Alex Bohnsack

Final Portfolio Essay

Ingram
Final Portfolio Essay

As the semester draws to a close, there is a lot to reflect on in terms of growth over the
past semester. The course has helped me grow tremendously as a writer and also as in editor. My
e-portfolio is designed in such a simplistic way that it easily highlights my final work while
showing the path I took to create my final assignments. This essay serves a reflection piece in
order to detail each of the assignments found on my e-portfolio.
E-Portfolio
My e-portfolio is designed with simplicity as the first thing in mind. I kept a minimalistic
approach to layout because I wanted the work to be the main thing showcased throughout my
site. I have splashes of color on s a couple of the pages with photographs, but other than that it
is all about letting the assignments be the attraction of my blog. I kept things simple and
straightforward when it came to the navigation of my site. I utilized the spatial mode of
communication because I was able create a site that was structured for efficiency while still
appealing to visual communication, making my site pleasing to the eye. The order in which
things appear on my blog is based on the outline we received. While I thought about veering
from this, I personally enjoyed the hierarchy presented in the outline
Multi-Genre Project
My multi-genre project helped me to answer my question, In 2015, have we reached
such a thing as equality? Is the millennial generation any closer to ending white male privilege?
I put quotations around answer, because the question I have could not fully be answered. I was

Alex Bohnsack
Final Portfolio Essay
Ingram
able to talk about progress that has been made towards such an answer. In my annotated
bibliography I reflected on both sides of the argument. For the first aspect of my project I created
a blog of a young student who endured the Baltimore riots and had also experienced racism. I am
particularly close to this one because since I do not personally know what it is like to go through
that kind of injustice, I really had to get personal with other peoples injustices. The second
aspect of my multi-genre project is magazine cover with one side focusing on the rioters and how
betrayed they feel, while the other side depicts the sacrifice that police officers make when they
simply put on their uniform. One of the reasons I picked this topic is because I am much like the
magazine cover I created. I have a family member who is an officer so there is an added
appreciation for those who serve. But I also come from a background of striving for equality and
I have learned and seen first hand about the end justices that people face based on who they are. I
knew the answer of my question, that we have not reached equality of not only the races but
genders as well. However, we are working towards a more level playing field. With the events
that have occurred over the past couple years, I think there is finally serious dialogue that is
happening to help a nation see one and other as the same.
3-Column Notes
My bibliography is next because it was the research to my multi-genre project. This is
where I was able to find such provocative information on injustices within our national system,
as well as personal accounts with the topic. One of the things discussed in a peer review was that
I might be biased in my research and I needed to include information from the other sides
perspective. At that point in time I just had not yet started to research the opposing views, but I
did remind me that the topic I was researching was and still is very controversial for most

Alex Bohnsack
Final Portfolio Essay
Ingram
everyone. I chose to do 3-column notes instead of a visual bibliography because having the
simplicity of time to write about a source was more beneficial to me than a visual display of my
resources. The 3-column notes was also structured in a way that I thought was helpful to any
argument. There was the space for the facts of the source, and then there was space for my own
personal thoughts and reflections of the source I had just found. The thoughts category is where I
started to form my argument and work my way towards my final answer to my research question.
From one of my thoughts in my bibliography, It felt necessary to mention this type of
discrimination because the seriousness of the matter. For if someone cannot turn to the police for
protection; then who can they turn to? What does this say about our society and does it play a
role in furthering the stereotypes of white officers and black thugs? Shown here, I was able
to take the facts from my research, and strengthen my own personal opinions of the topic.
Exploratory Essay
My exploratory essay was one of first major essays in the course. This essay was formed
around the prompt of what I was passionate about. Much like my research project, I wrote about
inclusion for everyone. This essay challenged me by having to think about a first, a passion, but
also something that I exhibited throughout my life. At first there was a struggle but I was able to
pick this topic because I let go of this idea that it had to be some big, astonishing passion. I stuck
with something that I have held dear to me since we were stressed about the principals of
inclusion back in first and second grade

Alex Bohnsack
Final Portfolio Essay
Ingram
Midterm
The midterm was a paper that was necessary reflection since we had hid the halfway
point of the semester. My midterm was helpful to me because I evaluated myself on how I had
succeeded or failed with the key concepts provided my Ms. Ingram on her webpage. I think
reflection is a vital part of life, and getting to discuss where I needed to improve, at length,
helped to drive those points further in, essentially making sure I knew I needed to progress on the
concepts such as critical reflection, and multi modality. The midterm reflection also helped
because it is nice to see what you are doing right when you might be worried that you are not
excelling in a task.
Process Work
The first artifact for process work that I have included is the back of my exploratory
essay. I included this because the first draft of my essay did not reflect my passion well. I talked
about social equality but I made it seem bigger than it really was. In my revised version, I
simplified things and kept it real. I was able to talk about how the simple gesture of making
someone feel included can make his or her entire day. I included this because it is a perfect
example of constructive teacher feedback, an important part to a students writing process.

Blog Posts
The blog posts receive their own tab because of how vital they were to my growth over
the duration of this course. The assignments challenged me think critically and kept us writing
in between out other major assignments. What I enjoyed about the blog posts was that since they

Alex Bohnsack
Final Portfolio Essay
Ingram
were different topics each time, we would get to practice slightly different methods of approach
to writing, effectively improving us as writers in more than one area. The different questions and
assignments associated with the different posts required us to respond to things that were as
simple as What are you questions about the e-portfolio to creating a round table made up of
people that would be beneficial to our research project. There were also reading assignments,
like in blog post #2, which required us to read chapters of Who Says? The Writers Research,
Holdstein and Aquiline. What I learned from that particular post was how to create my own voice
within my writing. Although you are looking to researchers and scholars to help you construct
your argument, this is ultimately your work and your research writing should represent who you
are both as an academic and as a writer, (Holdstein, p.15). Having a sense of who I am as a
writer helped to develop my own personal style of writing, something that I was able to utilize
past just the blog assignments.
My Grade
Over this course I think I have shown strength in my writing, other assignments, and in
my peer workshops. For my final grade, I feel that the work exhibited warrants a B. I cannot lie,
I have always made As within my English courses, even the college level courses taken during
my high school career. However, I think the transition into college really took a toll on me, and it
was reflected within some of my effort. It was not new found independence that I struggled with,
but the expectations of me across the board, academically, professionally and socially. Since I
was not able to put my 100% into this course for every assignment, I know an A is stretching the
grade I could receive. Now, this is not saying I shirked the responsibilities of this class because

Alex Bohnsack
Final Portfolio Essay
Ingram
that is not true, I just know that with some of the works I missed the mark and due to that, I think
a B is the grade I deserve.

Sources
Holdstein, Deborah H., and Danielle Aquiline. Who Says?: The Writer's Research. Print.