This course helped us learn about the writing that is used in our individual fields of work. For me, I focused on the political sphere for my work in this class. Additionally, We worked on multiple writing pieces that would serve to be helpful when applying for jobs.

This course explored the rhetorical forms and features of misinformation to provide deeper insight into what misinformation is, how it functions, and how we can overcome it. We unpacked the media and information ecosystems that shape the forms of misinformation that we currently see, talked about the rhetorical trends, forms, and features of misinformation, and developed information and media literacy skills to better recognize and overcome misinformation in our daily lives.

This course explored the rhetorical forms and features of misinformation to provide deeper insight into what misinformation is, how it functions, and how we can overcome it. We unpacked the media and information ecosystems that shape the forms of misinformation that we currently see, talked about the rhetorical trends, forms, and features of misinformation, and developed information and media literacy skills to better recognize and overcome misinformation in our daily lives.

In this class we investigated literacy practices as rhetorical endeavors of resistance to power structures that attempted to control and deprive certain populations from the pleasure and agency of meaning-making. Through informal, formal, and multimodal assignments, we developed a strong foundational knowledge of rhetorical theory through a thematic study of the literacy practices of figures such as Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, Paulo Freire, Malala Yousafzai, Mary Daly, and others.

In this class we investigated literacy practices as rhetorical endeavors of resistance to power structures that attempted to control and deprive certain populations from the pleasure and agency of meaning-making. Through informal, formal, and multimodal assignments, we developed a strong foundational knowledge of rhetorical theory through a thematic study of the literacy practices of figures such as Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, Paulo Freire, Malala Yousafzai, Mary Daly, and others.

In this course we studied and analyzed grammar’s impact on rhetorical effectiveness. We worked with past writing pieces and made strategic grammatical changes for the rhetorical situation. Before enrolling in this course, I had always viewed grammar as something simple that just had to be included in writing and I never thought much about the power of grammar. I had always spent time making sure I was using correct grammar, rather than thinking about how my grammar could impact the meaning of what I was trying to convey in my writing. Now, when using grammar, I think about how I want my writing to be understood by the reader and how I could use grammar to emphasize my ideas. Additionally, now when reading the work of others, I take note of the grammar and rhetorical choices made by the author and use my new knowledge to help better understand the meaning of these words. Attached is my final paper for the course.

In this course we studied and analyzed grammar’s impact on rhetorical effectiveness. We worked with past writing pieces and made strategic grammatical changes for the rhetorical situation. Before enrolling in this course, I had always viewed grammar as something simple that just had to be included in writing and I never thought much about the power of grammar. I had always spent time making sure I was using correct grammar, rather than thinking about how my grammar could impact the meaning of what I was trying to convey in my writing. Now, when using grammar, I think about how I want my writing to be understood by the reader and how I could use grammar to emphasize my ideas. Additionally, now when reading the work of others, I take note of the grammar and rhetorical choices made by the author and use my new knowledge to help better understand the meaning of these words. Attached is my final paper for the course.

For our first assignment in this class we had to work on updating our resumes. Since I had already written a resume prior to this course, I focused on revising it based on what we spoke about in class. We learned about tailoring our resumes based on the job we are applying for and making sure that we include key from the job description in our resumes. Here is my final draft of one version of my resume.

The first speech that we worked on in this course was the “I Believe” speech. For this, I decided to write about the love I have with my mom and a special phrase that is important to both of us. I chose this topic because I felt confident in my ability to express my feelings onto the page. 

The most difficult part of the project was figuring out how to intertwine a story or narrative into my speech. Although there have been so many instances where my mom and I have said “no matter what” to each other, I couldn’t pinpoint a specific story to include. After some drafting and brainstorming I decided to write about the necklace that she gave me which has the phrase on it. By mentioning this piece of jewelry, I was able to go into detail about the meaningfulness of the phrase and what the necklace symbolizes. Once I selected this narrative to include, it was much easier to write the rest of the speech. 

Another challenging part of this project was figuring out how to end it. Usually for a standard essay, I end the paper with a conclusion paragraph that sums up the main idea of the essay; however, for this assignment that would not be sufficient. I needed to come up with an ending that tied my piece together without sounding too essay-like. Eventually, I decided to come full circle and end with a sentence about the necklace and the fact that because it symbolizes the love my mom and I have together, she will always be with me wherever I go. 

Overall, I am very pleased with how my project developed and turned out. I think it accurately describes a belief that is very important to me and I believe is something that my peers would enjoy learning about.