Mahida 1

Kartik Mahida
Greg McClure
8 December 2015
RIP Reflection Essay
Creating the Rhetoric-In-Practice project was an important learning
experience as I was able to apply the knowledge I gained through this course
into creating a presentation. There were definitely challenges in working as a
team, but I feel that this struggle was necessary in order to create the final
product that was collaborative of all of my members. The final product was
different than what I envisioned, but I take pride in it. If I were to do the
project again, I feel like I could improve by being more creative to create a
more stimulating presentation. The overall performance of the team was
frustrating at times, but I couldnt allow this affect my own performance
since many variables are out of my control. While the project was a group
effort, I wanted my personal mark to convey my passion for the subject. The
lessons learned through creating the RIP project are applicable to my future
work as I can utilize the skill to identify a rhetorical situation and work better
as a team player.
Overall, I take pride in the final end product of the RIP. It is definitely
not what I envisioned when I was planning the project. I envisioned the
presentation to be much more traditional in the sense where it would be
strictly bullet points with minimal visual aid. However, I think coming to
consensus and understanding my groups perspective on why we should

Mahida 2
break away from this convention was necessary in creating an effective
presentation. This allowed the audience to focus on what we, the speakers
had to say, more than being distracted by an array of words behind them.
When I was presenting, I looked around the room and noticed myself that
people were carefully listening to what I was saying and not looking directly
at the screen, which I believe shows that this technique was beneficial.
If I were to do this project again, I feel that I could improve on the
overall process by being more creative with my interaction with the process.
Instead of remaining with the conventions I was comfortable with, I would
have researched more unique methods for presenting. While my group and I
did work on creating a less conventional PowerPoint, there was nothing
substantially unique as it overall is still a PowerPoint presentation. While I did
research a substantial amount of information for the overall process, I didnt
necessarily research other ways to create a strong presentation other than
the lessons we were given in class. Being more creative would have
differentiated my groups presentation and message overall in relation to the
other groups.
I feel like the overall performance of the team is not as cohesive as I
had hoped. We all have different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to
presenting, and a majority of them are out of my control. I was very
understanding on the importance of practicing as much as possible as a
team when it comes to presenting, but it was extremely difficult to schedule
multiple times that would work for all of us. This was very frustrating for me,

Mahida 3
as I understood that this was a group effort but I would have to let some of
my expectations go since I cannot control others. The only thing that I was
able to do in a situation like this was improve my own presentation skills to
be as prepared as possible, which is what I did when all else failed in regards
to meeting as a team.
My personal mark on this project is that I wanted to exhibit my passion
for what I had to speak on to the audience. Watching the TedTalk in class was
a major learning experience for me to see how important it is for speakers to
come off as being passionate, and I aspired to embody this same energy in
my presentation. The entire quarter weve learned and focused on the
importance of audience reception, and witnessing how the speaker created
such a strong reception was very inspiring for me. I continuously rehearsed
in order to have deep understanding of my topic, the final girls role as a
feminist figure, and explain it to the audience.
Primarily, a significant part of the project that I wanted to leave a mark
was my final moment. I directly spoke to the audience and told them that the
final girl shows women that they dont need a man to save them, and she
shows men that she can fight just as hard, if not harder, than them. This
final moment was very intentional as I wanted to be engaging to the
audience and directly show them how the final girl applies to their own lives.
This application is an absolute necessity to convey a strong message, and I
wanted this to be a personal moment where I spoke to the audience instead
of simply stating facts.

Mahida 4
I have gained a great amount of knowledge through the RIP project.
This project overall taught me what a rhetorical situation is and how
important it is to identify the rhetorical situation in order to create a strong
reception. The final girls subversions are a result of the evolving cultural
context, and I could further apply this to creating this presentation as I
needed to identify my rhetorical situation and tailor what I was going to say
for the audience. This is a lesson I can apply to projects in the future as I now
understand the importance of being as specific as I can in order to create
strong reception.
Also, this project taught me to be open to new ideas when
collaborating with a team. I was very accustomed to being the leader when it
came to group work. However, this project challenged me to be out of my
comfort zone as my group members all have very distinct and bold ideas.
Coming to a consensus with my team members showed me that it is
important to respect other members ideas when a piece of work is a
collaborative effort. Ultimately, I feel their ideas combined with mine create a
strong result, which shows me that it is vital to compromise in projects that
are not individually done by myself.