Photograph of Lincoln Monument at Washington D.C. in 2016

Dear ePortfolio Reader,

Welcome! Though I previously introduced myself, I thought that I should give you the rundown of my journey this semester.

Throughout the semester, I improved upon my ability to present information and even learned some new writing techniques. Citing MLA sources became a lot easier for me after I saw the revisions Professor Rigolino made on my persuasive business letter. The clear corrections she made allowed me to learn how to correctly multiple sources, as well as perfect my in-text citations. On another note, I improved on my ability to present my ideas. I was able to do this because of Professor Rigolino’s guidance on powerpoint and speech making. These outlines made it a lot easier for me to effectively present my arguments to the audience.

In addition, I actually used what I learned about presenting information in another class. This was my Russian culture course. Essentially, I used less wordy slides and included more images in my presentation. After doing so, I was able to present my information cohesively, instead of using a reading off my powerpoint. 

Collectively, the main areas that I improved in were the use of technology and MLA citations. I learned about websites such as pexels.com, which offer royalty-free images. Also, I learned about royalty-free music. Basically, what I learned was to use content that is not copyrighted in my presentations. This was helpful information that taught me how to stay out of legal trouble. Additionally, I improved on my ability to correctly use and cite sources with MLA formatting. I am now able to cite information in my research papers without hesitation.

Now, I have new strengths as a writer. By developing my skills over the semester, I am confident that my strengths are citing effective information and conveying that information to the reader. After many mistakes in the past with citing weak evidence, I have finally figured out how to pick out the best information from my research. I feel confident in my ability to use evidence that will support my argument, as opposed to only being able to find evidence that is ineffective. Another strength that I developed was my ability to efficiently convey my argument. After seeing the revisions made on my assignments by Professor Rigolino, it became clear that I needed to remove needless information. I learned how to do this through countless revisions and focus only on how my evidence will support my claim.

Thank you for your time!

Sincerely,

Garrett Lee