Welcome to Molly Dilts' E-Portfolio for LA101H

Welcome to my E-Portfolio! This blog will showcase my best work from this semester’s LA101H “Rhetoric and Civil Life” course. This work ranges from rhetoric analysis to my group multimedia project. This has been an extremely interesting course for me. We studied a combination of communication and English skills in order to develop an effective understanding of what rhetoric is and how it affects our lives.

First, I have developed a better understanding of effective speaking throughout this course. I was not aware that speeches should be structured in a certain way and include certain aspects in order to be as effective as possible. For example, I never put much thought into the introduction of a speech. I almost always relied on a quote or statistic as an opener, and then proceeded to state my thesis and quickly move into my first point. In LA101H, I learned that there are other points that must be included in order to present an efficient introduction, such as: the attention getter, why the topic is importance, establishing credibility, the thesis, and a preview of the main points. I also now understand that it is important to structure a speech very specifically. When giving speeches, my main points were usually not well defined, but presented in a jumble of information between the intro and conclusion. I thought point-by-point analysis was only important for writing. LA101H has taught me that structure is just as important to a speech as it is when writing an essay.

I also developed a better understanding of effective writing in this course. I always thought that I had a decent understanding of effective writing before this class. However, LA101H has helped to refine and contribute to my definition so that I now have a much better understanding of what makes writing effective. Learning how to analyze rhetoric in websites and other essays has taught me how to communicate more effectively in my own writing. I am now able to detect fallacies and certain emotional appeals when reading other work, which I can apply to my own writing. I have also learned of the importance of audience identification in order to write effectively. I almost always chose to write for a general audience before taking this course, because I did not know that it is far more effective to write with a specific audience in mind. I am now aware that in order to have a specific and effective message in my writing, I must first define whom exactly I am writing to.

Throughout this course we have looked at rhetoric and how it defines our lives. I could probably have not provided a decent definition of “rhetoric” if I had been asked before taking this course. I just mentally compared it to propaganda before this class, so the word held a negative connotation. I am very glad I have been able to better understand what exactly rhetoric means. I now understand rhetoric as “deliberative communication”, and define a broad range of things as rhetoric. We use rhetoric every single day, through the communication we have with others and through the messages we hear and see all around us. As I learned about rhetoric I came to finally understand the significance of ethos, pathos, and logos as they relate to communication. These were concepts that I was never previously able to fully comprehend when discussed in previous classes. Through examining all three of these through speeches, advertisements, and campaigns, I have been able to identify when they are being used and to what effect. This understanding has helped me to consciously apply them to my own writing and speaking in order to have my desired effect on the audience.

Overall, this course has taught me how to effectively communicate with the world around me. Learning about effective speaking and writing will assist me with analyzing the rhetoric I encounter and with the rhetoric I produce.