December 5, 2015

Amanda Amstutz
Claudia Roldan
English 219 Portfolio Reflection
English 219 focused on professional writing, the three major
assignments for this class included the preparation of a concept
proposal (MWA#1), instruction set manual (MWA#2) and an activity
report (MWA#3). These assignments can be used as guidelines to write
professional documents using the 5 writing canons. The 5 writing
canons include: invention, arrangement, style, memory and delivery.
Invention is the ability to develop and refine arguments and
arrangement accounts for the organization or argument for maximum
impact. The style is the way the author presents their argument by
using figures and other rhetorical techniques and memory helps to
deliver information from memory or using personal accounts to
enhance the document. The last canon, delivery uses ethos and pathos
to deliver a speech or document. All these canons can be found in all 3
major assignments, which have helped us improve our writing in
classroom and outside the classroom.
The concept proposal elements included: an introduction/ front
matter, current situation, project plan, qualification, cost/benefits and
conclusion/back matter. The applicable canons to this assignment
include: invention, arrangement and delivery. The reason invention is a
highlighted canon in this assignment is due to the importance in
writing a document that could possibly persuade an audience to
change their opinion. Based on this the delivery of the argument is an
important step in creating a concept proposal. The second main canon
used in this document is the arrangement of the document, which
accounts for the organization of the main topics. The organization is
important because it allows the audience to read the document and
easily understand your argument without any confusion, which allows
you to persuade then. Returning to the important fact that when
writing a concept proposal, engaging your audience is a critical part in
the delivery of the document. The tone and language of the document
must consider your audiences emotion toward the topic; the language
of the document will also allow the audience to understand the topic.
The instruction set elements for this assignment consisted of: an
introduction with background, materials/parts/tools/conditions list,
steps needed to achieve, conclusion and any troubleshooting. The
applicable canons to this assignment include: arrangement, style,
memory and delivery. The reason arrangement in an instruction
manual is important is because the audience must be able to follow
the instructions in order to maximize the efficiency in the use. The
style of the document go in hand with the arrangement of the

document because like arrangement, titles and images help organize

sections of the document making the document much more assessable
to the audience. When writing, it is sometimes acceptable to draw
facts about past experiences and applying them to documents. In this
case, it was possible and convenient to apply personal experience
because we already had experience in the topic the document was
about. The last canon reflected on this document was delivery, like in
most documents the tone and language of the document is extremely
important because it helps the audience to understand and keep
interest in the document. In this case the language had to be very
simplistic so that it could be translated to another language easily, and
so that it did not seclude the audience with any technical language.
The activity report basic features included an introduction/front
matter, methodology, results, discussion and conclusion/back matter.
The applicable canons to this assignment include: invention, style and
delivery. Invention is one on the three main canons used because it is
important to state the argument clearly without giving any bias, which
can be difficult. Style was import in the presentation section of the
activity report; the arguments had to present in a concise and
unbiased matter in order to keep the audience engaged. Lastly,
delivery was used to provide the audience with the needed information
to make an informative opinion about the topic. Language in this
document could be more specialized due to the assumption that the
audience would be composed of people with a background in the
subject.
As mentioned, the five canons are an essential part of writing
any professional document. The three assignments have helped to
improve my skills in applying the canons in more realistic situations;
these skills will be transferable into the working force. I have already
started using my new writing techniques outside of English 219. An
example of this is the analysis and preparations of an instruction set.
As a chemist, I use a known procedure or I write procedures to be
followed during an experiment. Not only will my career depend on
understanding and writing of procedures, but there will also be a
necessity to write multiple proposals for different purposes such as
thesis, dissertations and research proposals. Another common
document I will have to write is an activity report in case any accidents
occur in the lab, such as chemical spills. As mentioned above, the
writing skills learned in this course will definitively be useful and
transferable to my future as a chemist.