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Kendria Chase ePortfolio Review:

Textual and Visual Rhetoric



Prepared by: Daniela Maria Medina Hoyos



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Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 3
Analytical Framework .................................................................................................................. 4
Textual analysis of Kendria Chases ePortfolio ............................................................................ 5
Rhetorical Context ............................................................................................................. 6
Voice Analysis ............................................................................................................. 7 - 9
Visual analysis of Kendria Chases ePortfolio ........................................................................... 10
Structural Functions ................................................................................................. 11 - 12
Stylistic Functions ................................................................................................... 13 15
Rhetorical Effects of K. Chases ePortfolio ................................................................................ 16
Works Cited ................................................................................................................................ 17





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Introduction
Kendria Chases ePortfolio (http://www.kendriachase.com) balances textual and visual
rhetoric to display a wide variety of information about her educational and professional work.
Throughout this paper, I will analyze the text used throughout the website as descriptions, labels,
and summaries. Afterward, I will explain the stylistic and structural functions of visual rhetoric
used to she convey a sense of hierarchy, interest, credibility, and usability. The visual aspect
being the main reason why I chose this ePortfolio since other communications ePortfolios failed
to have any stylistic relevance. Highlighting these attributes will enable me to show why this
ePortfolio works for the intended audience. Chases ePortfolio proves to be professional,
credible, and stylistically relevant among the competition through the format and information.

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Analytical Framework
I will be analyzing Chases ePortfolio for rhetorical choices and relevance. I will describe how
Chases straightforward, objective, and unemotional writing style hinders and aids the portrayal
of herself through a digital medium. At the same time, I will highlight how the visual aspects of
strengthen the professional perspective specially she has created when dealing with user-
friendliness, time, and effectiveness. The information presented throughout the analysis makes a
connection with the Chases particular audience as it becomes relevant in her structural, stylistic,
and textual choices. The understanding of this holistic approach of text in combination with
visuals will give a clear perspective of how this particular ePortfolio manages to engage the
audience.
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Textual Analysis of Kendria Chases ePortfolio

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Rhetorical Context: Subject, Audience, Occasion, and Purpose
EPortfolios became a popular way to showcase an individuals abilities, skills, and
knowledge without the use of hardcopies. This digital environment allows an employer to look
in-depth into your skills not through reading short descriptions about it but browsing through
examples. Kendria Chases ePortfolio focuses on her professional and educational experience. It
allows her to highlight her best work in the hopes that a future employer will see how she could
be of benefit to the company.
This digital medium is a great advantage for her since she claims to have over 15 years
of graphic and web design experience. The claim hints to the amount of expertise she has
coding and designing websites while drawing experience from her Bachelor of Arts degree by
using her preferred design elements and programs. Her stylistic choices do not reflect a modern
outlook signaling the audience to be mature. Instead, they focus on a more traditional approach
with rectangles and solid colors in which there are no abstract or curved shapes. These choices
reflect her audience to be in between the ages of thirty-five to fifty as they are able to appreciate
the online medium and dont focus on how innovative something is.

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Voice Analysis: Tone, Diction, Sentence Structure, and Arrangement
Chases ePortfolio contains a very
straightforward approach with a direct tone
and is arranged in a chronological
perspective. Chase doesnt have any reflective
aspect throughout her work explaining how a
particular experience has affected her life.
Instead, she focuses on the facts and
descriptions of what her roles were within the
organizations changing the order of importance
depending on the subject. Her approach avoids
any emotional perspective. In my eyes, this is a
mistake considering the two experiences she
highlighted in her About Me carried the same
value as those in her Working Experience
description except the latter was formatted in
bullet points and the former was in a summary
style format. Neither provided any additional insight into her passions.
These types of dry descriptions obscure her desire of working at nonprofit organizations.
For instance, she unemotionally writes that she assisted in the promotion of the foundations
mission though effective online campaigns. One such campaign was designed to raise money to
send students to Senegal, Africa for the Summer Leadership Academy of West Africa. She
doesnt explain why this was important to mention in comparison to other work she created. The
Bullet point vs. paragraph formatting for similar information in
Work Experience vs. About Me sections
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tone would be much different if the sentence read: As part of their team, I had a rewarding and
cherished experience in which I created effective online campaigns and was able to collect $30K
within four weeks with the purpose of sending students to the Summer Leadership Academy of
West Africa. This version highlights her ability to be part of a team, while showcasing her own
individual skills, and gives insights to her passion for working at a non-profit organization.
However, her primary audience would appreciate the lack of emotion presented by the original
sentence in which everything is purely factual. The long sentences used also add to the
descriptive undertone of the ePortfolio, as the reader remains engaged to understand what is
important about the campaign.
The built up interest
from her About Me page
keeps growing as her audience
finds a consistency in tone and
style throughout Chases
ePortfolio leading them to
understand her perspective.
She then develops the curiosity further more as she invites them to read the complete Papers
within her Writing Samples by downloading the files themselves. The description of each
paper is an excerpt of the work itself rather than a new reflective opinion about what she
discovered, why it was written, and what it accomplished. She takes advantage of this objective
tone to include a bit of specialization to her ePortfolio. She introduces her knowledge of the
communications field by labeling her papers to include key words such as Crisis Management,
Layout of the Papers within her Writing Sample category
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Agenda-Setting, and Ethical Issues in the Media. She creates an image of knowledge and
objectivity through her written samples and work.

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Visual Analysis of Kendria Chases ePortfolio


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Structural Functions
Typically an ePortfolio provides a way for students to develop and display their written
and verbal communication skills as well as their visual acuity (Graves, 2011, p. 345). In order to
do this, they must be able to create a structural awareness through their formatting to create
hierarchy, coherence, and parallelism. Kendria Chases ePortfolio fulfills these characteristics as
she balances her visual and textual elements.
The balance is created
through her use of colors, shapes,
and sizes. These elements work
together to construct a sense of
hierarchy in which the goal is to
divide, to show global boundaries
and seams (Kostelnick, 1996, p.
25). The continuity of the
interchangeable blue and white pattern through her ePortfolio allows the viewer to clearly
differentiate the heading, subheading, and information. The font size and color itself provides
more detail to the importance of each portion of the portfolio. The main title was written in
bolded black on a wide stripe. The subheading was written in white on the blue stripe creating its
own hierarchy through the use of bolded typefaces. Lastly, the center of the page takes up the
most space within the white stripe as the information is neatly organized in four different
categories. The stripes size becomes irrelevant since it doesnt overpower the rest of the image.
Instead, its balanced through the use of subordinate lighter choices of color to create an
emphasis on the hierarchy of the page layout. These different components in the lettering allow
Home page layout
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boundaries to be created within the information to fully understand the different facets of
Chases knowledge and skills.
Within each category, the divisions are created
through careful usage of global continuity where the
layout and pages are tied together through a reoccurring
theme of white and blue horizontal stripes (Kostelnick,
1996, p. 25). The consistency of layout creates a sense
of parallelism,
as each
subcategory is reminiscent of each other in style. On the
side panel, the four pages share a vertical menu with the
same images that were used in the home page. The ease
in which they are able to switch from one category to
the next is what makes Chases ePortfolio so delightful
to navigate. It represents efficiency, visual acuity, and
an undisputable ability to create professional layouts that communicate ideas, knowledge, and
value yet inquire curiosity.


Side panels for Writing Samples and About
K. Chase categories
Side panels for Print Work and Digital Work
categories
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Stylistic Functions
In a society where individuals become overwhelmed by choices, where the media
bombards us with ads, stories, and filtered information, it becomes a challenge to choose what to
read. This becomes especially important when looking for credibility and usability among the
thousands of blogs and half-attempted ePortfolios of individuals with the same experience as the
next. The stylistic functions of a website draw you in and incites interest based on the graphics,
the medium, and the size of the page.
These characteristics allow the image to
speak louder than the writing and connect to the
audience on a deeper level. For instance, when I
opened Chases ePortfolio for the first time, I
was captivated by the image of the color pencils
for Printed Work. The image drew me in and
egged me to continue reading. It wasnt because the graphic itself was a beautiful or complex,
but because it evoked a feeling of familiarity and passion. My mind immediately jumped to the
feel of charcoal and paint in my hands as a symbol of art. Interestingly, after reading her About
K. Chase she claims to have received a Bachelors of Art with a concentration in studio art.
Once I actually clicked on one of the four categories, I found it extremely easy to
navigate which keep encouraging me to stay on the site. The ability to explain an idea without
having to be redirected or waiting for a site to load made me feel as if the creator understood the
importance of time. The categories titled About K. Chase and Writing samples used tabs
within the pages to display large amount of information without overwhelming the reader and
giving them a choice of which information to look at.
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Chase used this same type of reasoning behind her other categories showcasing her
Printed Work and Digital Work. As she did this, she built up credibility by evoking a sense
of permanence, seriousness and authority with her
impeccable design, work samples, and clean layout
(Kostelnick, 1996, p. 27). In addition, her ePortfolio
exalts in user-friendliness. For instance, a single
click within the Digital Work page props open an
overlay of the image at a higher resolution without
exiting or opening a new window. In order to open
quickly, its at a lower resolution so if the viewer
wishes to look at the original, an option below the
image or in the right corner appears (depending on
the size of your screen) that allows a new window
to open with the image.
Additionally, the format of the ePortfolio
itself being in a digital medium adds to the user-
friendly aspect. Its easily accessed through any
Internet enabled device including smartphones.
Its important to note, however, that the
information becomes distorted and does not seem
as professional. Taking into consideration the age
Digital Work organization layout
Sample of what occurs after clicking an image within the
Digital Work category
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of the audience and the purpose of the ePortfolio, it seems that there is no need to perfect this
medium as a priority since it would most likely be viewed on a computer where the graphics
look much more organized and the text seems appropriate for the occasion.


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Rhetorical Effect of K. Chases ePortfolio
The site itself proved to be successful for the desired audience and purpose. Its professional
through its visuals and writing as no reflective or emotional aspects are shared. Instead, facts are
shown, expanded upon, and available for further reading. The structure of the site allows an easy
navigation and creates a welcoming atmosphere through its use of white space, layout, and
lettering. The stylistic aspect incites curiosity as details are analyzed closely to emphasize a tone
of professionalism from the moment the site is accessed. The visual aspects allow the reader to
look through the writing without feeling overwhelmed, while the writing provides in depth
analysis on subjects highlighted within each major photograph. Written and visual rhetoric work
together to create a balance among each other.

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Works Cited
Graves, N., & Epstein, M. (2011). Eportfolio: A Tool for Constructing a Narrative Professional
Identity. Business Communication Quarterly, 74(3), 342-346.
doi:10.1177/1080569911414555
Kostelnick, C. (1996). Supra-textual design: The visual rhetoric of whole documents. Technical
Communication Quarterly, 5(1), 9.