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Kendria Chase ePortfolio Review:

Textual and Visual Rhetoric

Prepared by: Daniela Maria Medina Hoyos

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Table of Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 3

Analytical Framework .................................................................................................................. 4

Textual analysis of Kendria Chases ePortfolio ............................................................................ 5

Rhetorical Context ............................................................................................................. 6

Voice Analysis ............................................................................................................. 7 - 9

Visual analysis of Kendria Chases ePortfolio ........................................................................... 10

Structural Functions ................................................................................................. 11 - 12

Stylistic Functions ................................................................................................... 13 15

Rhetorical Effects of K. Chases ePortfolio ................................................................................ 16

Works Cited ................................................................................................................................ 17

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Introduction

Kendria Chases ePortfolio (http://www.kendriachase.com) balances textual and visual

rhetoric to display a wide variety of information about her educational and professional work.

Throughout this paper, I will analyze the text used throughout the website as descriptions, labels,

and summaries. Afterward, I will explain the stylistic and structural functions of visual rhetoric

used to she convey a sense of hierarchy, interest, credibility, and usability. The visual aspect

being the main reason why I chose this ePortfolio since other communications ePortfolios failed

to have any stylistic relevance. Highlighting these attributes will enable me to show why this

ePortfolio works for the intended audience. Chases ePortfolio proves to be professional,

credible, and stylistically relevant among the competition through the format and information.

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Analytical Framework

I will be analyzing Chases ePortfolio for rhetorical choices and relevance. I will describe how

Chases straightforward, objective, and unemotional writing style hinders and aids the portrayal

of herself through a digital medium. At the same time, I will highlight how the visual aspects of

strengthen the professional perspective specially she has created when dealing with user-

friendliness, time, and effectiveness. The information presented throughout the analysis makes a

connection with the Chases particular audience as it becomes relevant in her structural, stylistic,

and textual choices. The understanding of this holistic approach of text in combination with

visuals will give a clear perspective of how this particular ePortfolio manages to engage the

audience.

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Textual Analysis of Kendria Chases ePortfolio

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Rhetorical Context: Subject, Audience, Occasion, and Purpose

EPortfolios became a popular way to showcase an individuals abilities, skills, and

knowledge without the use of hardcopies. This digital environment allows an employer to look

in-depth into your skills not through reading short descriptions about it but browsing through

examples. Kendria Chases ePortfolio focuses on her professional and educational experience. It

allows her to highlight her best work in the hopes that a future employer will see how she could

be of benefit to the company.

This digital medium is a great advantage for her since she claims to have over 15 years

of graphic and web design experience. The claim hints to the amount of expertise she has

coding and designing websites while drawing experience from her Bachelor of Arts degree by

using her preferred design elements and programs. Her stylistic choices do not reflect a modern

outlook signaling the audience to be mature. Instead, they focus on a more traditional approach

with rectangles and solid colors in which there are no abstract or curved shapes. These choices

reflect her audience to be in between the ages of thirty-five to fifty as they are able to appreciate

the online medium and dont focus on how innovative something is.

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Voice Analysis: Tone, Diction, Sentence Structure, and Arrangement

Chases ePortfolio contains a very

straightforward approach with a direct tone

and is arranged in a chronological

perspective. Chase doesnt have any reflective

aspect throughout her work explaining how a

particular experience has affected her life.

Instead, she focuses on the facts and

descriptions of what her roles were within the

organizations changing the order of importance

depending on the subject. Her approach avoids

any emotional perspective. In my eyes, this is a

mistake considering the two experiences she

highlighted in her About Me carried the same

value as those in her Working Experience

description except the latter was formatted in

bullet points and the former was in a summary

style format. Neither provided any additional insight into her passions.

These types of dry descriptions obscure her desire of working at nonprofit organizations.

For instance, she unemotionally writes that she assisted in the promotion of the foundations

mission though effective online campaigns. One such campaign was designed to raise money to

send students to Senegal, Africa for the Summer Leadership Academy of West Africa. She

doesnt explain why this was important to mention in comparison to other work she created. The

Bullet point vs. paragraph formatting for similar information in Work Experience vs. About Me sections

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tone would be much different if the sentence read: As part of their team, I had a rewarding and

cherished experience in which I created effective online campaigns and was able to collect $30K

within four weeks with the purpose of sending students to the Summer Leadership Academy of

West Africa. This version highlights her ability to be part of a team, while showcasing her own

individual skills, and gives insights to her passion for working at a non-profit organization.

However, her primary audience would appreciate the lack of emotion presented by the original

sentence in which everything is purely factual. The long sentences used also add to the

descriptive undertone of the ePortfolio, as the reader remains engaged to understand what is

important about the campaign.

The built up interest

from her About Me page

keeps growing as her audience

finds a consistency in tone and

style throughout Chases

ePortfolio leading them to

understand her perspective.

She then develops the curiosity further more as she invites them to read the complete Papers

within her Writing Samples by downloading the files themselves. The description of each

paper is an excerpt of the work itself rather than a new reflective opinion about what she

discovered, why it was written, and what it accomplished. She takes advantage of this objective

tone to include a bit of specialization to her ePortfolio. She introduces her knowledge of the

communications field by labeling her papers to include key words such as Crisis Management,

Layout of the Papers within her Writing Sample category

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Agenda-Setting, and Ethical Issues in the Media. She creates an image of knowledge and

objectivity through her written samples and work.

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Visual Analysis of Kendria Chases ePortfolio

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Structural Functions

Typically an ePortfolio provides a way for students to develop and display their written

and verbal communication skills as well as their visual acuity (Graves, 2011, p. 345). In order to

do this, they must be able to create a structural awareness through their formatting to create

hierarchy, coherence, and parallelism. Kendria Chases ePortfolio fulfills these characteristics as

she balances her visual and textual elements.

The balance is created

through her use of colors, shapes,

and sizes. These elements work

together to construct a sense of

hierarchy in which the goal is to

divide, to show global boundaries

and seams (Kostelnick, 1996, p.

25). The continuity of the

interchangeable blue and white pattern through her ePortfolio allows the viewer to clearly

differentiate the heading, subheading, and information. The font size and color itself provides

more detail to the importance of each portion of the portfolio. The main title was written in

bolded black on a wide stripe. The subheading was written in white on the blue stripe creating its

own hierarchy through the use of bolded typefaces. Lastly, the center of the page takes up the

most space within the white stripe as the information is neatly organized in four different

categories. The stripes size becomes irrelevant since it doesnt overpower the rest of the image.

Instead, its balanced through the use of subordinate lighter choices of color to create an

emphasis on the hierarchy of the page layout. These different components in the lettering allow

Home page layout

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boundaries to be created within the information to fully understand the different facets of

Chases knowledge and skills.

Within each category, the divisions are created

through careful usage of global continuity where the

layout and pages are tied together through a reoccurring

theme of white and blue horizontal stripes (Kostelnick,

1996, p. 25). The consistency of layout creates a sense

of parallelism,

as each

subcategory is reminiscent of each other in style. On the

side panel, the four pages share a vertical menu with the

same images that were used in the home page. The ease

in which they are able to switch from one category to

the next is what makes Chases ePortfolio so delightful

to navigate. It represents efficiency, visual acuity, and

an undisputable ability to create professional layouts that communicate ideas, knowledge, and

value yet inquire curiosity.

Side panels for Writing Samples and About K. Chase categories

Side panels for Print Work and Digital Work categories

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Stylistic Functions

In a society where individuals become overwhelmed by choices, where the media

bombards us with ads, stories, and filtered information, it becomes a challenge to choose what to

read. This becomes especially important when looking for credibility and usability among the

thousands of blogs and half-attempted ePortfolios of individuals with the same experience as the

next. The stylistic functions of a website draw you in and incites interest based on the graphics,

the medium, and the size of the page.

These characteristics allow the image to

speak louder than the writing and connect to the

audience on a deeper level. For instance, when I

opened Chases ePortfolio for the first time, I

was captivated by the image of the color pencils

for Printed Work. The image drew me in and

egged me to continue reading. It wasnt because the graphic itself was a beautiful or complex,

but because it evoked a feeling of familiarity and passion. My mind immediately jumped to the

feel of charcoal and paint in my hands as a symbol of art. Interestingly, after reading her About

K. Chase she claims to have received a Bachelors of Art with a concentration in studio art.

Once I actually clicked on one of the four categories, I found it extremely easy to

navigate which keep encouraging me to stay on the site. The ability to explain an idea without

having to be redirected or waiting for a site to load made me feel as if the creator understood the

importance of time. The categories titled About K. Chase and Writing samples used tabs

within the pages to display large amount of information without overwhelming the reader and

giving them a choice of which information to look at.

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Chase used this same type of reasoning behind her other categories showcasing her

Printed Work and Digital Work. As she did this, she built up credibility by evoking a sense

of permanence, seriousness and authority with her

impeccable design, work samples, and clean layout

(Kostelnick, 1996, p. 27). In addition, her ePortfolio

exalts in user-friendliness. For instance, a single

click within the Digital Work page props open an

overlay of the image at a higher resolution without

exiting or opening a new window. In order to open

quickly, its at a lower resolution so if the viewer

wishes to look at the original, an option below the

image or in the right corner appears (depending on

the size of your screen) that allows a new window

to open with the image.

Additionally, the format of the ePortfolio

itself being in a digital medium adds to the user-

friendly aspect. Its easily accessed through any

Internet enabled device including smartphones.

Its important to note, however, that the

information becomes distorted and does not seem

as professional. Taking into consideration the age

Digital Work organization layout

Sample of what occurs after clicking an image within the Digital Work category

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of the audience and the purpose of the ePortfolio, it seems that there is no need to perfect this

medium as a priority since it would most likely be viewed on a computer where the graphics

look much more organized and the text seems appropriate for the occasion.

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Rhetorical Effect of K. Chases ePortfolio

The site itself proved to be successful for the desired audience and purpose. Its professional

through its visuals and writing as no reflective or emotional aspects are shared. Instead, facts are

shown, expanded upon, and available for further reading. The structure of the site allows an easy

navigation and creates a welcoming atmosphere through its use of white space, layout, and

lettering. The stylistic aspect incites curiosity as details are analyzed closely to emphasize a tone

of professionalism from the moment the site is accessed. The visual aspects allow the reader to

look through the writing without feeling overwhelmed, while the writing provides in depth

analysis on subjects highlighted within each major photograph. Written and visual rhetoric work

together to create a balance among each other.

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Works Cited

Graves, N., & Epstein, M. (2011). Eportfolio: A Tool for Constructing a Narrative Professional

Identity. Business Communication Quarterly, 74(3), 342-346.

doi:10.1177/1080569911414555

Kostelnick, C. (1996). Supra-textual design: The visual rhetoric of whole documents. Technical

Communication Quarterly, 5(1), 9.