Ashley Chagnovich

English 2010
November 28, 2014
ePortfolio link: http://ashleychagnovich.weebly.com/
Reflection Essay
My English 2010 class, taught by Professor Holloway, was designed to expose
students to a number of different genres of writing that will be appropriate in academic
contexts and in public writing situations. This course focused on three related aspects of
rhetoric and composition: public writing, writing from sources, and document design.
The course asked students to enter ongoing conversations about public issues and to
become legitimate participants in those conversations by informing themselves through
research. The goal by the end of this course is for students to be able to: write in multiple
genres, adapt strategies of argument for a given writing situation, adapt style and design
for a given writing situation, approach reading and research critically and rhetorically,
conceive, draft and revise many kinds of documents, and manage these processes
independently, cite sources appropriately, understand and respond critically to a
conversation and participate in the conversation and work collaboratively on writing
tasks with other writers.
Throughout this course I have developed and refined many of these skills and
objectives we were asked to learn. I believe it was easier for me to do this because we
were able to choose our own topic. Because I was able to write about something I was
passionate for, I felt it was more natural for me to think outside the box and be creative in
the ways my Professor asked.
Professor Holloway asked us to write about one topic throughout the entire
semester. At first I was skeptical and thought this was going to be difficult, however, I

took time to come up with the topic I wanted to write about- to make sure it was
something meaningful, would hold excellent conversation and be something that would
not be difficult to research. I chose to write about law enforcement and the problems they
face with society. I chose the law enforcement topic because it is something I am very
passionate about. I work with law enforcement daily, and my life-partner is in the field. I
see the problems police officers face on a constant basis and believe the issue is only
getting bigger. I felt by talking about law enforcement, I would be able to express my
thoughts and feelings in an intelligent, non-emotional manner. I wanted to see other
views and perhaps educate my peers on the subject as well.
My first paper was an Argument Paper. For the topic of this paper, I chose: Use of
Force. This is an extremely sensitive subject in our society (especially within the last
several months) and I felt obligated to share the facts with my peers. I wrote this in an
article format, with sub-headings to make navigating through the paper easier for the
reader. I did not receive any critical feedback from the peers in my group, but the folks at
the Writing Center at Salt Lake Community College gave excellent feedback and helped
me format my final draft for submission.
The second paper (Profile) I wrote was also carefully chosen. I chose to interview
two Utah Highway Patrol Troopers. I wanted their personal stories of a time in their
career when they had to use force on an individual, lethal and less lethal. I was tedious in
who I chose to interview as I wanted someone who I knew had been truly affected by the
incident and someone who would be willing to share their life changing story. The
questions I used for both interviews gathered information like: how long the Trooper had
been employed as a Police Officer, how long they had been on the job before their

incident took place, what they thought about before, during and after, how they have
dealt with the incident, how the incident changed them, etc. I wanted to paint a picture for
my reader and I believe with the help of these fine individuals, I was able to do that.
Again, I did not receive exceptional feedback from my peers, though my Professor gave
good, constructive feedback once my paper was submitted.
Paper number three was a Commentary; again I chose to write on the use of force.
In this commentary I gave examples of real life stories that are happening now, in the
media (Ferguson, MO) and supported my research with factual evidence as to why police
officers use deadly force. I used a diagram to show the steps an officer must go through
before deciding if deadly force is the correct force, and also showed how quickly those
steps can change. I wanted the reader to understand that police officers are not trigger
happy. In fact, its quite the opposite. Again, I did not receive any constructive
feedback from my peers, though my Professor responded to my paper with helpful
advice.
For my final paper I chose to break away from use of force and zone in on a
topic that is very dear to my heart: Police Suicide. Suicide among police officers happens
all too often, in fact, almost as much as an officer murdered by someone else takes place.
I feel this topic is the elephant in the room that nobody wants to address; so I did. I wrote
a letter to a public official, the Colonel of the Utah Highway Patrol expressing my
concern for this rising issue. I gave factual information and supported my evidence with
credible sources. I also gave suggestions for how to resolve or work towards resolving
this problem. I offered my help and guidance as well. Aside from my letter to a public
official, I also created a broacher with information regarding police suicide. Inside this

broacher there are photographs, statistics and short paragraphs regarding police suicide. I
feel this broacher does a fine job at outlining the problem and the evidence to prove that
police suicide is a rapidly growing drawback in our society.
As I mentioned briefly before, my peers did not provide me with the feedback I
had hoped for. Although their feedback was very nice, it was not helpful in anyway. They
said things like, I wish I could give you some suggestions, but your paper looks great.
Or I really like your paper. I was hoping for more constructive feedback but only
received that from my Professor. Though I did not get many helpful remarks from my
peers, I used the peer review questions provided for each topic and made sure to follow
those myself. I also took the time to respond to each peer review using those questions.
Here is an example of just one of the peer reviews that I did:
Ashley Chagnovich
English 2010
November 20, 2014
Peer Review
Writer: Chelsey Allgier
Reviewer: Ashley Chagnovich
1. What is the purpose of this document as you see it? What does the writer do to
clarify that purpose?
a. The purpose of this document is to make Chief Burbank aware of the
writers feelings towards him and the Salt Lake City Police Department.
The author does this by clearly stating that she feels Chief Burbank allows
police misconduct to take place, among other statements.
2. Note places in the document that provide credible facts. Note places where it
would be helpful to have more facts.
a. The author quotes Amendment Four. She makes statements regarding a
case Officer Brett Olsen was involved in but does not have resources
backing up what she is saying. It would be helpful to have credible facts
stated throughout the paper regarding this issue.
3. Note how visual techniques are used, and how they might be used differently.
a. There are no visual techniques used, and because this is a letter to a
public official, I would suggest not using visual aids.
4. Is there a balance between text and visuals? How well do they work together?

a. Same as answer #3
5. Make suggestions about MLA citation as needed
a. There were no citations in the text that I noticed or a work cited page. I
would suggest including in text citations where needed and a work cited
page at the end.
Putting my final portfolio together was time consuming and well thought through. First, I
opened all of my papers written throughout the course and read them again. Second, I
pulled up my grades for each paper and wrote down the comments my instructor gave to
me for each paper. Third, I carefully made changes to each paper and documented those
changes. Last, I wrote the reflection piece for this assignment.
The two papers I chose to include in my portfolio are: Profile and Letter to a
Public Official. I chose these two papers because they mean the most to me. I feel I was
able to express my thoughts, feelings and tell a story in both of these pieces. I am
proudest of these two.
The revision for the Profile paper: The feedback I received for this work was to
have two columns throughout the entire document. On page 6 of this piece I changed
from two columns to one, thinking it would change the flow of the paper. After reading
from the textbook and receiving feedback from my Professor, I realize now that my
message would still be delivered and flow just as nicely if there were two columns on this
page. That is the only change I have made to this paper, as it was the only
recommendation I received.
The revision for the Letter to a Public Official paper: Because I scored 150/150 on
my paper and my peers did not give me much feedback, I spoke with my Professor who
told me that I was okay to submit the paper as is. I feel this was my strongest paper thus
far. I was able to tell a story, while giving factual and informative information to the

public official I was writing to. I felt my best formatting and use of information also
showed in this paper.
I have learned many techniques in this class and have really expanded as a writer.
I truly believe that because I was able to write about something that meant something to
me, that I was passionate about, I was able to develop my work.