What is this?
Welcome to my portfolio! This is designed to showcase many of my completed works from English 306 this semester. Many interesting projects were completed and they all helped to strengthen who I am as a writer.
How was this organized?
This was organized with a simple idea in mind. The best way I can describe it is using a metaphor. This is myself in some sort of digital format. All of my thoughts, emotions, and ideas were put into this. It is a good way to take a look into my mind.
Why should you read this?
I once read that the mind of an artist functions a lot differently than the mind of an average person. If you are interested in taking a look at what a dedicated artist is thinking when it comes to writing, this would be a good place to start. I also think before you start you should get an idea of who I am.
Who Am I?
I am a senior at the University of Arizona studying Political Science with an emphasis on law and public policy. However, I like to see myself as more of an artist than anything else. I play multiple instruments and have been very active in the local music scene back in my hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Being a songwriter I often turn to poetry to form ideas for possible songs. I also focus on photography. I am highly proficient in digital photo manipulation and have won several awards from my work at several local art shows. When I am not focusing on art, I enjoy playing with my dog and learning new recipes and putting my own spin on them.
The Portfolio
Welcome to my portfolio! This is designed to showcase many of my completed works from English 306 this semester. Many interesting projects were completed and they all helped to strengthen who I am as a writer.
How was this organized?
This was organized with a simple idea in mind. The best way I can describe it is using a metaphor. This is myself in some sort of digital format. All of my thoughts, emotions, and ideas were put into this. It is a good way to take a look into my mind.
Why should you read this?
I once read that the mind of an artist functions a lot differently than the mind of an average person. If you are interested in taking a look at what a dedicated artist is thinking when it comes to writing, this would be a good place to start. I also think before you start you should get an idea of who I am.
Who Am I?
I am a senior at the University of Arizona studying Political Science with an emphasis on law and public policy. However, I like to see myself as more of an artist than anything else. I play multiple instruments and have been very active in the local music scene back in my hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Being a songwriter I often turn to poetry to form ideas for possible songs. I also focus on photography. I am highly proficient in digital photo manipulation and have won several awards from my work at several local art shows. When I am not focusing on art, I enjoy playing with my dog and learning new recipes and putting my own spin on them.
The Portfolio
Genre Analysis
First is an analysis of a new media genre. I focused on music blogs and the different components behind them. It takes a look at several different music blogs ranging from extremely popular to barely known to the public.
Since this was the first project, naturally I was going to have some struggles. I had never put a lot of analysis into any sort of blog before. For the most part, I just used the blogs to learn more about music. One of the most difficult parts of this was just trying to write in a hypertext style, which I am not used to.
If this was going to be tied to the metaphor of my blog, I would say that it represents me in the sense that I can have difficulty with working in a new format, but that I can eventually get it. This just shows where I was mentally at the beginning of the semester and would be a great example showing my growth.
First is an analysis of a new media genre. I focused on music blogs and the different components behind them. It takes a look at several different music blogs ranging from extremely popular to barely known to the public.
Since this was the first project, naturally I was going to have some struggles. I had never put a lot of analysis into any sort of blog before. For the most part, I just used the blogs to learn more about music. One of the most difficult parts of this was just trying to write in a hypertext style, which I am not used to.
If this was going to be tied to the metaphor of my blog, I would say that it represents me in the sense that I can have difficulty with working in a new format, but that I can eventually get it. This just shows where I was mentally at the beginning of the semester and would be a great example showing my growth.
Blog Analysis Presentation
What comes next was a presentation on blogs. I picked Freakonomics.com, a blog based on the popular book of the same name. This was a good example of my metaphor of a digital persona on the subject of what I have to say about things. I can be very talkative at times and I can go into a lot of detail. I always like to go into detail about what I am interested in.
At this point, I tried my hardest to do my best. I struggled to find a lot of information, specifically on the website itself. I struggled to find a lot of data on the website, which was a major downfall for me. However, I found success in using a site that I am very familiar with and could easily form a presentation around.
What comes next was a presentation on blogs. I picked Freakonomics.com, a blog based on the popular book of the same name. This was a good example of my metaphor of a digital persona on the subject of what I have to say about things. I can be very talkative at times and I can go into a lot of detail. I always like to go into detail about what I am interested in.
At this point, I tried my hardest to do my best. I struggled to find a lot of information, specifically on the website itself. I struggled to find a lot of data on the website, which was a major downfall for me. However, I found success in using a site that I am very familiar with and could easily form a presentation around.
Digital Story
This project was where I was able to use my artistic creativity to its full potential. This was my favorite project I completed. It focused on taking a snapshot from my life and telling the story of that moment.
I found one of the hardest things to do was to put this story together exactly the way I wanted it. I am a perfectionist when it comes to things like this, and one of the limitations I came across was the fact that I could not make it entirely video like I planned. However, it made me think of a better way to apply it. The video involved a music festival over a weekend that I held near and dear to me. That entire weekend felt like the world just stopped moving until the final band concluded their set. I thought I could visualize this by using just still photography at first. The last photo would transform into a video, notating the end of the weekend and reality resuming.
I think this portrayed my passion in the form of my digital self more than any other project. If there is anything that would portray me digitally, it would be this video.
This project was where I was able to use my artistic creativity to its full potential. This was my favorite project I completed. It focused on taking a snapshot from my life and telling the story of that moment.
I found one of the hardest things to do was to put this story together exactly the way I wanted it. I am a perfectionist when it comes to things like this, and one of the limitations I came across was the fact that I could not make it entirely video like I planned. However, it made me think of a better way to apply it. The video involved a music festival over a weekend that I held near and dear to me. That entire weekend felt like the world just stopped moving until the final band concluded their set. I thought I could visualize this by using just still photography at first. The last photo would transform into a video, notating the end of the weekend and reality resuming.
I think this portrayed my passion in the form of my digital self more than any other project. If there is anything that would portray me digitally, it would be this video.
Web Editorial
This editorial focused on where I think the format of music reviews are heading based on the fact that anyone can now write reviews online, even if they are super opinionated and do not do a good job reviewing.
I found this to be fairly easy since I have seen editorials similar to this before. I did have difficulty picking out where I think this would be a fit at, but I eventually decided Rolling Stone would be perfect since this would be a perfect example of a topic they would cover.
For a digital representation of myself, I think this gets at the opinionated side of me and really shows how much emotion I can put into a single topic. I do get this opinionated in my normal life, so this is a good digital representation of myself.
This editorial focused on where I think the format of music reviews are heading based on the fact that anyone can now write reviews online, even if they are super opinionated and do not do a good job reviewing.
I found this to be fairly easy since I have seen editorials similar to this before. I did have difficulty picking out where I think this would be a fit at, but I eventually decided Rolling Stone would be perfect since this would be a perfect example of a topic they would cover.
For a digital representation of myself, I think this gets at the opinionated side of me and really shows how much emotion I can put into a single topic. I do get this opinionated in my normal life, so this is a good digital representation of myself.
Blog
For a comprehensive look into me as a writer, my blog is a good example. It is available either by clicking the image or by accessing it from the top of this page. This blog is a collection of responses to various readings and other material studied throughout the semester in English 306.
Keeping up with the blog was one of the more difficult parts of it, but I managed to get every single entry in there at some point. This also required a lot more effort since it was a constant thing. It was not like the other projects that when they were done, they were done.
This could be the greatest look at myself being represented in digital form. Since it covered multiple topics across a semester, it is very possible to see my mood and tonality on any given day. Along with my digital story, this shows exactly who I am as a person, but put into a digital format that anyone can access.
For a comprehensive look into me as a writer, my blog is a good example. It is available either by clicking the image or by accessing it from the top of this page. This blog is a collection of responses to various readings and other material studied throughout the semester in English 306.
Keeping up with the blog was one of the more difficult parts of it, but I managed to get every single entry in there at some point. This also required a lot more effort since it was a constant thing. It was not like the other projects that when they were done, they were done.
This could be the greatest look at myself being represented in digital form. Since it covered multiple topics across a semester, it is very possible to see my mood and tonality on any given day. Along with my digital story, this shows exactly who I am as a person, but put into a digital format that anyone can access.