About Me

Hi my name is Alexandra Bohme and welcome to my portfolio. I'm 19 years old and a political science major at the University of Cincinnati.

 In this portfolio I have included texts that I have created from both academic and non-academic writings. For my academic texts, I have included my research essay about the image of the ballerina analysis of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson. For my research essay on images of the ballerina, I decided to focus more on the way audiences perceive and the different sides such as the dainty ballerina in pink to the strength and intensity of a professional dancer's demanding career.  In these two academic examples, I will be drawing from each and showing comparisons between how each of my arguments is presented and the impressions of audiences and their influences. The Michael Brown focuses on the rhetors, or people who create and influence different audiences through texts, such as speeches and press conferences or interviews. I also talked about how these rhetors impact different audiences.  I chose these two because I think they are my strongest examples of analytic writing I have composed.

For my non-academic texts, I have decided to compare thank-you notes that I write for my job and for family members when I receive a gift and my social media posts. I consider a thank you note to be a lost art and that it's very thoughtful to write one when you get something nice from a friend or relative. For my job, we give them one that is also a ten dollar gift certificate if they are celebrating a special occasion such as an anniversary or birthday. These are handwritten and delivered to the guest on behalf of everyone at the restaurant. For my personal notes, I use my favorite stationery and only write a small paragraph, but I enjoy writing them because they took the time to think of me so I send them a note in return. My other texts will include my Facebook  posts. I use these almost every day either to check in with friends or just to post pictures or statuses of what I'm up to. These are much more casual in nature but still significant. In these comparisons, I will also be drawing on audience as well as accessibility. I wanted to compare these texts because I do these kinds of composing all the time, and I enjoy creating them. 

Research Paper

When people think of a dancer or ballerina, a common image seems to come to mind the most. The long and thin bodies, hair pulled high into a bun, the pretty pointe shoes and pink tutu and of course always smiling. This dominant image is the more positive side of the dance world. I also focus in my paper the more negative or not as dominant images, such as the film Black Swan or the world-renowned Youth American Grand Prix competition. I decided to choose this topic because I have been dancing since I was little, and wanted to see what I could find and how these images shape how ballet is portrayed in art and media. 

I really enjoyed writing this paper because dance has been something I've been passionate about since I was young. However, this type of essay I wrote I was unfamiliar with. I have been asked in the past to either form an opinion or use evidence to back up a point, but not analyze and connect all of my texts together. I was surprised on how quickly I was able to pick up on this kind of writing and thinking because I had never done it before. It was also helpful being able to choose what I got to write about. I've learned a whole different kind of writing style and that I'm now comfortable being able to make analytic claims instead of just a report. I feel that with this paper in particular I felt much more confident and knowledgeable in what I was saying to my readers compared to past papers because either I didn't understand the assignment or I wasn't passionate or very knowledgeable of what my point was.   

In my research essay, I felt that all my paragraphs were really strong and thought out. However, compared to my essay on Ferguson, I feel that I could have provided more evidence or examples to drive home my point and worked more on my transitions 

Image excerpt: "As an audience member, the image of what they see may not as be complex as to the ballerina. Depending on the viewer and how many ballets they have been to, the opinions may vary. However, no one will answer that a ballerina is overweight, uncoordinated, or even unattractive. On the Washington Ballet’s website, the section Ballet 101, is a picture of a girl in a simple black leotard, pink tight, pointe shoes, in the classical attitude position. The website further talks about the most popular or must see ballets, followed by some information about dance positions and about audience etiquette.  This specific example is catering towards the needs of either regular attendees of the ballet or the first timer. It was very thorough in the descriptions and also interesting to see how the company marketed to the audience members. The rhetors in this piece could have been either the artistic director or another employee who created the website, with the audience in mind of a person with some association with the ballet, whether it be a member of the company or someone who regularly attends. This also portrays the perfect ballerina or dancer that people look for in an either classical ballet or a more modern repertoire."

Compared to Ferguson excerpt: "As a rhetor, Johnson was very professional and spoke well regarding his recent promotion. He wore his uniform, which gave him credibility as a leader and officer. He also had to have a better knowledge of the direct and implied audiences. For example, the constant clicking of cameras and multiple microphones give way to the knowledge of the direct audience; the press and local news. The implied audience however, is much larger and diverse. On YouTube, this clip has about 6,600 views, this conference can be viewed by anyone. Just by viewing this short clip, one would not knowing very much about his background and without doing further research. However, he does a good job establishing credibility with his audiences."

Not only do I feel that my research essay paragraphs are much more thought out and not only stating facts, the final product took seven pages and seven sources instead of only three pages and three sources for my Ferguson essay. It was also really helpful having the ability with my professor and my fellow classmates to help further my writing skills and polish my arguments. I could get multiple critiques from people and be able to consider their ideas. I really think that these essays have made my writing much better and I now have a different skill set in analytic writing that I can bring to future essays. 
 
 

Ferguson Essay

The shooting in Ferguson made a huge impact and brought up another worldwide debate about many topics such as police brutality, racism, and of course violent protesting. My main focus in my essay wasn't to debate any of these sensitive topics, but instead chose two significant leaders during the incident. I chose to compare the speeches of Captain Ron Johnson and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon. These two speakers, or rhetors, gave two different speeches and I wanted to compare what they said and how it impacted their different audiences. 

This essay was my first time writing analytically, so it was a type of writing I wasn't really used to. However, it was a current event shortly after all the protests in Ferguson began to emerge. It was interesting on how each say a new story had emerged or new evidence was found. It was writing in real time. Compared to my research essay on the ballerina, those texts had already been published where as in Ferguson, the texts I used had only been a few days old. Because I hadn't had much experience with my writing, I struggled with my topic sentences and being able to support my claims with enough evidence and finding the connections in the speeches. For example...

"A couple days later, Johnson spoke at a rally at a local Ferguson church. Wearing the same uniform, he once again establishes his credibility as a rhetor. His direct audience seems to consist of community members and the family of Michael Brown. This clip, also uploaded to YouTube, is also another implied audience, and is unclear as if Johnson knew if he was being filmed or not.  Then in his speech gives a much more in depth impression of himself. He starts off by apologizing to the Brown family" 

Compared to my research essay...
"Misty Copeland is an African American soloist with the American Ballet Theatre. Instead of Copeland donning a pink tutu dancing in the Nutcracker, she was dressed in a black sports bra and spanks with pointe shoes. There is a series of tight whipping turns and jumps to show off her arched feet and long legs. The commercial itself is extremely powerful and breathtaking to watch as she dances with strength and attitude as well. This image is very different from the typical images everyone thinks of at first, because not only is a major athletic brand sponsoring Copeland, it displays a very different side of dance. In this advertisement specifically, Copeland as a rhetor has displayed her talent of ballet to a different audience of athletes and other dancers. The ad is very dramatic and strong without being too overwhelming. This image as an outlier is a strong argument against the norms of ballet. As graceful and elegant as dancers are, they are very strong and countless hours of classes and rehearsals in the studio are needed to get to where the bar is set. Competition is still a huge driving factor in the dance world."

Instead of only focusing on what was going on in the video of Ron Johnson, I should have included more on how it impacted the situation and drawing those connections back to my thesis and elaborate more with evidence from the speeches. I was really fortunate to have the help of my peers and professor in composing this essay. I really needed the guidance to format this paper correctly and feedback really helped me out. I really think that learning a new writing style improved my writing in that I can now make arguments from different texts and draw those connections without simply reporting on what's happening. 

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Thank You Notes

I work at a little Italian restaurant, and we have a stack of thank you notes ready for each day. We distribute these thank you notes if a customer is celebrating his or her birthday, an anniversary, or another special occasion. Myself and my other hostesses hand write at least ten to fifteen at a time to prepare for the day or the weekends when we are the most busy. I feel that handwriting a thank you note is one of the best things a person can receive. Our thank you notes also are ten dollar gift certificates for when the person comes back to the restaurant to eat again. As a small business, I think it's a nice touch and a good incentive for the customers to return back. Very rarely do people type or even hand write a thank you to a friend or relative anymore. My family has made me write them ever since I can remember. My grandparents are especially adamant about them, but I don't mind putting in the effort. The ones we write at work are only about three sentences long and I only write three or four for my personal notes. I also like being able to pick the stationery I use. I always like getting a thank you or letter from someone instead of only bills and bank statements. It's also a way to show a small token of appreciation for a gift or gesture.I'm very comfortable writing these notes because it's something I have already doing in my personal life for a long time. Although my handwriting isn't the greatest, I still try to take time and do a good job. 

These thank you notes are very different from my academic writing in many ways. My papers I submit to my teachers are not written in only three sentences on a card but formatted on multiples pages and typed on a computer. These cards aren't viewed by my professors who I have at least taken a semester of classes with but by total strangers going out to eat. The thank you-notes I write for my job are all in the same format, however we use different cards or ink depending on the season, so that allows for some creativity. Depending on the prompt for an academic piece of writing, I am able to be a little more creative in the subject but not so much the proper formatting. Some topics I can be even more limited on what I can talk about. For the final product, the expectations for an academic piece are much higher because of making sure there are no grammatical  or formatting errors and making sure I relate back to my main idea(s). While I'm creating these thank you notes, it's a much faster and informal process than writing a paper. I can write any number of these in an hour, while a paper can take weeks to get just right. Also, the format never changes for our thank you notes. I never have the same exact topic or goal in my papers for school. 

Social Media

I like to consider myself a tech savvy person, even though I despise Mac computers and get easily frustrated with a new concept. However, I use social media very often. The three outlets I use most are Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. I like using social media because I feel free in not editing myself and expressing how I feel about current events or a trending topic. I don't like to use profanity because of how my potential employers might view me and I also am cautious about privacy settings and who can view what I post. I decided to use social media as my non-academic text because everyone can relate and is familiar with communicating and I use them almost every day. 

As much as I love writing thank-you notes for work as well as my birthday and Christmas, there are many differences between them. A thank you note is intended to be a limited audience, for whom it is written for. It is also greatly appreciated and personal than a simple email or text message. With social media, depending on the outlet, hundreds and hundreds of people can view what I have written whether it be a YouTube comment or a Facebook status. There are also constraints as well. With thank you notes, there's no way to share the information of the experience by linking to the thank you without it being scanned or a picture posted online. With social media, it's much easier to share an article, photo or video with just a click of a button. 

Here is a post I made on Thanksgiving this year. It's very informal and I don't update my status too often. I enjoy posting more pictures but I noticed the hashtag I included was a trending topic, so I thought I would post something too. I'm very comfortable posting things on Facebook. Although I try to stay away from heavy topics such as religion or politics.However, if I'm composing a paper for a class I would feel much more comfortable typing out my thought and being reviewed by a professor because of the research I put behind it and also back up my opinions. A public forum is much more unpredictable when it comes to a reaction. 

Compared to the academic writing I compose, my statuses and pictures I like or post are much different that I would produce for a class. I feel much more freedom in posting because while it is public, I can show my friends and family what I'm doing and what I like to do. I don't think my friends would enjoy reading my essays for fun unless I asked them to oh so nicely. Usually my professors and a select few students will ever read my academic writing. However, I choose to be careful what I post and manage my privacy settings because of how nowadays employers search their potential clients on Facebook, and I don;t want to be pointed out that I used a lot of profanity or inappropriate language. I like to keep it clean and professional online, because I'm friends with some family members too.