Throughout the spring semester, I have completed a portfolio that not only demonstrates my achievement of all course objectives, but also has allowed me to understand the importance of writing, and ways in which I have grown as a writer. One of the most prominent objectives outlined is the ability to acknowledge my own and my peers’ range of linguistic differences, and to utilize these differences as resources to develop rhetorical sensibility. As group leader, it was my responsibility to analyze my group members’ as well as my own linguistic skills and weaknesses in order to assign effective roles for each member to properly propose sensor-based traffic controlled systems. It was essential to ensure that each member’s strengths were utilized; and by overseeing the project, it was important for me to enhance my ability to self-assess.  As the group leader, I had to ensure I was not only keeping the group on track, but I also had to make sure I was keeping myself on track as well. 

It was important to enhance my strategies in reading, drafting, revising, and editing to be able to properly research and annotate information. Sifting through long research pages and texts to find relevant evidence is a time consuming task, but throughout this course, it was something that became more essential to improve my reading, drafting, revising, and editing, especially in the final time-sensitive proposal. Usually, in prior classes, I was accustomed to writing something once and not over-editing it; however, with this course, I realized the importance of going over my writing more than once, and constantly re-reading and editing pieces over and over to ensure it was up to par. 

In addition, I realized it was important to step away from conventional creative writing and to negotiate my own writing goals and audience expectations regarding conventions of genre, medium, and rhetorical situation. It is important to be direct and concise in my writing; for instance, in my Technical Description of a Husky ® 6-in-1 Reversible Screwdriver, it was important to understand the rhetorical situation and adjust my writing style to provide the information the reader needs in a comprehensive way. For a manual, it was necessary to make sure the readers understood all directions and descriptions of the product in a straightforward and objective manner, and I had to adjust my medium to make sure I wrote mine in that manner to suit the intended audience.

The group proposal allowed me to develop and engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing. Usually, when working with a variety of people, it is difficult to blend all writing styles and ideas in a cohesive manner. However, being the leader of the group allowed me to make sure each person’s distinct tone was heard, and also ensure that ideas were being heard from each individual so it was a positive and collaborative group effort. Our group faced a challenge early on, since one member did not communicate with us and did not contribute to the project. As a result of this, my group and I were faced with the task to communicate better and redistribute the work that was missing. It was then when I truly realized the importance of communication and working as a unit in the writing process. 

For my Research Memo, I learned to engage in genre analysis and multimodal composition in order to effectively write across many disciplinary contexts. For this assignment, I had to apply multiple skill sets and genres in my research about windmills. Not only did I need to understand written language, but I also had to understand the electrical language that went with it, as well as the concept of airflow induced vibration. In order to fully execute this paper, I needed knowledge in more than one field and I had to utilize multiple disciplinary contexts. 

My proposal allowed me to formulate a stance and reinforce it with research. Since our proposal would cost around $180 million, it was important to articulate our proposal in a convincing format. We proposed our stance to use only about 1.5% of the 11.9 billion dollars allotted to the NYSDOT  infrastructure budget,  to provide Brooklyn’s 4,371 traffic intersections with our sensor based system. In order to create an effective proposal, I had to assert a stance and ensure that it was persuasive and uniform throughout. In order to do this, we made sure to list the most important points in a clear and easy to spot manner, and we maintained the stance that this was the most effective way to handle traffic flow. 

Throughout this course, I practiced using various library resources, online databases, and the Internet in order to find sources to complete the writing projects assigned. For each of the assignments, I had to research the subject matter at hand, and especially for our proposal, research from various sources was necessary. Since research was such a prominent component of this course, I was able to improve my research skills, and also learned how to utilize the sources our school provides, such as online databases and library resources online. It was essential to filter through the abundance of information online and find what was best for each assignment, and this is a skill I was able to develop immensely throughout the semester.

It is evident that I have achieved the course learning objectives, but in addition to this, my perception of writing has evolved, and I have discovered a dimension to writing I was not priorly familiar with. It became clear that writing was more than the ability to tap into one’s creativity or ability to tell a story. Instead, it is a medium of all communication and expression. The boundaries of writing go far beyond literature and poetry, which is something that is not often explored or discussed. Technical writing takes a level of objectivity and understanding that we are often not taught in most school settings. Writing is not only about being expressive about creativity, but also being expressive about directness. For me, I have learned that in order to be an effective writer, you must also know how to achieve this objectivity and directness to reach other audiences who are not looking for subjectivity or a story, but for directions and for understanding. My perceptions of writing have expanded, as I have learned about this new dimension of writing, and as a result of this, I have grown as a writer and in my ability to communicate my ideas in different ways. This course has exposed me to the deeper layers of writing, and has shown me how I can grow as a writer, and understand the importance of writing as a whole.