DiefenbacherPortfolio

Foundations of College Writing

Dr. Sherry

Portfolio Synthesis Letter

Jenna Diefenbacher

In my Foundations of Writing Class, I have been working to accomplish the five goals, which will be discussed below, to better my writing. I will provide examples of work that I have done to complete these goals that have improved my writing. I mainly used examples from the three projects that we did. I conducted a research paper where I saw how people in the Deaf Community feel in the world around them. I interviewed and found scholarly sources, where I found that the people that are Deaf sometimes feel isolated and torn between the Deaf community and the hearing community. In my second project I used my research paper and transformed it to display my findings in different mediums. Lastly, my third project was my personal narrative. In my narrative, I showed how my past and present experiences affect my future.
 * Goal A. Students will be able to compose for particular audiences and purposes.**

When I transformed my research paper, I took the findings I obtained through my paper and put them into different ways for the different audiences that I was addressing. In one of my transformations, I wrote a letter to the principal from a concerned parent. The audience was the principal of the school. The purpose of the letter was to express the parent’s concern about their Deaf child being left out of the inclusive classroom.

With this approach, I was able to show parental concern, while still being professional. This letter is the best way to do that. Also the parent was able to convey their concern, but in a professional way that would appeal to the principal.

For another one of my transformations of my research paper, I created a satire. My intended audience was the ignorant people who make fun of others for being different. The purpose of my satire was to make these people think about what they are saying and how it is not acceptable to make fun of someone just because they are different.



In this satire, I showed that the even if someone is Deaf and they ask you to speak louder, it does not mean that they need to be screamed at to be able to hear you. I obtained this information when I interviewed a Deaf girl in my dorm building for my research paper. She explained that it bothers her when people scream when they talk to her. She said that she just wants people to speak a little louder and clearer not scream at her.


 * Goal B. Students will be able to compose using language and conventions appropriate to genre.**

In my research paper, I started with a problem and then gave background on the previous research. Then, I showed how my methods relate with the previous research. And finally I analyzed my data and reflected on the things I found. For example, I wrote:

**Background**: Ford & Kent (2013), Skelton & Valentine (2003), and Miller (2010) all did studies on how people who are deaf feel in the hearing and Deaf world and how these people identify themselves. **Problem**: In the Deaf world there are two communities; one is the Deaf community and one is the Hearing community. Where deaf people feel stuck in the middle. **Support from text:** When they are in the Hearing community, they might feel taken advantage of because they are the only deaf person in the discussion. However, when they are part of the Deaf community, they isolate themselves from the Hearing community (Ford and Kent, 2013, p.42).

I used APA citation when citing my previous research throughout my research paper. APA citing gives the author, year that the work was published and the page numbers. This example shows that I am able to use the given headings of the previous research article in a way that is appropriate to that genre and understandable to a researcher audience.


 * Goal C. Students will be able to read, select, and use evidence critically to formulate and support arguments.**

When I was writing my research paper, I was arguing that people who are Deaf feel isolated and left out when they are in school. As I was reading my previous research articles I found an article that had to deal with Deaf children in schools and how they felt. I then used the section of the article and used it in my project to show that when in school, children who are deaf feel left out and isolated. This is how I used what I found in the previous text and used it to defend my argument:


 * I found this:** In schools, sometimes the children are not allowed to use sign language. Only oral conversation is used as a “system of partial integration into mainstream education” (Skelton & Valentine, 2003, p. 456).


 * I defended it by saying this:** This is hard for the students because sign language might be the only way that they know how to communicate. Because talking is such a big part of school, the children might feel left out.
 * I also found this:** Ford & Kent saw “…that being the only Deaf in the class was a daunting experience” (Ford & Kent, 2013, p.42).


 * And supported it with this:** Because a deaf person is different from the norm of the group they are normally left out. This makes creating friendships harder for a deaf student in a mainstream school to make friends because they are different from their peers.


 * Goal D. Students will be able to interpret and compose in a variety of media and print/ non-print genres.**

I accomplished this goal by demonstrating the task while transforming my research paper into different mediums. I used my research from my research paper about how people who are deaf feel in the community and made it into different genres. I arranged my research paper into different forms to appeal to different audiences and made them a variety. I did this by using the principles that we were taught in class: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity. Here are my examples:



With my flyer, I used the contrast of the pink and the green in the columns. I also made the text in the columns black and white so they were contrasting. I demonstrated repetition by using these four colors: pink, green, black and white, throughout the flyer. I used alignment when I made the text in the columns left-aligned and made the headings of the columns in the center to know that they are what is being discussed. I finally used proximity, when I aligned the picture in the top left hand corner of the flyer, so it catches someone’s attention. Also when I aligned all of the facts on the right hand side and made the Title “Being Deaf in the Community,” the Biggest text on the flyer, I was using proximity.



With my letter, I used the contrast of the black and white of the paper and text. I demonstrated repetition by always saying the child’s name. In the letter, I used alignment by making everything left aligned. And finally, I used proximity by setting the letter up in a standard letter format. When I say “standard letter format,” I mean that the date and the addressed person’s name is at the top of the paper, the body of the letter is in the middle and the closing statement is at the bottom of the letter with the person who is sending the letter name is at the bottom after sincerely.

I have accomplished this goal with my writing because I uses the feedback from my peers and Professor Sherry to enhance my writing. I demonstrate this in all of my projects. In my example, I am using my personal narrative to show how my writing improved from the feedback I received from Dr. Sherry.
 * Goal E. Students will be able to discuss and apply appropriate writing processes both individually and in collaborative contexts.**

After I read the comments on my paper, I edited it so that my writing would improve and grow. This is the end result of my personal narrative.

With the corrections I made, I have improved my narrative into something that I easier to read and has more detail in it. I added more detail about my experiences and explained how I think my future will be by expanding on the things that I had already written.

In conclusion, I feel that I have accomplished these goals after having Foundations of College Writing this semester. This class has made me a better writer and has helped me see the different styles of writing that I may need to do in the future.