To: University of Denver Writing Department
From: Austin Danelski
Re: Writing Portfolio
Date: 3/10/2020
This quarter’s WRIT 1122 class forced me out of my comfort zone. Coming from a small high school with a weak writing department, I knew very little regarding rhetorical analysis and the argumentative, toulmin, and rogerian models of writing.
Our first discussion post asked us to identify some strengths and weaknesses with our writing process and looking back, my answer couldn’t have been more incorrect. I talked about three of the learning goals we outlined in the syllabus, saying that I felt like my proficiency with basic elements of rhetorical analysis wasn’t my strength, but I did know how to effectively provide evidence and reasoning for my assertions because of the researching methods we learned in high school and I was able to edit and proofread my writing.
Reminiscing on the beginning of the quarter, it is apparent to me that I had no clue what I was doing as far as providing solid evidence and reasoning for my arguments and my editing and proofreading was lacking. Half of this could be due to the fact that I had taken a year off of school, the other half could be that I was not a very skilled writer at the beginning of the quarter and did not have an understanding of ethos, logos, and pathos.
However, after jogging my memory I was able to make leaps and bounds of improvement.
Each writing project I turned in yielded a higher score than the last, a testament to the comprehension of the three learning goals I have outlined above. Even by re-editing writing projects two and three I noticed errors I did not catch weeks ago.
My second writing project I wrote about the proposed Line 3 pipeline in northern Minnesota. Written in the toulmin model and focusing on the environmental and economic benefits the pipeline would bring the state, the paper kept the reader engaged and called for them to take action to make the pipeline a reality.
Upon revisiting the second project I found a few errors and corrected them. I began by adding a few more links to further enforce my ethos and provide the reader with an easy way to find more information regarding the pipeline.
I concluded my editing by further developing my warrant earlier in the push. This section is where I call the reader to action, and by revising this I do so more effectively.
The third writing project I wrote about lack of involvement within the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. By establishing common ground and then highlighting our attendance numbers and a couple other pressing issues, I effectively outline a problem and show how it is a problem for others as well.
I noticed that to make this paper better, I needed to exclude one paragraph of my original paper that talked about the lack of apparel provided to brothers. This section was confusing and took the reader away from the larger problem at hand. Upon revising, I made the ripple effect more apparent, showing how this problem not only affects us as brothers but DU and our community as a whole as well.
Overall, I learned a great deal about my writing this quarter.
My understanding of rhetorical analysis grew dramatically, allowing me to write in a number of different styles and appeal to different audiences. I learned how to effectively provide evidence and reasoning for my assertions through research, and I learned more than I would have thought about editing and proofreading and how to polish my writing in a way I couldn’t before.
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