Summey 1

Kelsey Summey
3 December 2014
UWRIT 1101
Ms. Ingram
Final Portfolio Essay

I.

Home
The home page of my weebly site consists of a picture of me and three other people from

prom. I included this picture because I think that the picture is very welcoming and warm. It
reminds people of a great, fun time. Moving down to the description area, I let the visitor know
what my name is and when I plan to graduate. I then begin talking about my major and
involvement on campus. I attempted to be a bit humorous in the process to ease the awkwardness,
but I dont think it worked well!

II.

Literacy Narrative
The literacy narrative was our first large assignment of the year, and it was a great starting

point. This essay taught me a lot about myself. It made me realize what exactly defines me.
Coming into the assignment, I had no idea what my literacies were. I first began by defining the
term literacy.
...Everyone has literacy in things other than reading and writing, which led me to
a more profound definition of the term. Literacy can be defined as an individuals
ability to completely understand or become familiar with a certain subject and

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apply it to shape the course of their everyday life. In simpler terms, literacy is the
process of understanding something and applying it.
This definition was directly taken from my draft one, and with this definition, I was able
to proceed through the essay. My draft ones, process work artifact one, main focus was to
acknowledge the three ways I am literate, explain why, and then explain who/what helped me get
there. Yes, it was a very boring essay, but it was a great place to start. Acknowledging what I
am literate in, my thesis statement was, Thanks to a lot of time and effort, I am literate in many
various ways. I am literate in music, basketball, and leadership. Because my thesis statement
was so direct, it left a lot of unanswered questions on the table. One of my group members,
Samantha Fehl asked, Do you want to do something with music, basketball, and leadership?
If so, give an example of how this can impact you now. Sam also said, I want to know more
about your past development! She wanted me to include more detail in my entire paper, which
left me in an uneasy spot. I had no idea how to take this essay to the next level.
During the next class, Ms. Ingram turned my feelings around. She introduced our draft
two, and the planning for this draft will be my process work artifact two. In this planning, Ms.
Ingram told the class to close our eyes and think of one moment that describes all of our literacies
into one. In seconds, the one moment or a few moments vividly came into my head, and I put
them on paper. This led me to a new beginning of my literacy narrative. Another large part of
this second draft was dialogue and sensory detail. Ms. Ingram was challenging us to create these
very real scenes so our stories could be felt clearly. I struggled with this at first, but I eventually
got there.

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Andrew looked helpless, so I hugged him and said, Were going to get through
this. If we have to meet every morning at 7AM until you get it, we will. Because
youre not giving up, Im not giving up

Marc Schaub, our band director, was there to unlock the large cobalt blue band
doors. Schaub is a 62 chubby man with a heavy beard on his face. He has a small
bald

spot on his head, although he covers it with a lazy comb over with his brown

hair. On this day, Schaub was wearing a navy polo shirt with MT, for Mount
Tabor, on the right side of theshirt.
These two excerpts are from my draft three of the literacy narrative. The first excerpt shows my
use of dialogue in the narrative. Throughout the essay, I had many conversations with my friend
Andrew, and this was just one of them. In the second excerpt, I showed my use of sensory detail.
It was important that I thoroughly described everything I saw so the reader could feel like theyre
actually a part of the scene. This statement was ratified by one of my classmates, Shaed Parker.
While reading my paper, he stated, I can really feel your frustration in this paragraph.
Through this quote, I can tell that Shaed was being forced into my character, which is what I
wanted. I wanted him to feel like hes a part of the narrative.
By far, the literacy narrative was my favorite assignment in UWRIT 1101. It helped me
get a grasp of appreciation of dialogue and sensory detail. It also helped me realize that I love
writing stories more than I thought I did. The whole draft two planning was the make or break of
this project. If a student didnt put in effort to make this assignment fun, then theyve officially
missed out.

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III.

Midterm
The midterm had five separate parts, and they were not related whatsoever. Part A was to

look back at blog 1, where we asked approximately ten questions about our syllabus. We then had
to answer our own questions to make sure that there werent any unanswered or any confusion.
Part B required us to look back at the syllabus and check out the Key Concepts for the class. We
had to separate them into two columns: key concepts that Im doing well with and key concepts
that Im doing poorly with. I took advantage of this and created a visual aid for my readers!
Key Concepts That Im Doing Well With
1. Independent Inquiry
2. Getting out of your comfort zone
3. The writing process & revision
4. Providing & receiving feedback
5. Intellectual growth & Maturity
6. Curiosity
7. Responsibility for your own learning

Key Concepts That Im Doing Poorly With

1. Making Connections
2. Critical Thinking

Throughout this midterm, Ive gotten better with the key concept, getting out of your comfort
zone. I did this by completing a very irregular type of essay. As Ill further explain below, my
midterm was not in a regular essay form, and thats definitely something Im not used to doing!
Part C of the midterm was related directly to my Literacy Narrative. It consisted of a few revisions
that I had previously made. It basically showed my work process and how my thoughts have
matured to my final draft. This could most definitely be seen throughout the ever changing thesis
statements.

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Linguistic
Visual
Spatial
Gestural
Aural

Five Modes of Communication

Part D was my favorite because it allowed me to use my rhetorical analysis skills that I
learned in class. The rhetorical analysis notes were my writers notebook artifact one. They helped
me with the midterm rhetorical analysis activity, and they also helped me with the layout of my
midterm. Tool # 3 of the notes is Multi-Modality, also known as the five modes of communication.
Throughout the midterm, I used 3 main modes of spatial, linguistic, and visual, which are all
highlighted in the diagram above. I used the spatial mode the most, as that refers to organization.
It can be seen through the tables, indentions, bold letters, titles, and much more. As for linguistic,
I used creative and exciting word choice so the reader will stay intrigued. Lastly, I only used the
visual mode once. On the cover page, I put a picture of a butterfly so the reader would feel
welcomed to my paper.
I am thinking it through thoroughly, and I am applying all of myself to give my
honest opinion and transfer my ideas. Its just the midterm, and I can already tell
that I am growing as a writer. I am noticing that I have varying ideas and beliefs
now that I have been introduced to other peoples ideas. I am also becoming more
creative and logical in the process.

Summey 6

This excerpt is from Part E of my midterm. I had to reflect on my productivity throughout

the course thus far. It was hard to reflect on myself because you must critically think about all the
things youve done well and the things youve done poorly. Theres never a straightforward
answer of anything. Though I had a hard time with this, Ms. Ingram gave me great feedback on
my midterm [Feedback Artifact One]. She pointed out that my midterm was different than others
because it wasnt written in an essay style. Ms. Ingram also stated, I love how you played with
various modes of communication. Ka-ching!

Im assuming it was a good idea to use the

rhetorical analysis notes. With doubts, Im very glad that I had positive reflection on this
assignment!

IV. Blogs
The blogs were the most consistent assignments we had throughout class. Since the
beginning of the semester, we did a total of six blogs, and they all were related to a larger
assignment due in class. For example, blog 5 required us to read a chapter about setting up an ePortfolio and writing the Final Portfolio Essay. This chapter gave me a lot of advice, and it also
answered various questions for me.
Reynolds gave me a wakeup call when she said, Your readers have not watched
you write or watched you do online research; they havent participated in your peer
response groups; they havent seen all of your notes, drafts, and other evidence of
your evolving ideas. This was prominent because I now know why its important
for these things to be included. At first, I thought it was because I wanted to keep
the reader interested with my pictures and diagrams. I now know that these

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artifacts are necessary so the reader can see everything youve learned and know
how youve evolved over the past semester.
This excerpt is an example of how well these readings relate to our assignments and how they can
help the writer get on the right path to success. This chapter didnt tell me exactly what to do, but
it gave me various ideas to choose from. Like everything else weve read, it was extremely helpful!
These blogs have helped me out with my struggles of reflecting and making connections.
Throughout all of these blogs, I was required to either reflect or make a connection to something
weve just read. Thanks to these blogs, I feel far more confident than ever. Though the six blogs
related to all the key concepts, they are a very great example of intellectual growth & maturity.
They show my growth in critical thinking, curiosity, revision, feedback, and all the rest. Since we
started and ended with the blogs, they are our two endpoints to our growth in UWRIT 1101.

V.

Portrait of a Writer Essay

The Portrait of a Writer Essay was the hardest assignment for me because we werent given

any instruction. Ms. Ingram threw the class out in the cold and left us in charge of being creative
and figuring out what to write the essay about. Since Im not as creative as most, it took me awhile
to gain a jumpstart on this essay. Throughout draft one and draft two, I answered basic questions
like what are my strengths as a writer? Or What is my writing process? What made these
questions so bad is that I decided to answer them in a straightforward way, without any fun or
creativity, so it made my whole draft one and draft two experience very dull.
What are my strengths as a writer?
My main strengths are that I am able to brainstorm, catch errors, and take
criticism. While brainstorming, I come up with many ideas that I can reference

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throughout my essay. Catching errors is crucial! When I am writing, I make many

dumb mistakes like run-on sentences, misspelling, and many more, but usually, I
catch these mistakes and capitalize on them! Lastly, taking criticism helps me plan
for future papers and revise current papers.
What is your writing process?
I first start by turning on some music, but the music has to be exact. It cannot be
enough to distract me from my paper, but it also has to be lively enough to keep me
awake. Secondly, I brainstorm and think about what is happening and what the
essay topic is. I then aim for my goals, which are to thoroughly answer all the
questions. Next, I take a few deep breaths to focus myself on these goals. This
eliminates any loose distractions around me. Lastly, I just go for it.
Boring questions result in boring answers, and thats exactly what my first two drafts depicted.
Figuring out how to have fun with this essay took a while, but once I got there, it was very easy to
run with!

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Draft three [process work artifact three] was where I got a little creative. I decided to compare and
relate the steps of shooting a free throw to my writing process. While writing, I was pretty skeptical
because I was telling a story and comparing two things at the same time. I even got confused
myself. To help with this confusion, I added subtitles so the reader can get the flow of the paper.
In the final draft, I will drop the subtitles and change half of the essay to italics so the reader can
differentiate the story and the comparison. On a side note, the coolest thing about my essay is that
I added a visual aid to depict the comparison between my shooting and writing processes. As you
can tell, my two processes are almost identical, which is why it was so easy for me to compare the
two! Also the visual below relates directly to one of the key concepts: the writing process and
Shooting Process
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Take two breaths with your eyes closed

Eliminate distractions
Find a quiet spot
Set your goal of making the shot
Brainstorm about the type of shooting
form youre going to use
Look at NOTHING but the goal
Dribble three times to a rhythm in your
head
Take two more deep breaths
Bend your knees
Take the shot

Writing Process
1. Relax yourself/clear your mind by closing
your eyes and taking deep breaths
2. Eliminate distractions
3. Find an enclosed & quiet place to write
4. Set goals for your writing
5. Brainstorm or dump ideas on paper about
the subject
6. Think of NOTHING but the goal
7. Turn on and use music as an aid for success
8. Relax yourself more and get ready to write
9. Get your pencil or pen ready
10. WRITE

revision. This essay and visual relate so closely to the key concept because it is exactly what the
key concept is about. By looking at the table above, you can see that my writing process has
matured and is one step closer to perfection.
The feedback given to me on draft three is my feedback artifact two. This feedback is from
my table member, Mackenzie Belton, and my teacher, Ms. Ingram. Mackenzie left me a Reader
Response Letter on the back of the draft. Mackenzie wrote, I was kind of nervous at first when

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I read that you were going to compare writing to basketball, but you pulled it off! She then
later added, I think overall you did a good job at describing yourself as a writer. Her words
of praise put my mind at ease because comparing these two was extremely difficult! . Next, Ms.
Ingram gave me some feedback on my draft three. Ms. Ingram agreed with Mackenzie for the
most part. She mentioned, Kelsey, I really enjoyed this. Its a unique approach and is well
executed. The one statement that really affected me was when Ms. Ingram said, I ended up
understanding and liking the subtitles. When I first created this draft, I felt that it jumped
around a lot, so knowing that she understood the essay makes me feel a lot more confident.

VI. Writers Choice Artifacts

As mentioned before, my writers choice artifact one is the rhetorical analysis notes that
we took in class. With that being said, we may move to my writers choice artifact two, which is
all of the warm ups weve done this semester. These warm ups are the only work that related to
every last one of my assignments in not only UWRIT but all the rest of my classes.
For all of my classes, I have to write either blogs, essays, or give reflections of some sort.
These warm ups not only explain how and when to use a grammatical rule, but it also gives
examples that follow. An example of this is Warm Up # 4, entitled Semi-Colons & Colons. My
notes explain that go in between two independent clauses, and the second clause supports or further
explains the first. The example provided states, I like my teaching schedule this semester; I can
squeeze in a yoga class before I go to work. As for colons, they are used before the making of a
list. The example provided states, I have too many favorite foods to list: grapes, rice, pineapples,
and ice cream.

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The warm ups that we did in class arent complicated. They relate to all classes, and the
material can be transferred to each and every one of them. The only thing I would change is that
Ms. Ingram should do these warm ups throughout the year, at least one a week. All of the
information provided by the warm ups have answered a lot of unanswered questions. They were
extremely helpful.

VII. Wild Cards

In my LBST Global Connections class, we were required to create an avatar in a specific
country and create historical fiction blogs based off of these avatars. These blogs happen to be my
wild card artifact one. My UWRIT blogs and my LBST blogs have reflected off of each other, as
I consistently referred back and forth for advice. Because my UWRIT blogs have required me to
reflect on articles, other peoples work, and myself throughout the year, it was easier to write my
LBST blogs. Ironically, my LBST blogs and UWRIT blogs are sort of the same. I did a lot of
reflection on articles and historical events in my LBST blogs, and because Ive had experience
with my UWRIT blogs, it was a lot easier. This can be explained in an excerpt from my LBST
blog four:
During World War II, China put aside their civil war drama to fight off the
Japanese. To do so, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Nationalist Party
(KMT) teamed up. Although it wasnt the right thing to do, the United States
finished off the Japanese with the two atomic bombs; therefore, China could go
back to dealing with their own issues. The Chinese Civil War sadly started up
again on March 31, 1946. The KMT was extremely weak, as they took most of the
damage from WWII. After years of fighting, the war ended on October 1, 1949,

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with the CCP overthrowing the KMT. China was officially communist! This wasnt
by choice, of course, it was by force, so it was an issue of China.
In UCOL, I was required to write a Career Portfolio Essay, so how could this not by my
wild card artifact two? This essay required me to research a lot in my career interests, get a lot of
artifacts then reflect on them. Sound familiar? I think so! This very essay and the career essay
go hand in hand. Since Ive been noting my artifacts for weeks now, I used past experience while
writing my career essay this past weekend. With this previous experience, the paper went along a
lot quicker, I didnt have to plan as much, and I actually reflected nicely. A huge difference in this
essay and the career essay is that I have a little more freedom. In the career essay, it has to be in a
traditional essay form, meaning I cannot take advantage of the five modes of communication like
I want to. The most beneficial similarity between these two essays is that I was required to quote
a lot to prove that I have a lot of evidence.
In my career portfolio essay, I used two interviews as artifacts. I first interviewed my
Uncle to find out more about what life would be like as an attorney. I then interviewed my mother
to get a business aspect. Throughout my career essay, I quoted mostly from my uncle. In my
essays, I am always sure to quote because it will be easier to reflect that way. An excerpt from my
career portfolio essay will be listed.
The second tool I used was an interview with my Uncle, Jamal Summey. He
is an attorney that runs his own law office, so getting a feel for his position
is important. I asked him questions pertaining to education, and the one
thing that stuck out was when he said, I also had to take and pass a
mandatory bar exam, which consisted of two days. The first day was twelve

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essays written on different issues. The second day was two hundred multiple
choice questions.

VIII. Final Portfolio Essay

(My Final Portfolio Essay is the second tab to my weebly site.)
After reading Dr. Elizabeth Davis blog post Networks of Experiences, starting my Final
Portfolio Essay went a lot smoother. When I was first assigned this essay, I had no idea where to
start, and I was beyond confused. Davis posted a list that gave steps for starting your portfolio
project.

Collect (attention)

Map > relations/spaces (network awareness, collaboration)

Arrange > spatially: juxtapose/layer/align/collage (design)

Select > categorize/collocate (assessment, narrative)

[re]Arrange & [re]Map > navigate (network awareness, participation, collaboration)

Reflect (attention)

Propose/Persuade (attention, participation, collaboration, network awareness)

This is an excerpt from Dr. Elizabeth Davis Blog Post

After reading this blog post, I was ready to start my draft one for my Final Portfolio Essay. I kept
it simple and made a quick outline of all my featured artifacts. I had my required artifacts at the
top, and under them, I had related artifacts. I used this outline as my process work artifact four.

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On the next page of the outline, I briefly described why all my artifacts are important and how they
relate to each other. For example, I wrote freely about my literacy narrative within this outline.
My literacy narrative was my favorite piece to write thus far in the course. I
submitted 3 different drafts. The first draft was pretty straightforward, as I
explained my literacies in music, leadership, and basketball. My next two drafts
were pretty much the same, as I started with my straightforward literacies then
expanded to a brief music story. My final literacy narrative focuses in on the
narrative only, so I only told my story.
Competing this outline was a great boost to my confidence toward this essay! Without it, I have
no idea where Id be right now.

IX. Grade Reflection

Based on the portfolio grade scale, I feel that I should deserve an A. The only reason I say
this is because while completing this essay, I had the syllabus sitting beside me as a guide. For
each required artifact, I felt that I explained how my work was completed. Quoting is something
I did way too much throughout my essay in my opinion, but it was a lot easier to reflect if the quote
was available for the reader to see. Next, I did mention three of the nine key concepts throughout
my essay. I mentioned two under the midterm section of my paper, and the other one was
mentioned while talking about my blogs. Though I did quote from myself a lot, I also focused on
quoting from authors, Ms. Ingram, and other classmates.

I usually quoted their feedback,

suggestions, and advice then explained why and how it helped me. Lastly, I dont think I left any
unanswered questions because I was always sure to provide a lot of information for the reader to
attain.