Danisa Alvarez
Panther ID 1945827
August 14, 2011
ePortfolio Reflective Paper
My Online Journey
This course was completely different from the many other courses I have taken. This is saying a lot given that I am a senior, graduating this Fall 2011 and have taken well over fifty classes. Online classes tend to be impersonal and students are basically forced to be self-sufficient and motivated. However, with this class everything that was expected from an online course was the opposite. The professor made himself available at all hours of the day via different modes; whether it was Adobe Connect chat, Skype, telephone, or in person during office hours.
The course was clearly defined and structured so that students knew what learning objectives they were working on when completing tasks. For my first paper, the rhetorical analysis on the Body Rituals of the Nacirema, I discussed the different rhetorical strategies to support my thesis. With this paper I successfully met the first course objective: “synthesize classical and contemporary rhetorical principles, ideas, and terminology” and the second course objective: “analyze rhetorical principles, ideas, and terminology in discourse practice.”
The third course objective was “evaluate the impact local issues have on professional and public discourse.” I believe I successfully met this goal with my Blog 3. For my third blog, I discussed the local issue of homeowner’s association fees and their ridiculous regulations. In my blog I discussed how neighbors in the community were joining together and creating petitions against the association in order to have their concerns heard.
The fourth course objective was “use rhetorical skills to write for various genres, considering multiple audiences.” I believe I successfully met this goal with my PowerPoint presentation on Quintilian’s rhetorical theory. I made sure that the text I included on my slides were worded as simply as possible so as to not confuse anyone. I did not want to distract my peers with “fancy” wording when I could get the same message across with much simpler wording.
The fifth course objective was “create effective multi-media presentations.” I believe I successfully met this goal with my PowerPoint presentation on Quintilian’s rhetorical theory. My PowerPoint was a short four slides that included all the necessary information that allowed me to present to my classmates within an allotted time.
Finally, the sixth course objective was “use rhetorical theory to inform research practice in public and professional writing.” I believe I successfully completed this objective with my final research paper. My research paper on Disney World’s strategic visual rhetoric to lure their visitors to their theme parks exemplifies this.
Overall, I am certain that I have completed this course successfully. I feel I have met all course objectives and am taking a lot with me from this course.
