Michelle Rotondo Dr.

Erin Dietel-McLaughlin Multimedia Writing and Rhetoric 4 December 2011 Reflective Essay: How have I grown as a writer? Throughout the semester I feel as though I have changed as a writer. As I was creating my portfolio I noticed that from my first piece to my last piece I have shown a lot of growth. I have learned better ways to approach researched based essays, how to properly cite information, and how to use rhetorically strategies. This portfolio reflects how I understand the writing process because it shows how I have grown as a writer. I have made changes to my narrative essay, analysis essay and my research paper because I felt as though I was missing components in those writing pieces that I had learned later in the semester. I think that my research paper is where my process-oriented skills are most evident. This is because in my research paper I incorporated my new strategies that we have learned. I fixed all of my quote integration problems, I used source synthesis and I used my research based data to my advantage without over using my sources. In my first essay you can see that some of these things are not present because I was still in the process of understanding writing and rhetoric. I think that rhetoric is most present in my analysis essay because I integrated information with my two websites while also using my own language to show the reader the similarities and differences within the two websites. In my research paper I used many sources to my advantage by integrating them properly and synthesizing them with other sources. After going to the library to learn about how to research I learned proper ways to find credible sources online. This was very helpful in my research process and helped me to elaborate on my topic with my broad range of sources and the

information they provided. Entering this course I was a little weary about the Multimedia aspect because I have never used them along with writing before. The visual essay was very fun and such a new experience because I was working with Windows Movie Maker to make a video, but it was also the most challenging piece for me. Having to find video clips online that followed the Fair Use Policy was very difficult. Editing the videos to make them fit my topic, finding appropriate background music, and integrating information was a challenge for me. Working with media was just an overall difficult task for me because I had never done it before. The narrative essay was also very challenging because it was hard to record yourself reading your essay while also using the right tone and voice for the story line. It was weird to play back the audio clips and hear myself reading my essay out loud. Working with media this semester has been fun but it was so difficult for me personally. I think my writing reflects the intended outcomes of each assignment because I built each new assignment on what I was taught from the previous assignment. Source integration and synthesis helped me write my research paper a lot because I used these ideas to incorporate my sources while also adding my own voice to the essay. Before the analysis essay we learned how to properly compare and contrast two ideas and information presented. This helped me write my counterarguments in my research paper later on in the year. Our use of concept maps, proposals, and storyboards allowed me to prepare myself for my essays; otherwise I would have just jumped right into the writing process. This helped me get my ideas on to paper before I was actually starting to write a formal essay. Out of all of our assignments I am most proud of my research paper. I really think it shows my growth as a writer because I tried to incorporate all the things we learned into it. This was my main revision and I think after I revised it I looked back at it and was very surprised that I had written it. I took your comments and expanded on what it originally was. I truly think that the changes I made turned

my paper into a really great research paper. I used quote integration which I had been struggling with, I used synthesis with my sources, and I set up my essay by adding a brief background so my reader had a sense of context. I came in to this class thinking I was good at writing essay because I was creative and good at getting my ideas across, but after learning about the skills I was missing I realized how much I have grown.

I have edited my analysis essay, my narrative essay and my research paper before submitting them in my portfolio. I have done major editing and revisions on my research paper and I am very pleased with the outcome.

I have enjoyed this class very much. It was great to be part of Multimedia Writing and Rhetoric because learning all of these techniques and skills will definitely help me in my future writing endeavors. Thank you for everything Dr. E and I wish you luck with your baby!

- Michelle Rotondo