Portfolio 3:
Introduction:
WARNING: since I wrote this essay as a speech there are purposely fragment sentences included. Also it is supposed to sound like a speech as realistically as it can.
This was definitely my favorite essay to write thus far, as there was so much leeway for creativity. Writing this essay in the form of a speech was challenging at times, but I think it also kept me more interested and excited about the topic at hand. As you are well aware by now I am quite anti e-book thus this assignment was really enjoyable for me to really let out my feelings on the topic.
The hardest part of this assignment for me was by far the audio part. Not only is it hard to read aloud a four-page paper flawlessly, but also it is hard to listen to yourself without being embarrassed about how your voice sounds. Plus, with my lack of technological skills I struggled quite a bit, figuring out how to work the program. Although it was a challenge, it was a neat change to writing typical essays.
In regard to the blog posts, I tried to include ones that differed in topic. Although mainly every blog post dealt with copyright it was definitely neat to see just how far reaching copyright actually goes. It’s funny how once your eyes are opened to something new you tend to see it everywhere; that is exactly how I feel about copyright now.
Blog posts:
1. Rumored Return of Friends the TV Show
3. Why Socially Acceptable to Pirate Music?
Main Essay:
Audio Essay:
Portfolio 2:
Introduction:
For this essay my main worry was the collaboration part of it. I tend to do my best work alone; and I always get a bit anxious when I can’t plan, think of, or implement all of what I want to say in an essay. From previous bad experiences with collaborative work, I have grown accustomed to enjoying working on assignments by myself.
However, on a more specific note, the part of the essay that I think stumped me the most was trying to find evidence for both sides of the argument that we presented. The one side (Anti Shuman) was pretty easy to find evidence for; however, evidence for the other side (Pro Shuman) was not as obvious. It took a bit of searching through Goldstein’s book, to find some good quotes that were relevant to the Pro Shuman side of the case. Although this process wasn’t easy we thought it was necessary to present both sides, as Goldstein does not specifically claim to be either a “copyright optimist” or a “copyright pessimist” (Goldstein 11).
In regard to my blog posts, I was aiming to express an array of topics, that is until two of my blog posts mysteriously went missing. But I think that although they may not all be my top choice of blog posts, they still vary in subject matter and length, giving a good sense of my more informal writing.
Overall, I think this portfolio was a challenging assignment for me because it definitely put me out of my comfort zone. But, that’s a good thing because that is the best way to expand learning and writing techniques.
Blog Posts:
3. 4 Chords
Main Essay:
Portfolio 1:
Introduction
Used to the portfolio process from my English 110 course, I was not too worried when it came time to begin this assignment. However, to my surprise, the main essay took me for a bit of a whirl. Right away I knew I wanted to write about e-nooks. Having so many ideas, I figured it would be an easy essay to write. Well, I was wrong.
I think the fact that I had so many ideas that I wanted to touch on actually hindered my progress with the essay, at first. With a limited amount of space, (4 pages), I could not possibly include every little detail that I wished to present. But it was not until after writing out about three pages of my essay that I realized this. In addition to that misfortune, I also realized that I had not exactly answered the question of the essay topic. I knew I was on the right track, but not yet there. Coming to those realizations I was a bit set back and discouraged.
But here’s where you come in! Talking with you about my essay, for the second time, really helped me see what I had to do. I realized that I had spent way too much time describing what would be missed about books if switched over to e-books; basically, I had included way too much opinion that led me on a tangent protesting the use of e-books, as opposed to actually relating such back to the essay topic.
But one good thing that came out of my long rant about e-books is that I discovered that the topic lies dear to my heart. And I know that I will definitely be interested to see how everything plays out in the future. For now, go books!
Blog Posts
1. Tuesday’s Class, But Online
2. Trip to EPI
Main Essay