What's the point of a portfolio?

The end of the semester is approaching. Ah, 15 weeks and 5 days of summer break is almost here! But first- it's the dreaded end-of-semester portfolio.

*Wilhelm scream*

Time to take a selection of previously written papers- the ones we put off, thought about, struggled over, suffered headaches from, and finally finished, usually while running on coffee and junk food just hours before they were due. That sense of relief from thinking, "That's it, I'm out of time. It's good enough." has now been replaced by the stress of selecting samples of our best work, then editing them to ensure they represent our skill as writers. It's like having five papers due at once, with the added pressure of revisiting the stress that came with them in the first place.

So what's the point? Do our professors just love to torture us? Well, maybe some of them do, but that's not why they assign portfolios. As we wrap up our college careers and prepare to step out into the real world, the portfolios we put together for school could be one of the best tools we take with us. As we venture into the increasingly competitive job market, a well-designed portfolio could be the one thing that sets us apart from other candidates.

As we discussed in class, there may be differing opinions on who has the power, but ultimately, the power rests in the hands of the writer who decides what information will be recorded and passed on. As I phrased it for our midterm study session, "Controlling the information that is included in publication controls what knowledge others have, which keeps the power in the hands of the authors. (Longo p48)"

Longo specifically discussed this power in terms of education- standardizing textbooks to ensure that students are trained in a specific way. However, we also have the power to use our writing to manipulate how we are perceived, especially by potential employers. By putting together a portfolio that is made up of work carefully selected to show our skills in multiple types of writing and our ability to research, analyze, and pay close attention to instruction and detail, we can set ourselves apart from others in the market. To be confident that our portfolio shows us in a positive light, we must select samples of our best work- the papers that, when we hit 'save' and 'print,' made us sigh, "Now that is a beautiful piece of writing." The ones we wanted to frame and hang on the wall for the world to see. And once we've selected these pieces, we must go over them again and improve absolutely anything that can be improved. That might me catching a typo here or there or fixing some minor grammatical errors. It might mean changing the format of a document entirely and cutting entire paragraphs while filling in details in others. And during the process, we must remember that it's not just for a grade. It could seriously impact our futures.

Alphabet soup

APA, MLA, AP, Chicago, etc., etc. Style is evil. Seriously, I hate it. Well, not any one particular style, more that there are so many to choose from and none of them quite agree with each other. It seems that each type of writing we are expected to produce has its own style that needs to be followed. And as if it wasn't bad enough that we have to keep all the big style guides straight, there's a good chance that if we go to work as writers, the organizations we'll be writing for will have their own style sheets, too. In addition to the inconsistencies between the many style guides, they are never happy with themselves and are updated regularly. I was in the middle of writing a ten-page paper when the MLA style was changed. One day, I was following one set of standards for my citations and format, and the next day when I double-checked something (I think it was a citation, but I don't remember), everything was different. I had to go back and change the five pages I had written so that the entire paper would be consistent. 


The different styles change the way we write and how our writing is interpreted, but I think everyone would have a unique argument about how each style impacts the writing and interpretation. For me, my writing doesn't change very much with different styles, but my formatting does. I tend to write first, then format and insert my citations to fit what I've written into the necessary style. It's more important to me to make my point clearly than to lose necessary points of my argument due to being distracted by trying to adhere to a particular style. I think that each style has its own fans and opponents. I personally prefer MLA. My best friend, who is a math major, prefers APA. It seems to have a lot to do with what kind of thinker a person is and what they are used to reading. People used to reading and writing about math and science will be accustomed to APA, while people in English and other Liberal Arts will be more used to MLA or Chicago, and journalism and communication students will adhere to AP. Once we become accustomed to reading and writing in one format, it becomes very difficult to transition to another. 


As annoying as it is that there isn't one right way to determine whether you need a comma before 'and,' it makes sense that different schools of thought would develop their own style guides and that they would change over time. As Charles Bazerman points out, early publications in the field of experimental psychology had no real format- there were no headings or subheadings, and no agreed-upon rules of writing within the psychological community to give consistency to publications. It is interesting to think about how the APA style guide began as six and a half pages of instructions presented as a guide, not an absolute set of rules, but over the course of 54 years, was edited and added to, with the language changing from a tone of general guidance to concrete standards. The current edition of the APA guide leaves little room for deviation, ensuring that publications within fields that adhere to it are consistent. 

A rhetorical analysis of my rhetorical analysis

Last fall, I wrote a rhetorical case study for a Rhetoric and Scientific Controversy class. I focused on the controversy surrounding Andrew Wakefield, his claims about vaccines causing autism, and why people did and still do believe him, despite revelations since his initial report that have proved his methods faulty and unethical, and multiple studies which have shown his to be false. 


Rhetoric played a dual role in this paper- first in analyzing the rhetoric used by Wakefield and his opponents, and second in forming my own persuasive arguments about how scientists can better use rhetoric to persuade the public. I examined how Wakefield's careful use of pathos and constructed ethos and logos were more readily believed by the public than the reports published later to disprove his claims. I sought to demonstrate that while the scientific reports were factually correct, they were cold and not reader-friendly to the general public. Because they held no appeal to the average person, they were not as easily accepted. On the other hand, Wakefield used phrases like "It's a moral issue for me. I can't support the continued use of these three vaccines, given in combination until this issue has been resolved" (Deer, Brian. Andrew Wakefield: the fraud investigation. 2011.)


My own argument about the rhetoric used on both sides of the issue was that doctors and scientists have a tendency to write for other doctors and scientists, without giving any thought to a public audience. Factual information on topics like the connection (or lack thereof) between vaccines and autism is difficult for the general public to access- which can create serious social issues as people believe the false, easily understood claim and then refrain from vaccinating their children, which in turn leads to outbreaks of diseases that had been almost eradicated. Therefore, the scientific community has a responsibility to make information that has a public impact more available and understandable to the general public and must lose the attitude that false arguments like Wakefield's aren't worthy of a response or rebuttal. They must understand that the public resists an arrogant refusal to clarify information. 

The role of the technical writer, and how my education and experience have prepared me to be one.

            The purpose of any writer is to share a message. For a novel writer, the message is the story the writer has created. For a journalist, it is the story the writer has discovered and researched. For the technical writer, the purpose goes beyond the sharing of a message. A technical writer shares information intended to be used in a concrete way by the reader.

            When I tell people that I am majoring in technical writing, I often get a polite smile and facial expression that tells me the person I am speaking to has no idea what technical writing is, and he or she fully believes that I will be taking up a career after graduation that involves saying “Would you like fries with that?” Sometimes people will come out and ask, “Just what do you do with a degree in technical writing? Can you actually get a job with that?” to which I reply, “Of course! Every company, everywhere, needs technical writers, whether they are large enough to employ someone specifically for that, or small enough that technical writing falls under the job description of an administrator or secretary.” I ask them to think about all of the documents they encounter every day- bills, instruction manuals, tax forms. I explain that these are all examples of technical writing. Someone, somewhere, designed each and every one of those documents, chose a format, style, and font- even thought about details like the type of ink and the weight of the paper!

            The technical writer is often invisible. Users of technical documents are focused on the information conveyed, not how the information came to be in its current form- unless, of course, the document is badly written, in which case the user is likely to exclaim, “What idiot wrote this garbage? These instructions don’t make sense!” There are some key elements the writer should consider to ensure his or her document is well-written and adequately addresses the needs of the user. For one thing, the writer must have a clear idea of who the users are and what they need from the document. This includes being aware of what the user already knows and what their experience level is. Also, the writer needs to think about the context of the document- where it will be used, and what else the user will be doing. This affects elements of the document such as format (i.e. book vs. foldable poster) and style (a poster would use larger fonts and include more pictures, while a book would include elements such as a table of contents and index). Another important aspect to consider is the purpose of the document- for example, the writer needs to know whether instructions will serve as a detailed manual or a quick reference.

            Outside of English classes, material in several of my business courses has helped me prepare to be a better technical writer. Understanding customs within the business world gives me a greater understanding of when it is all right to stray from the norm with document design, and when it is best to follow a traditional format. My work experience has also contributed to how I view technical writing. Having worked as an office manager and purchasing agent, as well as doing freelance office administrative work, I have created, read and worked with many types of technical writing and have seen firsthand the difference between well-written material and material that was put together poorly. (I actually received a résumé once that was written in pencil, on a sheet of paper that had been torn from a spiral-bound notebook- the writer did not bother to remove the tattered bits from the edge of the paper.)

Graves, Heather, and Roger Graves. 2007. A Strategic Guide to Technical Communication. Canada: Broadview Press.