Chanelle Boateng

Final Portfolio Essay

Due 4-27-15
UWRT 1102
Ms. Ingram
For my e-portfolio, I chose a design that was simple and easy to navigate yet pretty
and eye appealing. It was important for me to have a design that would help my
viewers navigate my portfolio easily. I organized my portfolio by putting the most
important pieces of work first. First comes my final portfolio essay, then all my blog
posts since I spent a lot of time on them throughout the semester and so that my
viewers can get a good idea of where my information for my research came from
and how far I have come by putting my ideas together through blog posts. After my
blog posts comes my midterm reflection, multi-genre projects, 3 column notes,
writers choice and a work cited page.

Modes of Communication
Throughout my e-portfolio, the modes of communication that were mainly
used are the spacial, linguistic, aural and visual modes. The spacial mode of
communication was used just by my portfolio design and the way I arranged my
work to make it look neat and readable. I used linguistic mode by using the type
of language that my target audience will understand and draw towards. In the
interview I made for my multi-genre project, I made it very informal and used words
that my audience would be familiar with and also feel comfortable with. I also spoke
about things that many adolescents and emerging adulthoods go through and by
them seeing those specific words, it would make them want to read on. For
instance, one part in my interview says I had a lot of anxiety in my early years
of high school, did not listen to my mother or appreciate her sacrifices for
me just so I could have a great childhood, go to school and have a roof
over my head, did not want to get out there and thought volunteering was

Chanelle Boateng
Final Portfolio Essay
Due 4-27-15
UWRT 1102
Ms. Ingram
simply boring. dumb and "uncool" just because in high school and I guess
college also, it's all about "having a great time" and "partying and meet
great people who didn't want to "turn up" all the time, and became more
open-minded when it came to people and their different situations. When
my anxiety and paranoia had finally disappeared,. By choosing wisely
about what kind of words I wanted in my interview, my audience will feel compelled
to read on as they will realize that this pertains to them and is also very relatable
depending on what they are going or have been through.
Visual mode was used throughout my e-portfolio because to me, since my
argument sends out a great message, its very important that it pops and stands
out so that whoever is viewing my portfolio doesnt find it boring and wants to read
on. I used many pictures for my mutli-modal projects and also included a specific
picture of myself in my dorm room with my bed in the background so that my
audience could see that I am in fact a college student and young just like them and
by doing so, they would want to actually listen to me since adolescents and
emerging adults like to listen to people who are just like them. I also used the aural
mode of communication by posting YouTube videos of things that have to do with
my project. Hyperlinks: https://youtu.be/oBIxScJ5rlY and
https://youtu.be/2eexwPYJtZM . I decided to choose these two videos because the
song waiting on the world to change on my pamphlet page is about how the world
needs people to step up in order for the world to change and by volunteering, a
change is being made to help society and those in need. The second video on my
interview page is a video of people doing various volunteer activities. I included this

Chanelle Boateng
Final Portfolio Essay
Due 4-27-15
UWRT 1102
Ms. Ingram
so that my volunteers can see how fun it can actually be and also get an idea of
how they would like to volunteer.

Blog Posts and 3 Colum Notes

I know that if it wasnt for my blog posts I would not have been able to put all
my thoughts together for this project. Each blog post helped me gather important
information in order for me to convey my message/argument. The blog posts that
really helped me the most were blog posts #1, 3 and 4. These blog posts stood out
for me because they all had to do with me getting better at critically
thinking(Key Concept). I feel as if blog post #1 helped me because I had to think
about what topics would actually have a lot of information to talk about. It was
interesting to me because I wasnt sure if I would even talk about volunteering for
my research project and had no idea where to start. Although I had no idea where I
would even start or what to talk about, the first blog post made me think about
potential questions that I could answer and elaborate on. I put As of now, I'm
thinking about writing about volunteering and the misconceptions and
benefits volunteering has. Although I'll probably change my mind and
have another topic, I have come up with a few questions and this shows
that although I was not really sure about what to write about, I was able to come up
with a few ideas which helped me in the long run since I was able to come up with
1)Should students whether in high school or college be required to
volunteer in order to graduate?2)Can volunteering really make that much
of a difference?3)Is volunteering really a lifestyle and is that why you can't

Chanelle Boateng
Final Portfolio Essay
Due 4-27-15
UWRT 1102
Ms. Ingram
make everyone do it?. Blog post #3 contributed to my learning because I was
unable to explain my idea properly and was also told to revise it. I used to think that
I could just write down my ideas and be done but when I saw that I was told to
revise a blog post, I was a little bit frustrated only because I already had a hard time
trying to put down my thoughts. I am glad that I was able to revise it because I
knew I was struggling with the writing process and revision (key concept) and
this helped me reevaluate my writing and help me learn how to add more detail into
my writing as you can see in the picture to the right. I was told that your second
paragraph is vagueCan you weave some more detail into this post and
then re-post it? so I went and made revisions that are in red. The last blog post
that really stood out for me and contributed to my learning was the fourth blog post
because it simply let me think about who I need to include in my project and also
made me realize that there was so much more to volunteering and its not just all
about the volunteers. I was able to come up with Those who think
volunteering is too stressful and unrewarding, the volunteers, and the
homeless and this helped me figure out what
my opposing sides issue was and by including
points from the opposing side, it makes your
argument stronger by challenging their views.
-3 Column Notes
My 3 column notes also helped me gather
specific notes for my project and I also became
more confident on how to properly cite sources.

Chanelle Boateng
Final Portfolio Essay
Due 4-27-15
UWRT 1102
Ms. Ingram
In the picture of my 3 column notes to the right, the
highlighted areas are the corrections I made. At first I was
unable to cite my sources properly but because of
easybib.com, peer reviews, and teacher reviews, I finally
got it. These notes also helped me put my project
together and I found it easier to elaborate on certain
topics because I had my 3 column notes right in front of
me to help me. A lot of the facts I included in my pamphlet are from these 3 column
notes. My little facts on my pamphlet such as RESEARCH DEMONSTRATES
THAT VOLUNTEERING LEADS TO BETTER HEALTH AND THAT OLDER
VOLUNTEERS ARE THE MOST LIKELY TO RECEIVE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL
HEALTH BENEFITS FROM THEIR VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES!, A lot of
homeless people really appreciate volunteers who help out and there
were not as many people that had anything bad to say about volunteer
organizations. Etc... are all from my 3 column notes.

Writers Choice Artifacts

First brainstorm-I decided to include the first brainstorm I typed on my laptop
because it helped me see how far I had come since the beginning of the year, when
I was trying to figure out what I would even do and if I was able to go through with
my plans in the end. This brainstorm shows what I was thinking and gives you a
rough idea of how I wanted my paper to turn out. When it was time to work on my
project, going back to this brainstorm helped me by remembering what I needed to

Chanelle Boateng
Final Portfolio Essay
Due 4-27-15
UWRT 1102
Ms. Ingram
include and how I wanted to do it. My first brainstorm contributed to my learning by
letting me thoroughly think about how I wanted to convey my message and what I
needed to include in order to have a successful argument that persuades my
readers. An example is when I wrote Possibly interview someone? from
service learning class about how volunteering has changed their life in a
positive way* -(multi-modal-turn into a fun interview with a lot of pathos*
*for 2nd genre-possibly do a pamphlet/brochure or website??- including all
notes mentioned above and Remember that youre trying to persuade
the youth to volunteer because of the benefits
First rough draft (traditional) - I included my first rough draft because it
shows that I actually began with a traditional paper. While I was working on it, I
realized that it probably wasnt a great idea since my target audience are not into
long papers and I also really didnt feel motivated or excited about this project if I
was going to be doing the same old boring thing that Im used to in my other
classes. I wanted to make the most out of this class and do something different and
writing a long paper that I also did not know how to organize, was taking away from
this experience so I decided to step outside of my comfort zone(key concept).
This contributed to my learning by letting me realize that I did not really know how
to organize my paper and thats something I had to work on. It also contributed to
my learning by making me critically think about whether my audience would enjoy
reading a paper. I saw that I was bored writing a long paper, and decided to
challenge myself by doing something different and by being creative. From looking
at my draft of the traditional paper, you can see that my writing has improved by

Chanelle Boateng
Final Portfolio Essay
Due 4-27-15
UWRT 1102
Ms. Ingram
seeing how I had random notes to the side about how I would incorporate
everything together and by looking at my finished work, you can see that I was able
to do so. For example, one of my random notes said incorporating these note
somehow just need to figure out how I want to organize my
paper...ahhh! and seeing how successful I was in my final draft by being able to
put everything together (pamphlet) lets me know that I learned a lot in this class.
First rough draft (Multi-Genre)- This helped a lot with my learning
because I hadnt done a project like this in a while. I learned that its okay to
express your ideas and learn through a different way such as a multi-genre project. I
had no idea what a multi-genre project even was and by being responsible for
my own learning (key concept), I learned how to make it work and enjoyed it. By
seeing how my other classmates did their multi-genre project, it also inspired me to
do one as well and since I wasnt sure how to go about this project as well, seeing
their examples helped me a lot. I had tips like feel free to add as many
pictures as you like, There are so many graphs and studies you can use
for this project and re-evaluate some of your word choices. I took all
comments seriously and you can see the different between my first rough draft of
my pamphlet and my final draft.
First draft of 3 column notes- I included this because I was struggling with
how to properly cite sources at first. After seeing that most people used
easybib.com, I was glad I was able to find a new resource to help me cite. A lot of
my information in my project came from my 3 column notes and I received feedback
saying interesting sources-try and find scholarly resources as well. By

Chanelle Boateng
Final Portfolio Essay
Due 4-27-15
UWRT 1102
Ms. Ingram
getting this feedback, I went back and found books to add to my 3 column notes to
cite and break down into notes. Most of my sources were from online and this class
helped me learn that it is actually great to go to the library and find a great
scholarly book to help with a project instead of finding random articles online. I feel
as if finding more scholarly sources helped my project become more credible and
truthful.
2 Feedback Artifacts
I included these specific feedback artifacts because I found them extremely helpful.
My first feedback artifact was from my fellow classmate, Johnna who had a lot of
experience with volunteering. This feedback was from my first draft of my
traditional paper and when she saw that I lacked some information, she let me
contact her and use her as a resource by saying come up with some questions
for me to answer which was great! My other feedback artifact was from another
draft and the response I got was very helpful once again. I realized that I needed to
use more modes of communication in my project and the sentence that said Think
about who your audience is and what will get our attention made me go
back and add more words that had to do with the linguistic mode as I mentioned
earlier in the paper and also make my multi-genre projects more eye-appealing by
digging into the visual mode of communication more. If it wasnt for a lot of our
peer-reviews and feedback, I dont think I would feel as confident about letting
others read my papers and giving others feedback as well. I can say that although
providing and receiving feedback (key concept) was a big challenge at the

Chanelle Boateng
Final Portfolio Essay
Due 4-27-15
UWRT 1102
Ms. Ingram
beginning of the year, it is no longer a struggle since I dont feel insulted when
people have something to say about my paper.
2 Writers Notebook Artifacts
(http://chanelleuwrt1102.weebly.com/writers-choice.html)
I included two warm ups that helped me with my project. The warm up on 3-23-15
was about how I had a lot to write about but did not know how organize my work, as
usual. This contributed to my learning because I was really determined to learn how
to organize my work properly and this was written before going to see Ms. Ingram
with my group. I wrote this so that I could get more help from the meeting with my
group on how I could make my organization better. I also included another warm up
because it helped me think about how I could reach out to my audience properly. I
stated that I would be using pathos and my own experience... and I learned
how to do so properly in my final drafts.
2 Wild Cards (http://chanelleuwrt1102.weebly.com/writers-choice.html)
I chose the Questions for rhetorically analyzing your groups chosen website
because I really enjoyed looking into and learning about how a writer or publisher
can portray a certain message just by different modes of communication and by
using different appeals; because of this exercise, I was able to use pathos in my
final draft now that I understood how to do so. I used pathos in my pamphlet by
saying Many teenagers all of the world struggle to make friends or just to find
genuine ones and nothings greater than making friends while volunteering because
you both enjoy the same thing and you know that person is genuine with a good

Chanelle Boateng
Final Portfolio Essay
Due 4-27-15
UWRT 1102
Ms. Ingram
heart and also used in my interview by mentioning I remembered my
grandmother and how depressed she was since one of her daughters died
during childbirth and her husband died shortly after that. After that she
kept expressing how she wanted to die too. This exercise helped me decide
what I needed to use in order to draw my readers in.
My second choice to put into my e-portfolio was my pre-search since this is
where all my work started from. While doing my pre-search, thats when I started to
realize that there is so much more than just writing a paper. This is when I started
to see that there is a lot of information that would need to go into this project and I
really had to take the time out and make sure that I learned new things and that I
didnt know everything about volunteering like I thought I did. My 3 main questions
were why do people volunteer?, should it be required? and what are
the benefits of volunteering? I then had to go through and see what question
would yield the most answers and have the most information. This helped me learn
that its not always about taking the easy way out and in order for you to grow as a
writer, go with the most challenging option and work on improving your writing
through it.
In my reflections for my two multi-genre projects, I explained why I decided to go
with doing a pamphlet and an interview. I did not have a draft for my interview and
all I really had that pertained to my interview was my first brainstorm about how I
would possibly do an interview and how I would organize it. I didnt really have a
draft for my interview/a writing process because I wanted it to be raw for my type of

Chanelle Boateng
Final Portfolio Essay
Due 4-27-15
UWRT 1102
Ms. Ingram
audience and I decided to use what I had written down from my interview with one
of my classmates from my service learning class.
The grade that I feel I deserve would be an A. I feel this way because I took a
lot of time out to fully explain why I included the things I did in my e-portfolio and
also put a lot of effort into my e-portfolio to make sure my reader would enjoy it and
that I was using various modes of communication. My e-portfolio is complete and
navigable, I used many quotes to support my ideas and thoughts throughout this
essay, I mentioned more than 3 key concepts, I quoted from at least 5 other writers,
and feel as if I explained myself as best as I could so that there would not be any
unanswered questions. I can say that if I had learned all the things that I have
learned in this class prior to now, my writing wouldve been so much better and I
wouldve felt more confident to think outside the box and go outside of my comfort
zone more often. I also put a lot of thought into my blog posts to make sure that I
had great information for my projects and took every single piece of feedback into
account when it came to my work. My goals were to become more confident with
the writing process and receiving and providing feedback and I feel as if through my
hard work and open-mindedness, I have become more confident in those particular
key concepts.