E-Portfolio

Reflection

In the past years that I have taken writing courses, I never noticed that there are different ways to make papers depending on the genre. After taking College Writing 1 with Dr. Kyburz, I have learned rhetorical knowledge, critical thinking, reading and composing, and processes. 

Rhetorical knowledge is described as "the ability to analyze contexts and audiences and then to act on that analysis in comprehending and creating texts" (Council of Writing Program Administrators). At the start of the semester, I did not know that there were different types of papers to be written. After learning about different genres, I developed rhetorical knowledge by negotiating purpose, knowing the audience and the context. Another aspect that rhetorical knowledge includes is to be able to use and understand technology in order to reach the audience. An example of using technology was when I created the multimodal video Why don't we give?. I used technology to better reach the audience.

In class, we had to create a summary of a documentary of our choice. I chose to write about The Electric Car directed by Chris Paine. In the beginning, I was extremely confused as to how I should even begin to approach it. But with much help, I found out how to do it. I began with a rough draft Electric Car Rough Draft and did not even know how to complete works cited. But with the process of revision and writing often, I turned my uncompleted writing into a completed one. Another example of the process of completing rough drafts and revising is the rhetoric narrative. I began with a draft Rhetoric Narrative draft and later worked my way up to a completed one. In the beginning, I did not know how to end it but later I was able to fix the end to make it flow more effectively Rhetoric Narrative.

Due to the various assignments that I needed to complete in College Writing 1 class, I was able to effectively develop my skills in rhetorical knowledge and processes. I very much enjoyed the projects. This class taught me the skills needed to be taught but it also helped me stay focused because the assignments were about my interests.  

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Why don't we give?

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Why don't we give?

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            Whenever I pass by a homeless asking for donations, I give them money. Sure, no one truly knows if they will make good use of it but that choice isn’t up to me. One time, I was walking with friends and we passed by a homeless man and I was the only one who gave him money. Afterwards, my friends argued with me that the homeless man was just going to use it to buy drugs or alcohol and that if he wants money, he should just get a job. I told them that it isn’t easy to get a job being homeless. I realized that many people don’t consider the homeless’ possible situations. Why aren’t people educated on the difficulty of getting a job while being homeless?

             Many people are not educated enough on how difficult it is for the homeless to get jobs. Because of this, it does not raise people’s attention or desire to help the homeless. A reason why I give money to homeless is because possibly, they do not have a place to shower so if they get a job interview, often times they don’t have clothes for it and smell unpleasant. Because of this, they are denied the job position.

            If we can begin to think more seriously about why homeless don’t have a job, and consider their possible situation, we may be able to find it in the kindness of our hearts and see things from their perspective.

Obama Foundation Training

This past Saturday, I attended the Obama Foundation Training. I had to apply before hand and I got accepted to attend. This training was an all day thing from 8am-8pm. At the training we learned about narrative storytelling, community organizing, radical empathy, and alignment of values to action. At the end, there was a surprise visit from the former President Obama! We were all freaking out and I even got to shake his hand. 

One thing that relates to this class is the narrative storytelling. An organization called Narrative4, were one of the organizations that came in to do a workshop. We had been set into groups and my group joined another group. We went to another room where we all sat in a circle and were randomly assigned a partner. We had to sit face to face with the partner and exchange a story that impacted our lives. When your partner was telling the story, you had to stay silent and only listen. Until they were finished, you can then comment and ask questions. After both partners shared their stories, we went into the circle with the entire group. We had to present the story of our partner to the group in first person as if we were the other person. This gave us a chance to be in their shoes.

There were so many great activities and workshops that taught me so much. Because of this, I am hosting an event in Joliet in November similar to the Obama Foundation Training. It was an over all great experience and I am motivated more than ever before to turn my ideas into actions.

Dolores Documentary

Many people know or have at least heard of a man named Cesar Chavez but not many people have heard of a woman named Dolores Huerta. This past Friday I watched a documentary called Dolores in a Chicago theatre about Dolores Huerta. She is a civil rights activist and was the co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association, now known as the United Farm Workers (UFW). She fought next to Cesar Chavez but many people don't know her mainly because she is a woman so history tends to hide this.

For example, the well known quote "Si se puede" which translates to "Yes we can" is often misinterpreted as a quote from Cesar Chavez but really it is a slogan that Dolores started. She was never given enough credit for all her hard work. She was a strong woman raising 11 children and coming close to death after a San Francisco Police beating.

After Cesar Chavez died, the UFW needed a new president and the people wanted Dolores to be it but the main board (all men) refused. Even though she started the group with Cesar Chavez and did most of the work being extremely involved, they did not allow her to be the leader because she was a woman. This angered her that eventually she quit. Now, she is still alive and continues to be a civil rights activist and gives many talks in various places and states.

This was a very good documentary and I definitely recommend it!