It had a lot of information, but also had a pathos appeal by trying to get the audience to connect emotionally with the main

 

character Goku. While writing the paper I had some issues with the last show of the series, because I was torn between whether it

 

was really a part of the genre or not. In the end I chose to go with it because it was still a part of the same universe and had the

 

same characters as Dragonball and Dragonball Z. My writing processes were simple, I chose to write in a way that would allow

 

the audience to connect with something they may not have any knowledge and be able to understand what it is they are reading. I

 

wanted to be able to analyze the genre as well as inform about it. If I had chosen to write in one style such as logos and simply

 

give statistical information on the show it wouldn’t have drawn the audience to it. Using multiple appeals allowed me to use

 

emotions to draw in an audience.

 

While writing the analysis I didn’t want to analyze it from just what I knew and so I had to examine the show from others point of

 

views. I took what I knew from the series and added the viewpoints of others, as well as things I didn’t know about the show. I

 

was able to learn a lot more about the series from reading about it than I did simply watching it.  

 

 

 

e. Tell the story of UWRT 1103. Focus on the elements of narrative we discussed this semester. 

 

Once upon a time there was a young girl who knew nothing of writing, until she came upon a magical world known as UWRT. In this land she met a

 

beautiful sorceress named Rand and began her journey to learn the ways of writing. The sorceress had many things to teach her and the other students about

 

the secrets of writing. She began by casting a spell which created a magical looking device that showed them the way. On this magical board was written

 

many strange words, such as genre, literacy, and ethnography. The students became confused and worried that they didn’t quite understand, but the

 

sorceress gave them an elixir of knowledge, which made everything clear.

 

The sorceresses first lesson was about the wonders of literacy, and all the students began to tell of what they knew. There were many great things that

 

people were literate in and all of them had to create their own spells of literacy. Some of the students even created artistic spells with artwork as well as

 

writing. Once finished with their spells they soon began to understand the powers of literacy and how it worked. Each student had mastered the art of

 

literacy and received a magical letter that brought them closer to mastering the art of writing.

 

The sorceresses next lesson was that of genres, which would allow students to fully understand all it encompasses. Students were taught about how a genre

 

wasn’t simply a classification system, but a whole lot more. They then began working on their genre spells, analyzing the many things that it involved. They

 

were able to create a magical paper describing their genres and informing people about them. Once again their spells were done and they received another

 

magical letter mastering genre.

 

Finally the day came when they would complete their final magical spell about a culture. The sorceress referred to this as an ethnography, and the class was

 

expected to observe the strange culture and it’s inhabitants. They also had to speak to people from the culture and find out what it was like from their point

 

of view. In the end everyone succeeded in finishing their spells and gaining their final magical letter.

 

Once all three spells were complete, the students then had to perform a magical ritual to combine all they had learned and written in a spellbook. This

 

spellbook was their final task to graduate and become masters of writing and so they all worked hard to learn all they had to. They gathered all the things

 

they had learned and created magnificent spellbooks which would allow others to learn as well. With this their journey was complete and they had learned

 

many things that would allow them to become better writers in the future.

 

The sorceress continued on teaching many others the fascinating world of writing and helping others to understand it’s strange ways. The students went on to

 

use their knowledge to write for the future and teach others all that they had learned. The world of UWRT helped to make better writers for the future and

 

gave the students the knowledge they needed to explore other strange lands and so their story ends and soon another will begin.

 

 

 

f. What will your writing do in the world? What types of writing will you do, and how will you prepare to do that writing? 

 

 

My hopes is that my writing in college will prepare me for the future and allow me to write better resumes and reports that I may

 

do in my field of study. I also hope that one day I may write a novel or something that may make a difference or entertain people.

 

I plan on majoring in Psychology and History with a minor in secondary education. Once I get my degrees I hope that my writing

 

will allow me to be a better teacher and psychologist. In both history and psychology there are many reports and papers that are

 

required and I hope that this class has prepared me for the work to come. My writing in psychology will hopefully help in studies

 

that will allow for a better understanding of mental illnesses.

 

With the papers I write in history I will gain more knowledge of the things that have happened in the past and use them to help

 

those in the future. Most history classes require you to write research papers on things that happened in the past. With this I will

 

be able to do better research in the future and teach my students what they need to learn about the past. This writing will prepare

 

me to help students learn how the events of the past helped to mold the future. I will be able to learn more about past events than

 

just what I am told in lectures by writing about them myself.

 

With psychology I haven’t yet figured out what I will be doing, but if I go the research route, then I will have to write papers for

 

the rest of my career. Research psychology makes you do a lot of observations and writing about the patients and their illnesses.

 

You have to do studies and write down statistics and information in a way that is similar to a report for many jobs. I hope that by

 

writing this information I will help the future of mental health.

 

In the future, when I have time, I hope to maybe write a novel or book that entertains people. I always enjoy writing little stories

 

and hope that in the future I can continue with one of them and make it into something that people will enjoy. After college in my

 

downtime, I hope that I will be able to write something that makes a difference, whether it be a novel or something written for my

 

degree.  

g. Do you consider yourself a writer? Why/why not? 

 

I believe that everyone is a writer and it just depends on your perspective of what writing is. Right now I am writing so logically I

 

am a writer, but many believe you can’t be a writer unless you’ve written something substantial. For myself I believe that I am a

 

writer, I have written many papers for college, but that’s not why I believe so. I believe I am a writer because I love to write, I

 

can think of an idea and begin writing something on it with ease. I have written poetry, stories, fanfiction, and more and even

 

though none of it has been seen or read, I still wrote it. Being a writer doesn’t mean you have to have wrote a 300 page novel, if

 

you enjoy writing, then you are a writer.

 

Writing allows people to speak their mind and use their imagination to entertain and inform people. For me writing is an outlet to

 

express myself, it allows me to get out my frustration, anger, and many other emotions. I am able to use my imagination to create

 

a world full of strange and wondrous creatures. I can write about how I feel or what I have done for the day. I am a writer

 

because I take what I know and use it to inform others about issues that are important to me. I write about my life, the people in

 

it, and the emotions I have felt during my life. I have been writing since I was in kindergarten, as a child learning  to form the

 

alphabet, but does that make me a writer? I believe that it does I have used my writing for many different reasons and this class

 

has changed how I look at the world. Before this class I would have been in that group of people who say they are not writers,

 

but now I have come to realize that everyone is a writer.

 

With writing I can use my imagination to take myself and others on a journey to incredible places. Reading and writing go hand in

 

hand, there are writers who have done so well that one feels as if they are inside the book. For me that is my goal, to be able to

 

write something so wonderful that you are fully immersed and feel like you are actually a part of the book. Life is somewhat

 

boring, but when you're a writer you can be and do anything you want. A writer has the ability to leave this world in their mind

 

and transport themselves to a land all their own. For me I am able to sit down and dream about what I want to write and how I

 

will make it come to life on paper.

 

For me I believe that I am a writer for one simple reason, I love to write, no matter what it is. I write lists for fun, write stories

 

that may never be seen, and write papers for school, but I don’t do it because I feel I have to. I write because I want to, I love

 

being able to put my pencil down on the paper and let my thoughts come out. Writing is a way of expression and I have a lot of

 

ideas and things to express. I use writing for just about everything in my life, I can take ideas and form them into a story, or just

 

write random words on a piece of paper. Whether writing professionally or just writing your name on a piece of paper everyone in

 

one way or another is a writer.

 

I believe that I am a writer, I use it as a tool in everyday life and use it to explore my imagination. Writing will forever be a part of

 

my life and I will continue to write about anything I can in the future, and for this reason I believe I am a writer.