The content of my ePortfolio includes major projects of the semester and things that I think represent my personal growth as a student. From the English 400 course I have learned mainly about rhetoric and rhetorical strategies. I have learned how individuals use rhetoric in order to achieve their desired goal. For instance a rhetorical strategy that I used in my Common Good Project that we learned in class was tactical flaw. The purpose of tactical flaw is to purposefully reveal your flaws to the audience because it is believed they will identify with you more. In the Common Good Project, my group did this by preventing only basic facts about anxiety and depression to our audience. In that, we are saying that we are not professionals and we are offering general resources not professionally backed resources.
To my future goals regarding active citizenship, I am able to connect the concepts that I have learned in the course to my future as a social worker and professional. As a social worker, I have the opportunity to participate in the political arena. I am able to write policies that will affect my clients. In order to be successful in presenting my policies to lawmakers, I have to be knowledgeable on different rhetorical strategies and how to use them correctly. This knowledge could mean the difference between getting a policy approved of or denied.
Also as a social worker, I will also have to persuade my clients to take what I am saying into consideration. In order to do this, I will not only have to know how to come across professionally by using decorum but also I will have to make what I am saying persuasive. I have to focus on things like decorum because I have to look trustworthy, I have to focus on pathos because I can make an emotional connections, I have to focus on ethos because I am college educated, etc. These are just a few of the things in which I will have to use in my profession. I will transfer the knowledge and skills I learned in this class through ideals outlines in the course learning outcomes. For instance, I will frequently analyze the effectiveness of my own texts and processes for specific rhetorical situations as discussed previously. I will use the skills that I have learned in the course to make me a professional rhetor.