The first thing I learned how to do in ENC 2135 was research. Before taking this class, research was something that I dreaded. I found the FSU (Florida State University) library resource to be very helpful and easy to find informational and reliable sources with. In project 1 of this class, I learned that thinking of key words that relate to your research topic is essential in the research process. I got more practice with summarizing the most important points and considering why a source is important to a larger issue. This made me think with more perspective. I used evidence to support my thesis and analyzed my sources.  

     Before taking this class, I had no idea what discourse communities or rhetorical situation is. I also did not have the best understanding of what a genre is even though it is a term I have heard since elementary school. I learned that discourse communities are groups that communicate about a specific topic and have a shared goal. I started being able to apply this idea to multiple things in real life. For project 2, I learned that rhetorical situation is about the elements of a piece of writing. Each aspect of the writing is there for a reason, and I learned to identify this in both text and non-text sources. I found project 3 interesting because I learned that multiple genres can be used to write to different audiences about the same thing but for a more specific reason by using different rhetorical situations and appeals. I enjoyed being able to create my own genres for my research topic after weeks of research. 

     I included project 3 draft #1 as an artifact because it demonstrates that I improved in the quality of planning out my project. I learned throughout the semester that one of the most important steps in the writing process is planning. I believe that this is true because I found myself referencing my plan in each project to help remind me of the next step. The organization of my thoughts and what to include was something that I struggled with especially when I was writing the outline for my investigative field essay. However, this artifact demonstrates that with practice, I made progress on planning out my writing to become a better writer. The more detail I include, the easier the rest of the assignment is. 

     My second artifact in this portfolio is a page of notes that I started writing when I was learning about what the rhetorical situation is. I continued using this paper to write down various notes for the rest of the semester. It includes personal reminders like the four most common elements to analyze for rhetorical analysis. There are other reminders to keep me on track for the projects as well. I wrote down notes from feedback I received on my rhetorical analysis as I was editing the final draft. I also used this paper to brainstorm different audiences and genres for project 3 and thought of ways to pair genres with audiences. This page of notes helped me remain on track with the projects even though it has random aspects of multiple assignments.