Hello, my name is Alexis Rojas and the journey of this portfolio began August 2019 in my COM 101 class at Moraine Valley Community College. These different writings dive into exploring contrasting perspectives and the masks that can be connected to a stranger. In each writing there are different tools put in place like audio recordings, pictures, and videos. These essays managed to pull a creativity out of me that I never knew was possible. They were able to pull me out of my learned robotic essay typing ways.
My first essay focuses on the mask everyone throws onto themself. It focuses on this concept throughout photographs, specifically self portraits and selfies. I attached pictures with myself in these two and became vulnerable opening myself up about the mask that I hide behind. The hardest aspect of this was knowing where to start, leading me to realize very early on that I need to stop overthinking and just type. The following essay I interviewed my brother to investigate his mask and how someone so close to me could also be a stranger. Within this project I was able to attach an audio recording and this audio recording added a sense of credibility onto my work. I believe the audio allowed the reader to feel more connected to my brother as he was answering some of the questions. It also allowed the reader to get a sense of his personality and really make them feel like they knew him. Within the third essay captioned “A Place of Mind” I took pictures in a place that had an impact on my life. I had to defamiliarize these pictures which allowed me to see them from an outsider's perspective but it was also a bit challenging because of how familiar the place was to me. The following essay was single handley the hardest thing I have ever written. It incredibly hard to type about this level of hate that I did not believe in. However, this is when I had to step into my characters shoes ignoring the fact that I was writing an essay and let the story take over possessing my typing fingers. The final essay was pretty different compared to the previous ones because it was actually a group effort and had the central focus of a video. Working within a group to make a video while also having a written piece was interesting to say the least. It reinforced that communication is key but once its completely there is a weight lifted off of everyone's shoulders.
Overall, I hope my portfolio takes you on a similar journey I took and allows you to see many of the different features and perspectives I included. These being the way I was able to express myself while also becoming vulnerable with my audience, connecting my writing to different readings, and the structural flow of my ideas. Along with these, I learned how important the revision process was and I’m really happy with the steps I took to revise each of these essays.