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May 1, 2011

 

Greetings,

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to examine my academic Professional Writing and Rhetoric portfolio, I hope you are well today! My name is Sarah Talbott, and I am a senior at Elon University and will graduate in May 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with minors in Business Administration and Criminal Justice. When I am not in the classroom, you will find me relaxing at the barn with my horse, Reilly. I plan on attending law school next year to practice contract law. I chose Professional Writing and Rhetoric as my concentration because I have always had a passion for writing, and desired to develop stronger skills in writing during college because it is the foundation of any profession. Throughout this compilation of work, you will understand my growth as a leader and collaborator through writing, my knowledge for writing for a wide variety of audiences, and my comprehensive definition of rhetoric.

 

The purpose of creating this online portfolio is to demonstrate strong examples of my work throughout my four years at Elon. I included a wide scope of documents ranging from freshman year projects to culminating senior year documents to prove how Professional Writing and Rhetoric has forced me to grow as a student and writer. Many professors have shaped my writing throughout my experience at Elon University. I have learned to write in a much more formal manner, and strive to clearly communicate a message without interference. I know that every word has a purpose, and each writing situation is varied. Writing is a fascinating subject, and now I am a very confident writer because of the practice from the products you will examine in this portfolio.

 

The past two years have been especially inspiring because the writing projects I completed were different from each other and more important that just a product for a grade. You will find many of theprojects included were client projects for organizations in need or very important, distinguished Elon faculty. The projects helped me understand that rhetoric and writing involve more than words on a page, and become a part of a social conversation that improve meaning and purpose in all aspects of an organization. Take note that some of pictures in this section are hyperlinked to outside sources, so be an active reader and explore!

 

There are four sections in my portfolio designed to illustrate my purpose as a writer for you: Leadership Development, Community Involvement, Practical Engagement, and Visual Rhetoric. In each section, I have provided a contextualizing letter to explain the purpose of the piece, the rhetorical decisions involved in each project, and a reflective paragraph. These contextual narratives allow you to fully understand the importance of the piece, and what rhetorical lessons I have learned throughout the process. At the end of the contextual narrative in each section, you will find a link for most of the projects to further examine a PDF of the final product. The only piece that does not have a link to the entire project is the children's book discussed in the Visual Rhetoric section due to the fact it is under copyright and now sold for a profit. To demonstrate my experience with many types of communication, I have provided examples from a wide variety of media in each section, from clay figurines, entire children's books, to a twenty page management plan.

 

I am particularly proud of this Visual Rhetoric because, as you will read, I feel I have grown the most through this section. I was not very confident of my design capabilities, but after much practice through online publications and creating entire books, I now have a greater understanding of rhetoric as it applies to visual design, and have grown tremendously in my skills as a visual designer.

 

I enjoy applying my knowledge of audience, message, and purpose practically to all situations, and many of these products included in my portfolio demonstrate specific applications of these concepts to hands on, real engaged learning.  Not only have I learned how to present myself knowledgeable in the classroom, but I can apply the theories I have learned to projects I completed as an intern in a professional setting. I have seen how theory of writing can propel my work as a student, but also in any social organizations and professional jobs.

 

I also have a copy of my resume available, and a contact section. Please peruse the sections thoroughly, I am very prideful of my work and I hope you enjoy exploring!

 

Sincerely,

 

Sarah Talbott

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.
User-uploaded Content
DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.