Dear Portfolio Reader: 

             This course has introduced me to college-level writing. In addition to teaching me several critical literary terms, this course has taught me how to how to organize my ideas, successfully analyze publications, and differentiate between what qualifies as plagiarism and what doesn't. These skills will be very valuable as I progress in my finance major.

            My personal essay’s title, “Visiting Cave Temples,” is, though simple, very explanative. In my personal essay, I describe my visit to Hindu cave temples during my vacation in Malaysia. Prior to the assignment, the class was introduced to a technique called telling details. The personal essay was meant to test how well I express myself and detail my experience. After a rewrite, I was successful at using telling details to thoroughly write about my experience.

            I feel the most informative assignment in this course was the textual analysis. Prior to the assignment, I was introduced to important literary and rhetorical terms. I gained an understanding of literary and rhetorical devices and logical fallacies. I learned that to strengthen my assertions, I need to give evidence by referencing expert opinions, various examples, and scholarly publications. I was introduced to a rhetorical term called “ethos,” which is a Latin word used in the field of humanities to reference a writer’s credibility. Proper grammar, correct spelling, and a non-bias rebuttal help an author build a strong ethos. My newly gained knowledge was put to the test with the textual analysis assignment. I analyzed Michael Hischorn’s article “The Case for Reality TV.” By directly quoting parts of Hischorn’s article and by applying what I had learned, I was able to point out when Hischorn was making a strong argument and when he was not. Eventually, I was able to conclude that despite having a somewhat bias rebuttal and using a few logical fallacies, Hischorn successfully built a strong ethos through the use of strong supporting details and various well-used literary and rhetorical devices. Also, this assignment did an excellent job at preparing me for the writing of the research paper.

            The research paper was an accumulative test of everything I had learned in the semester. To write a successful research paper, I had to explain my thesis and perspective thoroughly, provide sufficient and strong evidence for my assertions, and correctly cite all my sources to avoid plagiarism. To convince my readers, I built a strong ethos by citing many sources, including peer-reviewed articles, and drew logical conclusions from them that supported my assertions. In the end, I produced a paper that used various rhetorical devices and several sources to provide logical support to my thesis while being free of logical fallacies.

            Writing 102 has been a critical foundation course for me since it has enhanced my capability to write college-level essays and reports. By improving my knowledge of rhetorical and literary techniques, this course has prepared me to write convincing and skilled papers. It has improved my understanding of what qualifies as plagiarism and how to avoid this grievous violation of college policy. I can say with certainty that the knowledge I’ve gained from this course will play a vital role in my academic writings. 

Personal Essay: Visiting Cave Temples

Textual Analysis Essay: Analysis of “The Case for Reality TV”

Research Essay: The Advent of Unmanned Warfare: A Global Devastation