Dear ePortfolio reader,
As my journey with English 170 comes to an end, I want to reflect and contemplate on the skills I learned, the subjects I turned to love, and the areas I need improvement.
Firstly, I used the knowledge I learned about researching into my Legal Environment of Business project. Using boolean operators helped me narrow down search results to find articles on the effectiveness of universal basic income. Additionally, I considered the second audience, my teacher, while writing my script so I made sure to define any technical terms that they might not be familiar with. Doing a video presentation for this class helped me to understand how to make effective slide presentations. I used minimal words on each slide and was mindful in making sure there was enough contrast for accessibility.
And on accessibility, learning ways to make your presentation as accessible as possible is an important skill that I will use in the future. I never knew about things such as alt-text which describes a visual element in your presentation for those who are visually impaired. Without alt-text, it causes problems for those who rely on screen readers.
Another skill that will be useful is how to construct criticism. It is something that I shy away from because I do not like to offend any of my peers or seem harsh. However, learning different situations in when to use a certain type of criticism format (like leaving criticism till later into the email) will be useful in communicating with my boss about a project or complaining to a seller about my missing item.
I would say the areas I enjoyed working on are critical reading and developing detailed evidence and explanation of examples. I always loved reading so that is a given. Reading Accounting and Distributive Justice by John Flower was a difficult but ultimately insightful read on how allowing more approachable financial statements would allow governments to enact a more equitable distributive function. That tied into me developing my persuasive business letter where, using various methods such as the Toulmin approach, I carefully constructed my argument into a well thought out letter.
My strengths as a writer are providing evidence to back up my statements (logos) and my syntax. I think my weaknesses are not providing enough pathos that truly connects with the audience.
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter!
Sincerely,
Ankelo J. Aurelius