Hinojosa 1

Jasmine Hinojosa

Capstone Portfolio Committee

Written Comprehensive Exam

8 March 2023

Remade and Reconstructed into a new RCLS Scholar: A Chicana’s Graduate School Journey of

Reshaped Perspectives and Values

Introduction

When I graduated with my Bachelor’s Degree in 2021, I was unsure what path I wanted

to take. Should I pause my education here and eventually come back in a couple of years, or do I

go straight into graduate school? I knew I wanted to pursue a Master’s Degree ever since I

learned about the benefits of having one during a UTRGV Grad Central presentation. Not only

would it look good on my resume/CV, but I genuinely wanted to keep learning. I have always

been a great student, and I knew I wanted to go into teaching after realizing I wanted to be a

writing instructor. I could have chosen to become a high school teacher, but there was something

about becoming an undergraduate teacher that called my name.

My first semester as a graduate student began in Fall 2021, and I remember feeling

unsure or like I made a mistake. In a way, I began to feel like an imposter after attending class

with grad students who were ahead and knew what the professor was talking about on the first

day of class. I felt behind and like I maybe was not meant to get my Master’s at this time,

especially since I was not already a teacher like most of the other students. It took about a month

or two for me to understand that I was just a beginner stepping into new water. I was an

undergrad literature major, and now as a grad student I was an RCLS major, so perhaps that is

what mostly burdened me and made me feel unprepared for the rest of my graduate journey. Of
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course everything was going to be new, and I was going to learn about things that I haven’t even

heard of as an undergrad, so I eventually accepted and became comfortable with this truth during

my first semester as a grad student.

It is now Spring 2023, and I feel remade and reconstructed into a new person and scholar

from all of the new concepts, theories, and ways of rhetoric, composition, and literacy that I

learned about these past two years. Throughout the process of creating my portfolio, I kept going

back and forth on what to choose to present. What specific documents did I want to highlight to

represent my growth and newfound self, and how did I want to create my portfolio? I eventually

organized my thoughts and options and chose to present my work as pedagogical content and

RCLS content. Also, after learning about the importance and benefits of multimodality when

writing and organizing one’s ideas, I chose to create a digital website portfolio to best showcase

my works through a medium I regularly use as a grad student and Gen-Z-er. Thus, this portfolio

includes two pedagogical focused documents, two RCLS focused documents, and two video

presentations based on RCLS and pedagogy.

Overall, regardless of focus, these documents and videos create my overall learning of

creating a multilingually inclusive, safe, and welcoming learning environment when teaching

writing and becoming of a confident RCLS scholar who examines, questions, researches, and

challenges the standard ideas of rhetoric and writing. Therefore, I have revised and edited my

works, as necessary, to present the scholar I have become after reanalyzing my knowledge and

values as an RCLS scholar who is pursuing a collegiate-level teaching career.

Pedagogical Content

Course Syllabus

The first document I include in my portfolio is my final project from the “Introduction to

RCL” course. This final project was called the “Graduate Studenting Project,” and it consisted of

having students create something that they felt would benefit and prepare them in the future as

graduate students and overall scholars. Thus, I chose to create a hypothetical ENGL 1301:

Rhetoric and Composition 1 course syllabus. I wanted to practice and see how the process of

creating a course syllabus would be like, so I researched current ENGL 1301 syllabi from 2021

and read through a couple to see how they worked, what they presented, what each professor

chose to highlight, and how they organized their content.

I mainly focused on two syllabi from Mr. Shoney Flores and Dr. Mark Noe. I liked the

terminology and voice they used to make students feel welcomed and the strategic use of color to

emphasize importance of certain paragraphs that catch the eyes of the reader. With this research,

I chose to follow these syllabi’s structure and required standard content. Therefore, my course

syllabus follows a common structure while using color to highlight certain paragraphs that I

would want students to pay more attention to.

On the first page, I highlight a note after the “Instructor Information” section that alerts

students to the Student Accessibility Services information, while also letting them know to

contact me if there is anything I can do to make the course more accessible or comfortable for

them. I felt it was necessary to include this in my syllabus to make students aware of the

importance of accessibility since we often overlook this topic. Whether it is something physical,

mental, psychological, or emotional, I want students to feel safe, accommodated, validated, and

respected in my class. Thus, why I highlight this note on the first page of the syllabus and urge
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students, if they feel comfortable, to communicate with me to make their learning environment

feel accessible for them.

Other sections I emphasize with colored font are the “Teaching Philosophy” and

“Statement on Translingualism” sections that I feel go hand-in-hand with one another. My

“Teaching Philosophy” section showcases my values of communication, language inclusivity,

equality, and understanding in the classroom to make a safe and welcoming learning

environment. I call attention to the fact that I am aware each student has their own individual

needs, voice, and opinions that we can all respect and try to understand these different

perspectives in the classroom. I also highlight that I am equal to students, as we both learn from

one another and can challenge each other’s perspectives with an open-minded conversation to try

to understand each other’s point-of-view.

As for the “Statement on Translingualism” section, I adopted it from Dra. Alyssa

Cavazos’ syllabus, as it ties in with my teaching philosophy and values of creating a safe,

welcoming, and accessible learning environment. Most students are bilingual and may feel

silenced and forced to focus on Standard Academic English when writing and expressing

themselves, their culture, and their values. Thus, I emphasize this concept to acknowledge the

diverse ways of expression through language and dialects each student may want to share in their

work and with the class. Each voice is unique, valid, and should be respected, so I want students

to see this section as an opportunity for them to step out of the limiting standards of writing so

they can include their true voice in their words when they write.

Another section I wanted to point out is the “Projects, in brief” section of the syllabus I

adopted from Mr. Flores and Dr. Noe. I absolutely support and believe in having students create

a portfolio specifically for their first composition class. In this way, it helps them reflect on and
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learn about their unique writing processes, while giving them the opportunity to revise and edit

their work throughout the semester. I remember taking my first composition course at South

Texas College, and it was a standard class setup of writing your work and having one chance to

rewrite it to turn it in for a better grade. Then, we would just move on to the other essay and

never look back at the past ones we wrote. It made writing feel definitive and discouraged me

from trying new ways to approach writing since I was used to the formulaic structure that helped

me maintain a good grade. However, this portfolio setup that I have in my syllabus is to help

students get rid of that high-school-like standard perspective of writing, specifically for a grade.

With this portfolio perspective, students will see that good writing is more than receiving a good

grade. It is a chance for them to actively learn about their relationship with the concept of

writing.

The first assignment is a “Multimodal Literacy Narrative” that encourages students to be

honest about how they see writing and what they know about it. The next assignment is an

ongoing “Theory of Writing” where students will develop their own theory of writing influenced

by the readings in the class throughout the semester. After that, students will have their

“Artifact” assignment where they take their “Theory of Writing” and remix and remake it into

another form/genre for another audience. This will help them see how indefinite and unlimited

writing is, as it can be shaped, reshaped, and rewritten many times to make it work in different

forms and genres for different audiences. Lastly, students will write a reflection highlighting

what they learned about their writing, the concept of writing in general, and if/how the class

helped them become a better writer. The fact that the assignments are made to be in a portfolio

that allows students to revise, edit, and rewrite their work many times helps them see writing as

an ongoing process rather than a limited trial and error fixup for a better grade.
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This leads me to the “Grading Policies” section that focuses on a more holistic way of

evaluating the student’s work. It calls for 60% of grading being the final portfolio, and 40%

being the student’s daily effort and participation. The note before the grade percentages makes

students question their effort: are they doing their work to grow as writers, or are they just doing

it for a grade? I strive for students to see their effort and labor as what makes their grade, not on

how perfect and correct it can be, but for students to truly try and make their writing to their best

ability in what feels real and proves effective for them.

I also include notes on the “Attendance” and “Academic Integrity” sections of the

syllabus, as I want students to see how important these sections are in making them good

students and how it shapes them for their careers in the future. I understand they may miss class

sometimes, but I ask them to please email me why they missed out so I can help catch them up

on what they missed. In this way, we understand one another and build a better and more trusting

relationship and learning environment. As for the “Academic Integrity” section note, I urge

students to not cheat on or plagiarize their work, for they are taking this class, not just because

it’s required for their degree but, to really become better writers. They might as well take

advantage of the time and work on bettering themselves for their career and overall

communication and writing skills.

Lastly, I include a “Calendar of Activities” at the end of the syllabus so students can get a

gist of what to expect for every module and concept we are going to explore in class. I also note

that the calendar can be fluid and for students to pay attention to weekly email updates or

Blackboard announcements to keep up to date. With the calendar design, I decided to add color

to highlight sections and organize information better while highlighting when we would be

drafting and uploading work for feedback. Again, this addition of color, bolded font, and
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highlights are to draw the students’ attention to help them better organize the modules, weekly

coursework, and their schedules so they can see what the rest of the semester would look like.

Like the concept of writing, the syllabus and my values and concepts in it are subject to

change. We all keep learning, growing, and expanding our knowledge that helps us evolve into

new scholars and overall people. Thus, it’s only evident that things change and hopefully for the

betterment of the teacher and students. In fact, discussions between the teacher and students help

better change the syllabus, as they are the learners who should have a say in what they want to

learn about that best interests them and helps them grow as writers. In this way, we build better

relationships with our students and maintain a safe, welcoming, and stimulating learning

environment.

Lesson Plan

The second document in my portfolio is my final project from the “Theory in RCL”

course. Like the previous document, we had to create something that would benefit and prepare

us for the future in our careers and graduate student journey. Therefore, I chose to create a

“Rasquache Rhetorics Unit Lesson Plan” for an ENGL 1301/1302 class. During the course, we

talked about different theories in RCL, and this cultural rhetoric of Rasquache stuck with me

throughout the semester, so I had to include it in my work. Kelly Medina-López describes

Rasquache Rhetorics as making do with what you have and can remake, retell, and remix

something to reclaim its power and retell its story. So, not only is it culturally significant to

diverse students, but this theory/concept can help them become better writers and persuaders.

Thus, it is something I would really like to teach ENGL 1301/1302 students to help them see the

value in their culture and themselves as people and writers.

As someone who plans to teach writing in the future, I thought it was best to practice my

lesson planning skills and try it out while I had teacher classmates that could help me and

provide even more reliable feedback with my drafts. Since I had no prior experience making

lesson plans, my friend Irene and I video chatted and went over what made a good lesson plan.

Although her lesson plans were aimed for high school English students, I found it useful since

most ENGL 1301 students tend to be recent high school graduates. So, being the Rasquachas we

are, she emailed me some helpful examples to examine, reshape, and remake as my own.

With that said, I begin my lesson plan with the “Introduction” section that states the

length of the unit, what it includes, and what the goal is for this unit. I include a “Disclaimer”

note at the end to highlight that due dates and dates of assigning work are subject to change and

that changes may be made to meet the students’ needs. So, again, I emphasize this call to

awareness that each student has different needs and should be accommodated accordingly to help

them succeed in this unit.

The “Student Learning Objectives (SLOs)” were handpicked from UTRGV’s SLOs list,

and the one that felt most liberating and actively aware to the topic was the “Language

Diversity” SLO that prompts students to “articulate their ideas in any language or mode that

helps them act their true authentic voice and identity.” This particular SLO makes Rasquache

Rhetorics an even more possibility and helps students practice this theory/concept without

feeling like they may be penalized for not maintaining Standard Academic English in their work.

As for the “Reading/Video Materials” section, I chose to have students read Kelly

Medina-López’s article “Rasquache Rhetorics: A Cultural Rhetorics Sensibility”, Gene Fowler’s

web article “Luis Jiménez: Rasquachismo on the Rio Grande”, and David Zamora Casas’ web

article/video performance, Altar for the Spirit of Rasquachismo. They each come in different
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mediums to portray the effect of Rasquachismo and how it works to affect the viewer/reader.

With this content, the “Activities/Assignments” section of the lesson plan has students discuss

with their small group and whole group/class about their takeaways from the reading/video

material content. Students would then be asked to create 3-5-minute mini-presentations that

consist of students remaking, retelling, and remixing something from their culture. After their

mini-presentations, students would write a 2-3-page persuasive paper that consists of students

persuading their audience on how and why their example ties into the concept of Rasquache

Rhetorics.

Pertaining to the “Assessment” section, there will be small group peer feedback sessions

for students to have a peer read their work and have a conversation about what they liked, what

worked, and what can be worked on by the writer. This practice of conversational commentary

reemphasizes the importance of putting in effort to one’s writing, not for a grade but, to better

one’s writing and deliver their message effectively. Also, it makes feedback real and humane; no

red markings or negative comments, only constructive and helpful advice. As for the

teacher/instructor feedback, I chose to make it optional, as not all students are comfortable being

forced to submit their first draft to the teacher. As someone who has experienced that pressure

before as an undergrad, it always felt better to be given the option as an invite to get feedback

rather than a call to judgement. Regardless, that is why students have the chance to revise, edit,

and rewrite their work after their first submission, for all writing is not set in stone. In this way,

students learn that writing is fluid and can be reshaped and redone to a better, if not best, shape.

As for the “Grading” section, I have it set as percentages to equal 100%, with the “Mini-

Presentation” and “Persuasive Paper” with the highest percentages to highlight their importance.

Again, I see grading through effort and labor by the student, so these percentages aren’t to be
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given out as points, but are levels of importance for me as the evaluator to assess a student’s

work and effort.

On page three of the lesson plan, I include a “Rasquache Rhetorics Unit Calendar” of the

hypothetical month the unit would be taught. I highlighted Wednesday as the important day

when work would be assigned/due, which was on the hypothetical class day. It serves as a visual

for me to check off and add/remove things and helps me maintain a schedule. Then, I continue

my lesson plan into listing the three weeks of the unit. Here, I tell myself what to do and how to

it every class day. I also include bolded notes throughout the weekly lists to remind myself of

things I want to remind either myself or my students during a certain class day.

Overall, this was my first attempt at creating a detailed lesson plan to which I felt I did

well. It isn’t as colorful or attractive as my high school teacher friends’ lesson plans, but it works

for me and feels organized to my best ability. While creating this lesson plan, and now reflecting

on the process, I feel more capable and prepared for creating lesson plans for an ENGL

1301/1302 course. Thanks to my professor and teacher classmates who gave me guidance, I was

able to figure out what best worked for me and my hypothetical classroom.

Rhetoric, Composition, & Literacy Studies Content

Analysis Paper & Tracking Document

The third document(s) I included in my portfolio are from an “Activist Archival Research

Project” which included creating an “Analysis Paper and Tracking Document” for the “Theory in

RCL” course. We had to select an activist organization or topic to research on and analyze while

applying rhetorical theory to our findings. So, we each wrote a paper showcasing these findings

and created a tracking document to keep record of artifacts we wanted to include in our paper. I
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chose to write about the community union La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) and its archived

works and projects since it was a local organization that meant a lot to me. I like to write about

things that relate to me culturally and ethnically, so I had a great time writing about LUPE and

all the things they have done for RGV immigrant communities. So, it didn’t feel like work; it felt

more like an opportunity to say, “Here are the things my people have done to bring justice and

make space for immigrants in a space that tends to ignore and dehumanize them.”

I start my paper by introducing what LUPE is and what they do, then I present the first

artifact, then the next, then the one after that to all tie into how Rasquache Rhetorics and

Material Rhetorics are used by LUPE to reclaim and remake the immigrant people’s voice and

identity by taking up space and materializing the immigrant body and power at government

institutions where they are least expected. Throughout this process, and reflecting on it now, I

realized how passionate I felt when writing this paper, as it made me empathize with the LUPE

members since my parents and grandparents immigrated to this country feeling unseen, hidden,

and of lesser value in the RGV with less opportunity to speak up and make space for themselves

in their community. If I felt that way when approaching my work and using rhetorical theories

and concepts to analyze it, imagine encouraging students to write about something that deeply

interests and motivates them to write.

Not only did these types of rhetorical theories and concepts motivate me to write, they

taught me that people like me can research and come up with new rhetorical theories and

concepts for scholars to learn about and understand; not just about the theories/concepts, but the

people and culture behind it. In a way, we can also better understand one another through the

creation of these ideas. We become better scholars and better people with a social responsibility

to educate and empower future generations of scholars. Thus, I am grateful and look forward to
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learning more about and teaching rhetorical theories/concepts and how they work in our

communities, classrooms, and all over the world.

Recommendation Report

The fourth document in my portfolio is a “Recommendation Report” project from the

“Professional Writing” course. I completed this project with a partner, and at first, I wasn’t

looking forward to it since I tend to prefer to work alone. However, Jacquelyn was and has been

a great class partner to work with. The way we worked together made me believe in the efficacy

of teamwork. We had the same goals with the project and organized our time effectively to get it

done on time. So, our “Recommendation Report” consisted of a hypothetical “Pedestrian and

Cyclist Safety Sidewalk Project at Donna North High school” project proposal. Jacquelyn (Jaki)

is a teacher at Donna North High School (DNHS), so she saw this issue happening at her school

and we both agreed to create this hypothetical project.

It was the first time that either of us created a recommendation report, so I felt nervous

and unsure about how to start. Nonetheless, Jaki grounded me and found recommendation report

examples we could examine, follow, and reshape to make our own. In a sense, Jaki wrote most

on the introduction about DNHS and the problems the lack of sidewalks caused for students who

walked or bicycled to and from school. I did more of the research on how to apply statistics and

facts on the lack of sidewalks and how it creates a dangerous traveling environment for

pedestrians/bicyclists. However, we both worked together throughout the entire process by

revising each other’s work added to the document and by doing hands-on research. Jaki created

a survey for her students and fellow school staff to respond to, and I contacted the Hidalgo

County Right-of-Way Agent to interview him for his thoughts and suggestions on the project.
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Here, is where I say, “Teamwork makes the dream work,” as we both relied on one another for

obtaining both kinds of hands-on research.

This “Recommendation Report” document was definitely one of the newest writing

experiences I’ve had in a while since I’m used to academic/college writing. This different genre

and form of writing made me approach writing in another way I’m not used to. It was an overall

wonderful learning experience, for I learned that it’s actually beneficial and sometimes better to

write with a partner to make a project work. I’ve had some bad writing partners as an undergrad,

but this experience made me realize you need to choose your partners wisely and communicate

and work together to make the overall process work fairly and to its best shape.

Also, it was nice to write about something local and necessary to better the lives and

transportation conditions of the DNHS community. Jaki told me she shared this project with

other teachers and administrators who agreed with its mission and eventually shared it with the

principal. I haven’t heard any other updates, but the fact that our coursework can be taken

seriously and impact others to see important issues was an eye-opening experience for me. It

makes me feel like I did a great job, not only in the classroom but, in the real world. Overall, this

project helped me see the power of writing and how it influences and helps people see things in

their community they may have not paid attention to before.

Videos section

Digital Presentation & PowerPoint Slides (TW: Uvalde School Shooting)

The fifth document(s) of my portfolio is multimodal, as it is a group video presentation

accompanied by the google slides used in the video from the “Topics in RCL” course. My

groupmates and I decided to focus on the topic of Digital Rhetoric and how it affects the stories
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of school shootings. The presentation is titled “Digital Rhetoric and Shifting perspectives” and is

about 8 slides long, as it was an overview of our final project. I open the presentation by asking

the question “What is Digital Rhetoric?” and explain how it’s the evolved media-focused version

of classical rhetoric that focuses on medium rather than solely the rhetor.

Irene then presents an example of how the use of digital rhetoric affects perspective in

social media by using the “We Will Adopt Your Baby” message from a pro-life couple’s tweeted

image. People distorted the message and made it sound creepy to change its original meaning.

Hector then shifts to our main focus, which is analyzing shifting perspectives of school shooting

stories by comparing the immediate media responses from the 2022 Robb Elementary (Uvalde)

School shooting vs. the 1999 Columbine High School shooting. Lastly, Rosalia (Rosie) points

out the other stories and perspectives that have come out from the Robb Elementary School

shooting due to how readily accessible social media is compared to 1999. Rosie and Irene then

close the presentation by giving the audience a glimpse of our paper and what we aim to

investigate and answer.

As I’ve stated with the last document, the “Recommendation Report,” I tend to like to

work alone rather than in groups, but I found it much more engaging and interesting working

with Irene, Hector, and Rosie on this project. The topic we researched and worked on for about a

month and a half was very difficult and upsetting, but talking about it with concerned teachers

and listening to their perspectives made the topic feel even more real and important. It felt like

our work mattered in and out of the classroom, as we worked on it a couple weeks after the

Uvalde school shooting happened. Nonetheless, we researched, questioned, and challenged the

ways stories of the Uvalde and Columbine shootings came out and what they wanted to evoke

from the audiences.

This goes to show how powerful rhetoric can be to people who aren’t aware of its use.

This is something I would want to teach students, for rhetoric awareness is necessary to become

a good rhetor and not be manipulated by wrongdoers. Also, teamwork is beneficial, especially

when doing research projects that others may have more experience in and to provide new

perspectives one might have not thought of considering or investigating.

Digital Teaching Portfolio & Website

The sixth, and last, document(s) of my portfolio is also multimodal, as it is a video

presentation on my “Digital Teaching Portfolio” website from my “Introduction to English as a

Second Language (ESL)” course. Although these documents are from a linguistics class, we

mainly focused on teaching ESL students through a student centered and language inclusive

approach. This “Digital Teaching Portfolio” was the final project of the course, and we had to

include an About Me section, Curriculum Vitae section, Teaching Philosophy section, and a

Sample Annotated Lesson Plans section. However, the “Teaching Philosophy” and “Sample

Annotated Lesson Plans” sections stood out to me the most, as they gave me the opportunity to

update my teaching philosophy and further practice my lesson planning skills.

I began drafting a teaching philosophy ever since my first semester of grad school. My

first draft was about a page long and focused on student centered teaching and creating a safe

and welcoming learning environment. However, I revised and edited it many times to which it is

now about a page and a half long. I’m not saying that word count matters, but I included much

more ideas and newfound teaching philosophies and values that I find important as a future

teacher.
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At first, I begin my teaching philosophy with the deterioration of my native language due

to monolingual schooling. Then, I emphasize how teaching writing is best approached when

encouraging students to write in a voice that feels true to themselves and who they are. Whether

this be through language or medium, students should have the freedom to experiment with and

explore their ways of expression. Thus, I believe in the importance of teaching through a

translingual multimodal approach that help create a student centered, safe, and welcoming

learning environment where students feel valid and respected.

As a high school student, and even at times as an undergrad, I always thought writing was

meant to be rigid, professional, academic, and standard, yet the best writing is daring, risky, and

creates space for its place in the writing world. I want students to free themselves from the

limiting standard way of thinking of writing. Yes, grammar and structure are important to make

writing comprehensible, but the content and use of rhetoric are what make the message.

Therefore, in my class, students will focus on crafting content and best delivering its messages.

Writing is an ongoing process, so there will be many opportunities to revise and edit one’s work

throughout the semester.

I also include an example of a project I would practice in my class, which is the

“Reflective Narrative Project.” This project emphasizes the importance of having students reflect

on their language acquisition and perspective of writing. In this way, they understand that all

voices are valid when writing and overall communicating. Another idea I bring up is

conversational commentary as a form of feedback and evaluation and explain how I would

practice it and have students practice it with the “Reflective Narrative Project.”

I used to think feedback and evaluation worked by red marking slashes, question marks,

and vague comments onto a student’s work. However, as a grad student, I learned that one of the
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best ways to provide feedback is by either writing positive constructive comments onto a

student’s work or by having a face-to-face conversation with them to have an open discussion of

their work to highlight the good while also helping them better the weaker parts of their work

with advice, suggestions, questions, or comments to get students to actively think. In this way,

students don’t feel like their work is being judged and laughed at, instead they’ll understand that

feedback is meant to be helpful through dialogue and understanding.

Lastly, I bring up a quote that has stuck with me ever since my first year of grad school.

Paulo Freire states in his book, The Politics of Education: Culture, Power, and Liberation, “To

study is not to consume ideas, but to create and re-create them.” This is an idea I highly value as

a future teacher, as students come into college thinking that the teacher is the authority and they

are the sponges that need to soak up what is being taught and how it’s being taught because it is

the right way. Of course not, students, learners need to question, research, and create their own

understanding by challenging what is presented to them. It’s fine to agree, but you need to know

and defend why you agree with something. Thus, I would emphasize to students that we are all

equals in the classroom and can learn from one another.

As I’ve stated before, most ENGL 1301 students are recent high school graduates who

might still use the five-paragraph model and expect the teacher to lecture and correct their work

for them to resubmit and get a better grade. However, I strive to have students actively learn and

work alongside with them in the classroom. Writing is mostly thought of as an independent act,

but feedback and comments from other readers help a writer better their draft. Writing is

drafting, and it is an ongoing process that can be remade and reshaped as long as time permits.

Therefore, I want to help students see writing through this perspective of fluidity, while also
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reminding them that they are each a unique student with their own voice and identity that help

make their writing theirs.

As for the “Sample Annotated Lesson Plans” section, I got to flesh out the “Reflective

Narrative Project” I talk about in my “Teaching Philosophy,” and I include a “Critical Analysis

of Cultural Representation” lesson plan. They are not as thoroughly detailed as my “Rasquache

Rhetorics Unit Lesson Plan,” but they highlight what I value and want to students to learn and

think about as culturally aware writers. The “Reflective Narrative Project” allows students to

reflect and think about their use of language and ways of writing, while the “Critical Analysis of

Cultural Representation” project asks students to select a story to critically analyze its

representation of culture while persuading their audience how their perspective is so.

I believe in giving students the agency to choose what to write about so they can

genuinely write about something that interests and matters to them. In this way, it helps them see

writing as an opportunity to present their ideas, rather than forcing them to write about

something they either don’t care about or find interest in. This concept allows the language

inclusive, safe, and welcoming learning environment to strengthen and grow, as students feel

capable and secure in choosing what they want to write about and present to the class.

Conclusion

While creating my capstone portfolio, and seeing this as the current end of the road of my

graduate school journey, I feel a bittersweet sense of accomplishment. It’s nice to finish

something I’ve felt unsure and incapable of when I first started, and, now, I feel worthy and like

I know what I am doing and what I have done to get here. I was an insecure first-semester grad
 Hinojosa 19

student, and now I am a second-year grad student on the verge of becoming a degree-certified

scholar.

Looking back at the works I have presented in this portfolio, I revised and edited parts

that felt were an outdated version of me. I added and removed parts of my work as necessary,

and I remembered that being a student, a learner, means you keep on growing. Regardless of

your degree or title, we all keep evolving and should strive to keep doing so. I sectioned my

portfolio as “Pedagogical Content” and “RCLS Content,” yet that is not all I learned about and

focused on as a grad student. I took linguistics classes and a literature class throughout my grad

journey, and the knowledge I gained from them are just as relevant to shaping me into the

scholar I am today.

Language, letters, sounds, stories, poems, and books are what make writing – the skill,

and writing – the art, possible. In this way, I learned that everything I’ve learned about as a grad

student is important and worth trying out and exploring. “Always keep trying, mija,” “Echale

ganas,” and “no te rindas” my parents would tell me. At times, I would get annoyed with their

constant coaching because I felt they were empty words of support. I would get stressed from

completing a project, and my mom would tell me, “You’ve done it before, and you can do it

again.” And, that woke me up. I have done it before, and I will do it again. “I will get it done.”, I

thought to myself.

However, completing one’s work was not just to get it done, it was research, questioning,

challenging, writing, rewriting, and the cycle continues. It was annoying but reassuring knowing

that writing was meant to be this way. Hearing my parents cheer for me and to feel their

everlasting support reminds me that my graduate school journey was not done alone. My parents

and my sisters were there pushing me on and even gave me ideas when I was up late jotting
 Hinojosa 20

down notes to extend on and write about for certain projects. I had supportive professors and

classmates that helped me transform old perspectives of teaching writing to new perspectives of

teaching and understanding writing and rhetoric. I am grateful for the experiences I had as a

graduate student, and I am glad I have become the scholar I am today because of their everlasting

support.

With all this newfound knowledge, I plan on becoming a collegiate-level writing

instructor that is compassionate, just, and challenging. Not the challenging one that locks the

door to keep late students out of class or limits students from experimenting and exploring new

ways of writing and communication through different mediums and languages. But, I plan on

being an instructor that challenges their students to think outside the confining box of standard

writing. Knowledge is meant to be challenged, questioned, and remade; thus, writing and

rhetoric are worth exploring and experimenting with, especially as college students. Writing is

practice, and in my class, we’ll practice our writing and rhetoric skills and knowledge together

until the end of the semester.

Nonetheless, learning should not end after a semester of ENGL 1301, so I will emphasize

this to students to keep learning, exploring, and evolving their writing, rhetoric, and

communication skills to become better knowledge composers in their careers and the real world.

As a scholar, I will make it my social responsibility to be there for my students and community.

In this way, we can help make the world a better place to express our thoughts, voice, and who

we are in the world by making space for ourselves as validated and respected writers, rhetors,

communicators, and overall individuals.