ENC 1102 Semester Writing Portfolio

Introduction

Over the course of this semester, my writing and research process became more focused, detailed, and intentional. My portfolio shows my progress through the way my writing changed and developed from MA1 to MA3. At the start of the semester, I was still trying to find a research question that was specific, researchable, and strong enough to base my full project on. By the end of the semester, I had developed a much more refined research article that not only analyzed rhetorical strategies on Instagram Reels, but also examined how those strategies shaped factual accuracy and audience interpretation. Across my artifacts, I made progress in Generating Inquiry, Multiple Ways of Writing, Information Literacy, Research Genre Production, Contributing Knowledge, and Revision. However, there are still areas where I can improve, such as organizing my writing and making sure I follow the rubric. My ePortfolio shows my growth as a writer in creating and tweaking my research question, gathering evidence, organizing research, and revising my essays.

Generating Inquiry

My portfolio demonstrates progress in Generating Inquiry because my project did not stay fixed at its first idea. Instead, it developed through multiple stages as I figured out what question was actually worth asking and what kind of evidence I could realistically gather. In my brainstorming artifact, I started with broad personal interests such as video games, computers, and business. From there, I moved toward a question about rhetoric in Reddit communities debating AI-generated art. Later, I changed that question to the Minnesota childcare controversy on Instagram Reels, then refined it again into my final focus on the ICE controversy. By MA3, my research question became: how do rhetorical strategies used by political creators on Instagram Reels shape both the framing and the factual accuracy of information about the ICE controversy?