AN PLAN OF ACTION: SUBJECT TO CHANGE, ALWAYS.
- Allison McKenna
- Apr 18, 2021
- 3 min read
This portfolio is designed to showcase my best, or most memorable work. When I first learned we would be selecting certain pieces from our past writing courses and even pieces from past major courses, there was one thing I was certain of; selecting pieces I was extremely proud of. I want to showcase who I was, who I am, and the potential I have through my writing.
The piece I selected from my Applied Writing course is my final project. This project is composed of multiple different pieces in the forms of letters. The title of the project is “Dear Future Me” as each individual piece is either a poem or story about a memory of my life or a vision for my future. I decided to include this piece because it is a true representation of who I am and who I want to be as a person. It encompasses my childhood and my goals all wrapped up in one big collection of letters. I hope to look back at this final project one day and smile as I read through what I had written.
The piece I selected for my Theory, History, and Research course is quite different from what I had been used to writing and is also quite a unique piece done within the writing minor which is why I decided to include it in my portfolio. The exhibit focuses on objects that reflect COVID-19. The object that I chose to include in the exhibit and write a label for were my blue light glasses as they became an essential part of my everyday life. The label, along with the pictures of the glasses, show evidence of my virtual life during the pandemic.
The piece I chose to include from my Theories of Writing course is another unique piece. For this course, I had to come up with my own definition, or theory, of writing. The catch was that I had to do so in at least 5 different modes. I decided to present my final theory through a PowerPoint deck because I thought it would allow all my individual pieces to flow nicely. I wanted to include this in my portfolio because it showcases my creativity, writing skills, drawing skills, and overall what writing means to me. It is an extremely powerful piece that shows exactly who I am as a writer and a thinker.
My theory of writing was that it is not something specific.
"It is not necessarily abstract, tangible, and will never be concrete, but can be any of those or none at all. Writing is a continuous evolution of one's thoughts and ideas."- Allison McKenna
Oftentimes, I express my ideas through a combination of music, words, photos, and videos. With that in mind, I decided to include a few print ads and video ads from various marketing courses. I believe they showcase my theory of writing in a way and I am extremely proud of them. I want these pieces to be shown to anyone who comes across my portfolio.
The last piece I am going to include in my portfolio is a piece I plan on revising. Like I previously mentioned, writing is a continuous evolution of one’s thoughts and ideas. What I had written in the past may not resonate with me anymore and I may want to change it as I change as a writer. Sophomore year, I had written a reflective blog post about social media accounts I had been looking at. Though the blog still accurately reflects my thoughts on those accounts, I don’t believe the actual blog represents my abilities as a writer the way it
should. For that reason, I want to revise it and give it more meaning, more depth, and have a bit more fun with the visuals and words I do use within it. The reason I want to focus on revising a blog is because I do think it is important to include as many modes of writing as possible to truly showcase who I am as a writer. Blogs have the ability to show raw ideas and emotions towards a topic and also allow one to be a bit more creative. If I am able to properly revise this piece, it will be a great way to show how far I have come as a creative writer.
I hope each piece that I have decided to include resonates with anyone who comes across my portfolio. I hope they fully encompass me as a student, a writer, a person, and reflect the potential that lies within me.
I really love how much thought you've put into this blog post; the emphasis on including writing that you're proud of (which informs your motivation for revising the piece you chose) is really stellar. I also love how you want to highlight your multimodal inclinations and I think really leaning into that for the purposes of the portfolio will be really beneficial. I do urge you to think explicitly about how the blog post you will revise will cross into different genres and audiences as you move forward. Thanks!