Writing Journey
Capturing Growth Through Pages
By Melissa Olivas
Reflecting Letter
Dear, ENMU Writing Program Assessment Committee
As I reflect on my writing journey throughout this semester, I feel proud of the growth I have made not only as a writer, thinker and communicator. At the beginning of this course, I was unsure how to organize my ideas clearly or express complex thoughts effectively. However, through each writing project, I gained more confidence in my voice and more awareness of how writing can connect my personal experiences with academic research. Another meaningful piece was my vaccination awareness project. This was deeply personal, I connected it to my own experience of moving to the United States and learning about vaccines for the first time. I was able to use research and storytelling together to raise awareness about a public health issue that affects many families. I also created a digital flyer to make the information more accessible for the community. While learning how to write for a real world purpose, having to design and visuals that support my communication. During this semester, I developed my ability to write in different styles, from analysis to advocacy. Also, I learned how to revise thoughtfully based on feedback. I am more confident using digital tools, researching information, and writing with a purpose beyond the classroom. Thank you for taking the time to review my portfolio.
My Portfolio
Welcome to my portfolio. Here you’ll find a selection of my work. Explore my projects to learn more about what I do.
Featured Work
Discussion Posts
Discussion 1, Part 1: Goals and Expectations
During this semester I had several personal goals that I want to reach, they revolve around professional and personal growth. One of my personal goals is that I'm going to focus on improving my writing skills. In order to improve my writing skills during this semester I want to learn higher vocabulary that I can implement while completing my assignments. Reading daily and exploring new materials that have a rich vocabulary will help me have a better understanding of those assignments. Expanding my vocabulary daily can help me express my thoughts better and I will be able to be more confident in my writing assignments. Another one of my goals is learning new techniques and strategies that I can implement in new ways. All the new ideas and knowledge can positively affect my everyday life. I'm planning to always refer to the tools that are provided in Canvas to stay on track during the semester. Also, using a calendar is another way to manage my time. Time management is very important in order to complete all the assignments on time and this semester I'm using a traditional calendar. I'm also using a digital calendar that will send me reminders of the due date for this class’s assignments. One of my expectations for this class is to develop a better academic language, be engaged in all the activities and attend writing center sessions. Another one of my expectations for this class it's to build a good foundation to strengthen my writing and communication skills.
Part 2: Learning and Writing in Composition 1
This week's reading materials cover important information on efficient strategies and techniques to learn for a better long-term memory. According to the video, higher order learning is integrated and not isolated. Using different methods of learning is an important key to learning and gathering new information that creates a stronger foundation. I’m excited that we will learn to navigate new technology because during this era it’s very important to learn new methods. Especially learning how to navigate AI technologies as technology keeps evolving so fast. AI tools are becoming a part of many people's daily lives and learning about this technology is critical for the future. Critical and creative thinking are important pieces of writing that create opportunities to expand our understanding of the learning process. Therefore, all the important information provided during this first week aligns with my own learning expectations and I’m looking forward to expanding my own personal development.
Discussion 3, Part 1: Your Thoughts on AI and Writing
After reading the materials for this week, I believe that Artificial Intelligence should be introduced at a young age. By introducing AI at a young age, children can learn to navigate while having more knowledge of the positive and negative things that AI can offer. Allowing students to use AI during classroom can have many advantages because students will be able to find information faster with the help of AI. They can have higher critical thinking skills that will probably be essential in the future. Another advantage of AI is that it offers creative opportunities to organize and brainstorm great ideas while working on a writing project.
Also, I believe that AI should never complete all the work for humans and should only be used as a helping tool. Using AI to pass a quiz sounds like a great idea but in reality, the individual will not be learning any skills if AI is completing all the work. People go to school for many years before they can start working in their career, all these years of education provide knowledge that will be implemented in their career. By using artificial intelligence to complete everything, people will have excellent grades due to AI, but they won’t be able to implement that knowledge to real life. Taking a quiz is important because it is used for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons that quizzes at school are important is that they identify strengths and weaknesses of the students to prepare them for their future.
Writing is an important element to be successful in any career and AI can be an important tool to help with writing skills. Using AI for a writing assignment can lead to concerns such as copyright of the original assignment. A good part of using AI as a helping tool is that it can help with people’s critical thinking during the writing process. Also, I believe that using artificial intelligence is a great tool to help create images and videos because most of the time their purpose is to entertain.
It’s important to always read all the information provided for AI to make sure that the content is good information. One way to avoid being manipulated is by using your own critical thinking about any information. Adopting this technology is part of many people’s life but should always be used as a helping tool. I developed most of these ideas was after I read all the articles, specially this one: “Everything students need to know about using – and not using ChatGPT for writing essays”.
Discussion 4, Part 1: Ideas, Topics, and Questions
The goal of this project is to analyze and understand information that led to critical thinking ideas. Also, learning the steps of how to write an argument by researching efficient information. After reading all the information for this week, my concern about this project is about covering all the right information. My initial ideas that I have are to research arguments that include the elements that we covered this week.
Part: 2 Applying the Toulmin Method and Rhetorical Theory in Argument Analysis
This argument is about how “binge-watching” helps people interact in big group like communities that benefit from social connections. While people are watching the same show, it can create a sense of being involved in that same type of environment. According to the argument in part 2, this is called “shared cultural space” because everyone is at the same place enjoying the same show. When this type of event happens, it is also called a "phenomenon.” Some of the reasons that people share the same interests and preferences in watching a show together is because they can interact with each other later on the same subjects. The evidence provided can be found on the last paragraph, according to the study published in “The Journal of Social and Personal Relationships” found that binge-watching can help long-distance relationships. In this argument, it does not present evidence of using rebuttals because it does not present an argument against another individual.
Part: 3 Part 3: Rhetorical Theory
The two elements that I found interesting are emotion (pathos) and purpose. I believe that everything has a purpose or otherwise someone would not have created something for the people to see. An emotion is tied to anything that is made because I believe that someone had to have some type of emotions when they created it. They can be the basis for anything created and I enjoy seeing those elements day by day. These two elements can be found on Omega Mart ads, they attract the audience’s attention by creating an emotional connection to the buyer and the purpose of convincing you to buy a ticket
Discussion 5, Part 1: Rhetorical Analysis
Toulmin analysis is an important element when it comes to the discussion of rhetorical analysis. Also, rhetorical analysis refers to the Toulmin analysis as a method that provides a structured approach to arguments. Helps break down an argument in order to be more effectively assessed in terms of how the arguments are structured. Rhetorical analysis focuses on the many types of communication with the audience such as persuasion, informing and engagement. On slide number ten of the slideshow, I observed several examples of rhetorical situations. For example, the author is a key element in the ad, in this case the author was Pedigree, which is a brand of dog food. By observing the ad of a lonely little dog, it refers to the emotional side of the audience that cares about pets. The purpose of the ad is to persuade people to buy dog food and encourage them to adopt dogs like Otis. Additionally, I observed that the context indicates that a dog needs company; by buying this band of dog food, people can help Otis and other dogs that feel lonely. The layers of meaning that I interpreted while observing the ad were the emotional meaning that they were trying to emphasize by incorporating a picture of a lonely dog. Also, the surface of the ad explains in a meaningful way how making donations can help many dogs that are in the same circumstances as Otis.
I chose the last video from the slideshow because it was about several emergencies. The purpose of this message is to communicate and inform the operator as soon as possible of the critical situation that people are experiencing. The audience is the person who is working in the department of emergency services. The context of the event is that there are real emergency calls that happen in different places. The text identifies as an emergency and how calling the emergency services can help save lives. The layer of meaning is literal because it is about people calling emergency services to ask for immediate help. The intent of the ad is to inform and persuade people about how important it is to communicate with the dispatchers in order to get a faster response to the correct emergency. In the emotional area, it is important to always stay calm even in case of emergency. The rhetorical appeals that I observed were pathos because of the voices they used in the videos. Also, logos because they introduced reasons to call the emergency department. In my opinion this ad is very effective because they may have a stronger impact with the audience by using a clear specific message. In my opinion the last commercial about calling the department of emergencies can be persuasive toward the audience. One of the reasons the last ad is using persuasive strategies is because they are trying to persuade the audience about the impact incorrect information can have on their own situation. While acting more responsible, talking clearly, being calm during an emergency and more importantly to always trust the emergency department.
Writing Projects
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Project number one: Philosophy of Learning and Writing
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The topic of the project: The evolving role of Artificial Intelligence in society.
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Skills Demonstrated for this project: Research integration, rhetorical analysis, ethical argumentation.
My essay for project number one explores how AI has advanced from science fiction to the real-world application in areas like communication, education and ethics. It discusses the potential risks of misuse, the importance of ethical AI use, and the value of educating the public, especially younger generations, about the responsible technology adoption.
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Project number two: Media Analysis of AI Debate (based on Solman, Yudkowsky, and Kaplan)
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The topic of this project: Ethical debates surrounding AI and humanity’s future
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Skills Demonstrated for this project: Source analysis, comparison of logical appeals, arguments evaluation.
The project number two focused on analyzing three expert perspectives on AI role in society. Emphasizing in rational and emotional appeals, source credibility and argument logic. It demonstrates how media can influence public perception of AI and balancing optimism with warnings about unchecked development.
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Project number three: Measles Vaccine Safe Communities
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The topic of this project: Public health outreach and the importance of childhood vaccines.
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Skills Demonstrated for this project: Personal narrative, persuasive writing, informational design.
This project is about combining a personal reflection on learning about vaccines after moving to the United States with a research informed essay and a visual public health flayer. It emphasizes the importance of education, community protection, and local action to prevent vaccine preventable diseases.
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Project number four: Measles Vaccination Your Community your Family
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The topic of this project: Educating and advocating for vaccination in local communities
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Skills Demonstrated for this project: Research based writing in local communication, persuasive, public health messaging
This project reflects on the author’s personal experience learning about vaccines after moving to the United States, then expands into a community wide call for action following a measles outbreak. The writing blends scientific research, public health guidance, emotional appeals and is accompanied by a digital flyer designed for public distribution.