Portfolio Preface - Soshanna Montes

Due to the fast-paced nature of the class, it is hard to say that my writing "developed" over the course of the class. This is the first class that I have had to write four distinctly different essays 1 week apart from each other. The process of focusing on four different types of writing styles was extremely educational. It made me realize that there are different types of writing based on the reaction you want out of your reader. I had never looked at writing like that before.

I had never heard of rhetorical analysis before. The term rhetoric is thrown around often enough, but to sit back and consider analyzing it was new. I did my first essay on the influences of Twitter due to my interest in social networking. The nature of the essay caused me to look past the subject and focus on his tools and methods used in the author's writing. Learning how to observe these tools helped me in future writings by showing me how to observe my own. I realized that I tend to find a focal point in my writings and keep drawing back to it.

The second paper was the argument response. I spent a lot of time researching this article. The article was on whether or not Obama has betrayed the gay community. This article was extremely hard for me to write. I have many gay friends whom I passionately stand by their side, but I also fully support our President. I asked my closest gay friend to write me his thoughts on the subject from someone who lives it, and I learned a lot. Fortunately, he was realistic with me and gave me both points of view as he is able to see both sides of the coin as well. I still haven't shown him my essay, but I plan to. I hope that he is proud of it and that I was not offensive. I realized how hard it is to argue something that you are not a part of. Writing on behalf of gay outlooks, without being gay, causes you to triple think your words. Aside from picking his brain, I had many discussions over dinner about this subject to help prepare for this essay.

It was difficult to come up with a subject for the position paper. I have many positions, but to find one that would be easy to argue on paper was another story. I ultimately settled on taking the position that the government should take part in preventing divorce. It is a controversial subject, and one in which I still sit on the fence. I lean toward my chosen position, but I can see both sides of the argument. As I wrote the paper, I found myself moving more toward the middle, which made it hard to continue on in my position. Perhaps writing a position paper is the ultimate test to see if you really do believe in your position on a matter. If you can write through to the end without ever doubting yourself, then you can say you have a strong position.

My research paper brings me back to the topic of homosexuality. Through my dinner discussions on Obama's potential betrayal of the gay community, I realized that many "theories" come up as to what causes homosexuality. Some say it is learned behavior, others think its just a matter of choice, while some believe it is genetics. I chose to do my research paper on what current research has been done to prove homosexuality is genetic. I chose this subject because I wanted to be more educated when discussing these matters. After walking out of Chipotle in tears due to an argument with my step-dad, I realized that I needed more knowledge to back me up. This research paper has taught me some amazing facts that I did not know, and I am so glad to know now.

Overall, I learned a lot in this class. The reason I say that my writing did not necessarily develop is due to the fact that we couldn't focus on a particular style for more than a week. If we had to write several position papers, or take the time to pick them apart, I could have possibly learned more techniques. I learned the basics and from here I can choose to develop them further. I am glad to have taken this class due to the opportunity of getting to learn the different styles. I have always enjoyed writing, and can't say I have any particular styles. I tend to have moments where I can sit and let my thoughts flow, and fortunately, the topics were interesting enough to allow me to do so.