The artifacts I would want to showcase are, the letter, Pecha Kucha, a blog post from early in the year, one from later in the year, and my final paper rough draft and final. I feel like these artifacts would show my growth as a writer throughout the year and would also highlight the assignments I enjoyed doing the most.

Outcome 1:

My portfolio will cover a wide selection of genres displaying diverse forms of writing. This will show that I am an open author not limited to one form of writing. The letter will show the creative side to my writing and it will demonstrate how I can closely analyze a character and adopt their persona. My letter is interesting because it continues the story but also incorporates my own writing elements. My Pecha Kucha is a unique form of rhetorical analysis. This will exhibit that I can closely analyze an image or idea and break apart its arguments. This genre is extremely unique because presentations are not usually considered as writing, but the same analysis goes into both. The Pecha Kucha was my favorite assignment of the year and I feel like it most adequately depicts me. The blog post is a new and unique genre as well. Our blog posts reveal that we can follow a prompt and still incorporate our own ideas. Most of the blogs required us to use the “they say, I say” method, which is one of our major class themes. Finally the final paper is most important because, although it is not as creative, it takes all the skills we learned throughout the year to do. The paper showcases our ability to, research, analyze, respond, and to craft a paper. This assignment takes the most work and represents us the most because we are arguing our own individual opinions. I think that my portfolio will present me as a diverse writer capable of analyzing a topic and composing a presentable argument.

In my introduction I usually start with a broad topic and slowly focus in onto my research question. My introduction serves as a source of background information and also on why my research question is important. Once I have focused in, I present my thesis and how I am going to argue it and then close the intro. In my conclusion I start by repeating my main argument and the main supporting details. I conclude on what my opinion is and why I believe it to be this way. Then I begin to broaden the topic and show how this is important to our world. Then conclude with a strong finishing sentence.

The introduction of the novel, The African Diaspora by Patrick Manning does a great job of outlining the goals of the author in writing this book and what the novel will specifically cover. He first starts by describing the time period he will study and how he chose to display the information. I think it was smart to start this way because he is writing a history novel so just thorough the first paragraphs of the introduction, the reader can gain a more specific idea of the information that will be accounted. Also by stating the reasons behind his organizational methods he shows the reader early on that he has a good grasp of the material, proving himself a reliable narrator. Next he specifies that his target audience is undergraduate students, which is smart because it lets potential buyers no right away if this is the right book for them. Then it runs through an outline of the main topics the novel will cover and the kind of questions the author will be asking and answering in his novel. I think this is effective because it prepares the reader for the writing style of the author and it intrigues the reader to learn more about each topic. Overall his introduction is structured very well and does a good job of telling the reader what his intentions and purpose is with his novel.

New Outline for my new topic- Blog Post 9

Thesis

Disremembered identity

• How monster changes over time as a character
• Where he gets his identity from
  • See social influence?
  • How monster interacts with society
  • Whats his place etc.

• Comparison with victor creating himself
  • Victor’s progression as a character over time
  • Childhood days – early monster
  • Days he learning/studying – monster exploring
• Monster has no place in society
  • Look for articles on society and Frankenstein
  • Identity – physical attributes in the novel/importance of beauty
    • Social commentary?

Chronologically

Identities

Physically

What place does he hold in society?

Males, but a mix – monster

Though they are both men – the monster is almost outside of society so outside the gender binary, his actions are both feminine and masculine

However, you would suggest that instead the monster represents masculinity, a different form of masculinity to victor (who I the academic) but still. Worst side of it.

Outside of society

Barred from other identities

Religious identity not open to him

Victor himself is outside of this, turns his back on god, and tries to become god

Then Frankenstein represents man, but his relation with victor is similar to victors relation to god

Conclusion

Two reflect each other

http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.emory.edu/stable/30225415?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=frankenstein&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dfrankenstein%26amp%3Bprq%3Dfrankenstien%26amp%3Bgroup%3Dnone%26amp%3Bacc%3Don%26amp%3Bfc%3Doff%26amp%3Bso%3Drel%26amp%3Bhp%3D25%26amp%3Bwc%3Don&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

The main argument the author is making is that Frankenstein intended to create a creature like himself but the creature does not turn out how he had envisioned. Instead Frankenstein’s monster reflects the author, Mary Shelly, and the society in which she lived. One of the big themes she analyzes is how femininity is displayed in the novel and how it impacts the monster. She then goes on to show more examples on how the creature reflects Shelly’s character and personality.

I am not quite sure that I want to focus on this topic for my paper but I think the subject is interesting. I would prefer to do my paper on the movie Her but I had difficulty finding sources to go with it. I think the film displays our class themes effectively and explores a very interesting topic. I would like to further analyze if it is possible to fall in love with a computer and what makes something living. But if I can not find the sources to support my topic I would like to explore this topic in Frankenstein. I think it is interesting how Shelly is represented in her creature and am excited to continue exploring it.

Cite:

“Frankenstein” and Dis(re)membered Identity

Eleanor Salotto

The Journal of Narrative Technique 
Vol. 24, No. 3 (Fall, 1994) , pp. 190-211

Published by: Department of English Language and Literature, Eastern Michigan University

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30225415

The artifact I want to study for my Pecha Kucha presentation is a comic strip from the graphic novel Watchmen written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. I chose to study this because speaks to many of our class themes in an interesting and exciting way. It uses the action and awesomeness of comic hero’s to reflect on privacy, freedom and government control. I want to study it in more detail because it was one of my favorite books when I first read it and it would be interesting to go back and analyze all the hidden messages I missed. The author’s main purpose is to entertain but I believe the author wants to educate and persuade the reader on certain issues. The intended audience is mostly an average American since it focuses on a dystopian America and has some mature themes. The assumptions are made that they can look beyond the text and pull out a deeper meaning. It was published in 1987 and it focuses on the cold war period and the huge tension between the USA and the USSR. The tone is harsh and violent. The genre is a graphic novel. The text and illustrations can both be analyzed so there us a lot to take away from each page. The book does a good job of appeal to all rhetorical arguments but it uses pathos the most effectively. I am excited to reevaluate one of my favorite books.

A major theme of most science fiction and dystopia novels is the rapid development of technology and its dominance over the human race. In Super Sad True Love Story the people have become reliant on certain technologies clearly diminishing human interactions and connections. Although our society has not gotten as bad as this one, we are getting close. People are wasting a lot of their time making fake interactions on social instead of making bonds with real people in person. The amount of time our generation spends making random posts and updates on their lives instead of just experience real life is surprising and scary. What was really shocking to me is when we discussed how weird it was that you could find any information you wanted from someone through your applet, but Facebook does a similar thing now. By creeping on someone’s wall you can find out a lot about their life and even some things that are meant to be private. Another parallel between the book and our own lives is how the characters in the book communicate. Eunice and her friends and family tend to only communicate through online chats and emails, also Lenny posts in an online diary like a blog. Although we do not like to admit it we all do this, rarely do we talk to people on the phone or sit down and have a genuine conversation. We use texts, instant messages, snapchats, and status updates to tell ourselves were social and that we have lots of friends. I think that without more human connections we will become more distant and end up more like the dystopian society in the book.