Lela V. Nelson
(lnelson3 at emich)

Intro to My Portfolio: Flying by the Seat of My Pants
When I first enrolled in this course, I looked at Technical Writing as Writing technically. When I heard the word rhetoric, presidential debates always came to mind. Now i have a better grasp of both of the concepts. I won't say my grasp is extra tight, but it is clearly tighter than before. Rhetoric is such a big part of everyday life it's crazy. Used often in class, we are all simply fish in a sea of rhetoric. In other words fish are the people and the sea is everyday life, and so we're surrounded by life and rhetoric and there's no escaping it.
In the text "Professional Writing and Rhetoric", we read about different theoretical ideas that we can now relate to real life situations. Some of those are discussed more in depth in my reflection section. Below I have provided an example of one issue.

The Technical Side:
In Technical Writing, what's important to the writer may not be important to the boss. For example, at my summer job at Hotcards.com, I was apart of the marketing dept. My boss wanted me to create a letter that could be sent out to any and everyone he may want to do business with. As an English major, I was focused on the content of the letters going out to these people. I didnt want to create a letter not knowing who would be receiving it. I felt that knowing who my audience was played a major part in the wa I wrote the letter. He simply said that it should not matter who is getting the letter, whether its the CEO of a major company, or the girl he grew up with that works at a nail shop. This is where it was quite clear who had majored in business and who in English. I was heated because he didn't understand, but all I could do was what was asked of me.

The Team Introduction Memo (TIM) and Process Documentation Memo (PDM): Becoming a Team Player-424 Team Work=424 Class Success!

Contextualizing the TIM & PDM

The Problems of "Joining" a Tech Writing Team
The TIM is a memo I worked on that introduced myself to my class, or as I refer to them, Team 424. Inside the memo, I shared experiences I have had with team work and being apart of a team period. I then connect each experience to how it will help me in 424. The PDM was a second part to the Tim. The PDM basically documented the process I went through when doing my TIM. It talks about what I learned throughout my drafts. As I improved on my drafts it showed that I had a better understanding of the rhetorical situation, which helped me respond to the situation effectively. As I gained a better understanding of the rhetorical issues involved, I was able to make positive changes to my drafts.

Reflecting on the TIM & PDM
A Fancy Introduction
When I think about the TIM and what my first draft looked like, I am almost ashamed of myself. I understand that this is a workshopping class, but geez! (My drafts are available for viewing in my docs folder). I also look at this as seeing that I have learned so much through out the course. When connecting real life experiences to 424, it can seem like a challenge but it’s even more challenging thinking of it as a challenge. You with me?

My Process Documentation Memo shows the changes I made while doing my TIM. Carolyn Miller talked about how practical rhetoric concerned getting things done and at the same time providing a handbook or method of instruction. I can relate a lot of what I have learned to this concept of mechanical vs. conceptual. In English 428, the whole class can be related to Miller’s concept of teach vs. train. The fact that doing is one thing, but doing and knowing why, is another.

The Creative Rhetoric Scenario: Project Title

Contextualizing the Creative Rhetoric Scenario


The Creative Rhetoric Scenario was a dialog I’d written to show my understanding of rhetoric and how it is used. A pretend dialog was created where I had a conversation with someone. I chose my sister Holli. The conversation demonstrated my understanding of how rhetoric is used and how to explain to someone else its concept. In order for my audience, whomever that may be, to understand what my dialog was doing, a setting was added. The setting or scenario talked about who the conversation was with, the kind of relationship I have with that person, and also told where everything took place. Including the setting also helped in any explanation needed concerning tacit knowledge that my reader would not be aware of.

Reflecting on the Creative Rhetoric Scenario

Rhetoric and its Negativeness
I thought this as going to be too hard to complete because I felt as if I didn’t understand rhetoric well enough to tell someone else about it. What my challenge was is putting what I knew into words. In Foss, Foss, and Trapp’s essay on the Study of Rhetoric, they point out that rhetoric often carries negative connotations. With this dialogue, I was able to show an understanding without such negative connotations.

The Context & Genre Analysis Project: Project Title

Contextualizing the Context & Genre Analysis Project

Situational Writing at a Print and Design Company
The Context and Genre Analysis is a study I did to show the relationship between writing practices and contextual influences. I did the study at a place I used to work at called Hotcards.com. Hotcards is a print and design company that uses Adobe PhotoShop to design flyers for customers. After the orders are designed, they are sent to the corporate office to be printed. From the bit of information just given, one can see that a number of documents are used in this context in order for Hotcards to function. I looked at these documents closely, detailing one genre in particular, the Driver Copy. The context and the genre were analyzed looking at how they affected situations and documents and the environment at Hotcards.


Reflecting on the Context & Genre Analysis Project:

He Got What He Asked For..Unfortunately
Faigley is another writer that contributed to our text, Professional Writing and Rhetoric. Faigley was a true believer in the social perspective and how writing functions situationally. I can recall when Woody asked me to write a Default letter that he can send out to anyone he wants to do business with. This I felt was not writing with the social perspective in mind. When I hear the word Default, I think of phrases like, in general or for anyone. Writing, no matter what it is, should be audience centered and I felt as though this was not one of those cases.