Brianna Crow

ENGL 220-035
Ms. Alapin
23 April, 2014
This portfolio includes three projects from this semester, as well as my student learning
outcomes, introduction page and a quotation on education page. My first project analyzes Plato's
allegory of the cave in two parts. The first part is a written essay and the second part is
multimedia project that I created, inspired by the allegory. The second project responds to Bill
Clinton's idea that every girl in the world should be educated. My ideas are represented on this
topic through a blog format with writing as well as multimedia aspects. Finally, my third project
explores ideas on education and my personal educational manifesto. This project contained a
written essay as well as a multimedia aspect.
The first student learning outcome that I worked towards accomplishing in my work this
semester is Analyze Rhetorical Situations. In the beginning of the semester, I actually thought
this would be the outcome that I had the least trouble with, and I actually think this was the
hardest outcome for me to grasp. I continue to struggle with identifying an audience that I want
to reach and conveying that in my work, but I do think that I have improved. Previously, I've
never even considered an audience in my work. I think in my third Project, I had a very clear
audience in mind. In my reflection I said, My primary audience is college students and current
teachers and instructors. These are our educators and college students are future educators. My
primary audience also included college students, because this is a time when we really reflect on
our education. I know this project has made me reflect on mine. This is a time for us to take
control of our lives, and it is important that future teachers give their future students a
worthwhile education. In my first project, I've gone back to take another look at who my
audience is and what they are getting from my paper, and changed my SLO accordingly.
The second student learning outcome, Find & Evaluate Information, is the outcome I
think I've had the most progress with this semester. Before 220, I knew where to find
information, but I still needed to work on finding what I needed out of a resource and evaluating
the source to make sure it was fit for my work. Now, I think that I can not only find great
resources to use, but also get what I need from them to support my work. In my second project,
finding great resources was crucial to my work. For this particular project, I found it most useful
to use online sources such as articles. I needed to find articles that had hard-hitting facts that
pertained to my argument. I found a great quote by Pauline Rose in her article "The Great
Debate" that I used to show the significance in educating women. Rose stated, "In Pakistan, for
example, only 30 percent of women who have no education believe that they have a say over
how many children they will have. This proportion rises to 63 percent among women who have
secondary education. Giving uneducated girls a secondary education in sub-Saharan Africa
would reduce the number of births per mother from almost seven to four" (Rose 2). That's an
example of how I found great resources to support my ideas. This semester I learned how to look
up online articles through University Libraries which is an online database. This came in handy
mostly for my Project 1 on Plato. You can search for a combination of keywords to get the best
search results. At first I tried combining keywords like Plato and Education, but those two
alone were not specific enough. So, I added the word Cave to my search and got the best
results. That combination was specific enough so that I could find what I needed, but not too
specific to the point where there werent enough results.
The third student learning outcome, Compose Documents, is an outcome that I will
continue to work on for any future works. Learning how to compose documents in an efficient
manner has always been and will always be a work-in-progress for me. Sometimes it is difficult
for me to get going on an essay, and once I have something I am afraid to go back and delete it
so that I can make it better. I think this has been one of the biggest lessons for me this semester.
If something isn't working in an essay, it does not need to be there. It will take more work and
time to go back and re-write it, but will leave you with a better product in the end. In my first
project on Plato, I started off with a very boring introduction that contained useless background
information, instead of just jumping into what I needed to talk about. In my final draft, I've
changed my introduction to intrigue the reader while still keeping true to the topic that would
follow. My new introduction is, Envision what it would be like to be shackled by your arms and
legs in a dark cave, only being able to see what is right in front of you. I think this sets up my
essay a lot better and actually interests the reader. Being able to write a good introduction is a
skill that I have struggled with and that is a very important aspect of a paper. Ms. Alapin taught
me the importance of having a good introduction, and what you shouldnt do when writing one.
The fourth learning outcome, Present Documents, is also an outcome that I will continue
to work on. I think this outcome goes hand-in-hand with composing documents. After you
compose your documents, you go back and revise them to make sure your final draft really
conveys your message and is written in an efficient manner. In my Project 3, I got to experiment
with making a blog. This was a new way to present ideas in a contemporary and succint way. I
had to present my ideas with words as well as images to convey my purpose. This was a really
different way of designing an essay that had to look nice as well as have valid information and
opinions. This was an interesting way of presenting a document, because there was multimedia
aspects intertwined with conventional writing. For example, when I wanted a point to stand out
in my writing, I would make it larger.
This semester, I really enjoyed using multimedia as another means of communicating. I
tried creating different sorts of multimedia that I hadnt before, such as a necklace. Although, I
did enjoy this, I ran into a lot of problems with my multimedia part for Project 3. My motivations
for my project were clear to me, but I did not convey my ideas well enough for others to see my
purpose, and my Prezi was not a strong representation of my essay. Therefore, I have gone back
in my SLOs and further explained the meaning behind my Prezi and why I chose to set it up the
way I did. My Project 3 really made me realize that I need to make my motivations apparent to
others or at least explain what they are, because I need to reach my audience in a way that they
can understand where I'm coming from. I think it's important that multimedia projects convey
your message clearly. In today's society we often use technology and multimedia to get messages
across, because not everyone has time to read a ten page essay. Learning these skills in 220 is
something that will be very valuable to me in the future in school and in any career I choose as
well.