I believe that part of being a rhetor means engaging in all kinds of discourse, but there is no denying the importance of lived rhetoric. This section will display my skills as a rhetor that appreciates and accounts for the way that messages must be repackaged when transferring them from one medium to a live one. I will also include pieces that evidence my ability to capitalize on the changing strengths and weaknesses that I have as a presenter as well as a rhetor.

"Pop Culture Presentation" is a 20-minute exploration of a popular-culture depiction of native american culture, including how the image was accurate, misleading, beneficial, and detrimental. The skills that I primarily focus on with this piece include making a meaningful statement about a delicate topic, as well as presenting a topic that my audience is neither familiar with nor recognizes as worth exploring. While my written pieces affirm similar skills, I believe that the ability to retain, if not improve, the effectiveness of an argument in the translation from a written medium to a spoken one is a valuable skill.

"Paper 3" was a 15-minute presentation I gave for a class on the evolution and eventual implosion of the U.S.S.R. during the Cold War era. It might not sound like it would be at first, but I found myself thoroughly challenged to condense and present what had been a ten-page document (down from eighteen pages) to fit such a small window and still deliver a complete explanation about how we arrived at the international-diplomatic face of Russia that we know today. Because all of my evidence was essential given the complexity of my topic, I feel that this piece is a particularly strong testament to my ability to summarize efficiently and utilize visual-and-audio aids to expedite the import of information.