Hello! My name is Maggie Hanneman and welcome to my ISU Communications ePortfolio. I am a Freshman student at Iowa State University currently studying Elementary Education. I plan on adding endorsements in Reading and English as a Second Language. I will be graduating in May of 2021. This ePortfolio contains artifacts from my entire semester of English 250 at Iowa State University. Each artifact can be found under menu sections which are, Written, Oral, Visual, Electronic, and Reflection blogs. The main focus of English 250 was on arguments: how  everything can be argued through evidence and explanation. To add creativity to our arguments, we focused on food argumentation.  The writing inspiration came directly from my personal experiences with food throughout my life. Food is something that all humans experience to some degree, so it provides a great foundation for argumentation.  This class developed not only my debate skills, but also my writing, reading, and speaking abilities. The purpose of my portfolio is to showcase my level of growth as a writer throughout the semester. I hope you enjoy.

Loyally,

Maggie Hanneman

 

Zara,

When I began English 250 I felt I was a fairly effective communicator in the written and oral sections of WOVE. I took many english courses throughout high school that grew my writing, reading, and speaking skills, but I did not have much experience analyzing visual and electronic communication. Through English 250, I have grown as a learner, arguer, and writer. Through creating the various assignments using the WOVE format, I have become an overall stronger communicator.

Taking a look at my very first assignment of the class, a written narrative about a food memoir, I definitely feel I excelled at this assignment.  I took a more creative approach, since creative narratives are one of my favorite styles of writing, by explaining my first experience of trying a latte.  One of my favorite lines of my essay stated, “As I began to sip on the coffee in front of me, the warm steam rising from the cup pressed against my cold cheeks. The lightly colored latte was blended  perfectly with spices and flavors so rich and sweet. As I placed the cup back down on the table the fluffy foam traced the edges of the white cup. I couldn’t help but smile because I had just discovered a love for something so simple, yet elegant.”  This narrative was one of my favorite assignments to write because there really was no exact formula as to how to write it. This essay is posted on the assignments portion of my portfolio to be read. 

Assignment four was where I felt most challenged by this course. The expectations of this assignment were to draft an essay that argues the visual rhetorical analysis of a companies products. My group was assigned the company Coca Cola, and I picked their Coke cans to analyze. Before writing this assignment, I had no idea the significance a brands visual marketing can have on a product. My thesis claimed, “Since 1886, Coca Cola Company has provided its audience with a consistent trademark design and thesis, while still incorporating modern elements into their products in order to satisfy their thirsty consumers.” I believe the reason I had such an effective thesis was because of the way I organized my introduction. I began by giving evidence of a company, Tropicana, that was effected by the rapid change in their branding and how that ultimately effected the success of their products. I then connected this to how Coca Cola had the exact same issue when they abruptly changed their logo design in 1890. This evidence is what helped me better develop my thesis statement and my overall claim for the paper. 

Finally, the final assignment five was a great way for me to showcase a skill I had used in high school, but to a more difficult extent. We were asked to create a Documented Analysis on a chosen topic. My topic was on whether fast food is really food and I enjoyed researching this topic since I already had some background knowledge prior to doing research. By both presenting my findings and then analyzing my research in a paper, I feel like I developed as a writer.  Before writing my paper, I was struggling with composing conclusions in many of my other assignments, but the conclusion I created in my final assignment was by far the best one I wrote in the class. My conclusion stated, “As the American appetite for fast food has continued to increase, so has the amount of franchises offered in the United States. The fast food industry has been growing both in size and popularity as expressed by Eric Schossler, “Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, or new cars” (Schossler, 2). Despite some franchises intentions to provide healthier choices, due to the efficiency, calculability, and predictability of restaurants, the selections are only adding more harm to the American diet. Consuming fast food in a McDonaldized society is a successful way companies can continue to satisfy their customers through cheap meals, but they manage hide the dangerous ingredients that form many of their most popular products.” Overall, this conclusion provided readers with a final statement, including all of the claims made throughout my paper, and restated my thesis in a creative way. I will begin to start writing more effective and cohesive conclusions in future essays. 

Overall, I have been very satisfied with the growth I have made in English 250. There is definitely always chances to grow in my writing, especially with the many grammar mistakes I tend to make, but I have enjoyed exploring more about food argumentation throughout this course. When I started to create this ePortfolio, it inspired me to start my own personal lifestyle blog. I plan to build this blog throughout the next year and continue to build my creative writing skills throughout college.

I have loved developing as a writer, learner, reader, and speaker throughout your course.

Thank you,

Maggie Hanneman