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Norberto Cardenas

Dr. Sharity-Nelson

English 1301 119

December 1, 2022

Reflection Portfolio Essay

In the entire semester for English 1301 119, my accumulated works have shown growth.

Starting from a genre analysis to a scholarly article analysis. The many revision made and

studying done to accomplish this final exam is a lot. My writing skills are far more rounded than

they used to be because of the work that was done this semester. My portfolio is built from the

revision and homework assignments of this semester.

To arrive at the finished product: my portfolio website, rhetorical edits were made for

each essay’s final draft to accommodate my new general audience. Because my essays were

tailored to the audience which is my professor and my classmates, structures and strategies had

to be changed. My new audience: the internet—or the general public—is not going to be aware

of the rhetorical analysis procedures. Consequently, in essay three the words pathos, logos, and

ethos were replaced by generic phrases since a general audience does not commonly hold the

knowledge of rhetorical appeals. For example, this sentence, “. . .they demonstrate their credibility,

people skills, and logical tests,” switches out the words ethos, pathos, and logos for credibility, people

skills, and logical tests. Some other changes were made to the other essays to tailor a public audience.

My portfolio was finished by revising the final drafts of each essay to ensure the audiences needs were

met.
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While designing my website, I was specific to choose the format and images so that they best

match my essays. The theme of the website is nature; all of my essays review literature that is related to

plants. The click bar at the top of the website has each essay and this reflection essay so that they are

easy to access. While formatting each page for each essay. I made sure that the final draft was at the

top, for I want users to read the finished product. The final draft was followed by drafts one and two, so

users can reference the growth of the essay. These rhetorical choices that were made allow my website

portfolio to be unique to other portfolios and attract audience members because of the showcase of the

theme nature.

Homework activities were a main influence for my revisions and rhetorical choices while

creating this portfolio. Specifically, the peer review workshops helped tremendously. One homework

assignment that influenced the portfolio was the OWL Purdue proofreading review. These assignments

allowed me to better proofread and edit my final drafts to ensure that they are good revision.

English 1301 was an excellent course because it taught me valuable writing skills and analytical

skills that I can apply to other areas in my work life. Surprisingly the analytical skills that the course

taught me were profound. For example, the very first essay taught me to analyze the components of a

genre. This genre analytical skill can be transferred to other courses when analyzing texts. English 1301

developed my writing and analytical skills. Some may argue that some skills are non-transferable;

however, I disagree, the skills taught in this class can be used in other courses and in general life. English

1301 improved my writing skills and my analytical skills.

My ability to create well formed paragraphs have improved through the course. In

my first essay, feedback informed me that I had to edit the topic sentences of the first sentence

and last sentence of each paragraph. For example, “The next part of the text further proposes the

idea that the author wants to be beginner friendly,” this sentence was the final sentence of my
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essay 1 draft 1. The sentence is not a good one because you would not be able to tell what the

point of the paragraph was about. However, in the final draft, this changes, “Saalfeld’s use of

exciting words leave an impression on readers because they create a positive attitude; hence,

Saalfeld’s message is memorable and good for the Herbal Academy.” My progress is visible and

shows me that I have improved with paragraph structure.

The most challenging aspect of this website was its underestimation and this reflection

essay. My underestimation for this portfolio website—that is was going to be an easy assignment

—was a mistake. This reflection essay is especially challenging because of the length and

information it asks for. Deciding on rhetorical choices was specifically hard. The reflection essay

was the most challenging of the website final. Because of this, my identity as a writer has shifted

from a messy writer to a well-read writer. My paragraph structure is a testament to this.

All in all, this website portfolio work is reflective because it showed me the accumulation

of work and the timeline of my writing skills improvements. The many revisions and rhetorical

choices made my portfolio what it is.