Portfolio

Memo
Date: May 6, 2022
To: Dr. Myers
From: Collin James
Subject: Reflective Memo English 2210 Portfolio

I am writing to you on behalf of the reflective memo for the final portfolio of English 2210

The first outcome I would like to talk about is the project analysis outcome. The definition of this
outcome is to “identify a documents readers and document context relative to practices of
composing for specific global, diverse, and multicultural audiences. Understanding how
technical documents occupy and respond to social justice and community service contexts.” This
outcome was used in the complaint letter. The reader I identified in this project was the UNM
Custodial Services when I was addressing the problem of a certain smell in Dane Smith Hall.
This is a direct example of this outcome because I directly pointed out my audience in the
beginning of the letter when I started it with “Dear UNM Custodial Services.”

The second outcome from this portfolio is the Visual Communication outcome. This one says
that “Using visual design principles to develop audience-friendly data displays, including charts,
tables, infographics, line graphics, and presentations.” I demonstrated this outcome in in my
formal report project. There is a plethora of visual queues that help the reader understand the
point that is being pushed. An example of these visual queues are things like the graphs that I put
in the report and the cover page of the report. A direct example of this visual queue in the formal
report is a graph on the fourth page that shows a percentage of homeless and the reasons they are
homeless. This is an example because it used a graph to communicate the percentage of
homeless in Albuquerque and why they are homeless.

The third outcome I would like to address is reviewing and editing. This outcome says that
“Across media and contexts, ensuring final clear style, user-centered writing, and error-free
spelling and mechanics.” This outcome was used in the video instructions project because the
video required careful editing and clear and concise instructions to help the audience create a
paper boat. If the video wasn’t edited right or if the captions for the video weren’t as clear as
possible than the instructions would be unclear, and it would be hard to follow the instructions
and create a paper boat. Also, if the timing of the instructions and the video wasn’t in the right
format than it would go to fast which would also inconvenience the audience and wouldn’t help
them create the boat.

The fourth outcome I am talking about is the content management. The definition of this
outcome is “Gaining knowledge of the organization and management of digital and textual
information and learning the basics of information architecture, web content management and
social networking. It is in the programs software category. The project that addresses this
outcome is the final portfolio project. The instructions of this project was to create a website
highlighting a certain number of projects that was listed in the directions. This is a example of
content management because you are required to put together a website and make the
information look appealing to the audience that is viewing it. This was a difficult task because
you must keep track of all the required work for this assignment and you also have to create a
web page for all of the work.

The fifth and final outcome I will be discussing is the Project Planning outcome. The definition
of this outcome is “Planning, researching, and composing technical documents (as a lifecycle
process in teams and individually.” The project that expresses this outcome is the written
instructions. The directions of this assignment was to research a topic that was easy to create
instructions with and to create instructions through a video and also to create written instructions
with pictures. We researched how to make a paper boat and we had to plan out how we wanted
to express the instructions and how we wanted to make the screenshots. This was a great team
activity that required careful planning and teamwork on how each of us wanted to create these
directions.

Some strengths and weaknesses of this portfolio in my opinion would be the formal report piece
of it. My team and I didn’t do to well on this assignment as we missed a lot of the directions on
the rubric. There were times where my team didn’t explain some of the graphs and graphics that
were used on the assignment so that just created confusion for the reader. Another weakness in
this portfolio is the complaint letter. The format of this letter wasn’t in the correct format, so I
ended up losing a couple of points on this assignment. Some of the strengths I had in the
portfolio was making sure every assignment was available and every assignment was in the
correct order and also visually appealing. I like the aesthetics that was included in this portfolio
as it adds some warmness to it. It also adds flavor that tells the reader more about me as a person.
Another strength of this portfolio is the organization of the portfolio. I made sure that everything
was easy to find and that everything looked organized in its own category.

Overall, I really enjoyed this class this semester and I learned a lot that will be very beneficial to
my professional career in the years to come. I cannot wait to apply the content that I learned this
year to my professions whether it includes creating a resume or having to write a memo for a
boss. These are two examples of things that I didn’t know before taking this class. Another thing
that is good for my career that I learned was making a professional email. There are professional
ways to do things that I do almost every day just not in a professional setting. This class was a
great introduction into the real world. This class also gave me real world skills that I can apply
into the workforce. Another thing I enjoyed in this class was the creativity that I was able to
demonstrate with certain assignments. One of my favorite assignments from this class was the
fable memo. It was fun creating a serious memo using non serious characters.

Thank you for your time in reading this memo, if you have any questions please feel free to
contact me at my email at, ipassed21@unm.edu