Writing Portfolio
Lastname 1
Firstname Lastname
English 101
Cover Letter Draft #1
Dear
When I first began taking this course I thought it would be a breeze, as I generally did quite well on the papers I wrote in high school. However, when I began receiving papers back with less than satisfactory scores, to put it nicely, I realized I was in for quite the learning experience this semester. On the first few drafts of the first few papers, I hadn’t quite caught on yet, and you will notice that the first drafts look very similar, with very few corrections in comparison to the previous drafts. However, as it got further into the semester, my drafts became more and more different as I learned and applied the concepts of the English 101 Rubric.
My knowledge of conventions was very rough at first due to the differences between what was expected of me in high school and what was expected in this class. For example, I was never properly taught when to italicize, quote, or underline titles of books. Thus, in essentially all but the last drafts of my third and fourth essays, the articles I cited are in italics, when they should have been in quotations. For example, in the first paragraph of my third essay, I say that William P. Cheshire “presents the morals involved in embryonic stem cell research in his 2003 article Destroying Embryos in Order to Obtain Stem Cells Is Immoral” (Lastname 1). In my later drafts, this was changed to “Destroying Embryos in Order to Obtain Stem Cells Is Immoral.” This is a seemingly minor detail, but can very distracting to those who are knowledgeable about conventions and draws away from the impact of my paper and the point I am trying to make. Along with the proper labeling of article titles, I have also demonstrated the use of proper margins (after a few failed tries), the proper citation of quotes (after many failed tries), and attention to the details of proper grammar and basic conventions such as can be seen throughout the final draft of my fourth essay. Overall, the specific details of my papers have gradually developed into flawlessly written papers, void of conventional errors as for a smooth, easy reading.
In reference to my rhetorical awareness, I feel that I successfully completed the requirements of the rubric throughout each of my essays. Although some of the first drafts failed to satisfy the assignment requirements, as I misunderstood the details of the directions, most of my essays fulfill what was asked in the directions. For example, in essay three, we were asked to present the opposition’s points using only what “they say.” On the third page of my third essay I discuss the research done by John Harris:
Researchers, such as John Harris, believe that the life of a fetus begins at conception, as both an egg and a sperm are considered living even before they connect. John Harris is a professor at the University of Florida who emphasizes his work on the development of neural processes. His 1998 book Clones, Genes, and Immortality: Ethics and the Genetic Revolution, indicates that embryos are living at the level in which they are derived. As embryonic stem cells are generally derived from in-vitro processed embryos, they are considered to be embryos that have the complete possibility to develop into a living human-being, as “Most embryos develop to birth and generate a normal animal [or human]” (Harris, 46). Thus, Harris has hypothesized that the process of deriving an embryonic stem cell from an embryo does kill the cell, and it can be considered the killing of an undeveloped human being. (Lastname 3)
This paragraph exemplifies my ability to follow the directions to present what credible researchers and authors have said about my topic, without revealing my personal opinion on the topic. I also feel that I have established an identifiable focus and purpose, as can be seen in my thesis of my fourth paper, “I will argue that embryonic stem cell research can only benefit humanity, and it is only right that we welcome the possibilities of medical advances held by embryonic stem cells” (Lastname 1). This sentence narrows down the topic in my first paragraph so the reader clearly understands from the start what I will be supporting throughout my research paper.
My critical thinking is possibly the weakest part of my essay development in this class. Although I do identify the problem of stem cell research, I feel that I could have made a few adjustments to better meet some of the requirements of the critical thinking section. For identifying and considering the influence of varying cultural, social, and historical contexts on the issue, I brought up a few points under this category, but definitely not as many as I probably could have. In both of my portfolio essays, I discuss the ethics of embryonic stem cells, which I believe can be put under cultural and social contexts, as one’s culture and society can influence what they believe to be moral or immoral. However, I could have made this clearer to the reader, as I generally referred to this issue simply as a scientific argument against embryonic stem cells. I could have also tied in the religious reasons people have against the use of ESCs, which correlates with the ethics, but was very difficult to find support for. I did attempt to research this, but it seems as if that argument is completely up to everyone’s varied beliefs and is hard to defend. Some parts of the critical thinking that I think I did very well include connecting my quotes/material to the subject of my paper and summarizing the relevance of each article I cite in my work.
I think the part of this class that I have done the best in is the development of my work from the first draft to the last. As I stated in my introduction, I began the semester thinking I knew it all, and soon thereafter found that this was no where near the truth. It took me at least two drafts of my third essay before catching onto the concept of framing my quotes. After that, my essays improved very quickly and I felt that my only issues were with conventional errors. An example in which I fixed the framing of my quotes can be seen on the third page of the first draft of my third essay where I stated that “The fact that these eggs are fertilized and embryos are created solely for use as scientific research seems morally corrupt, ‘there is something degrading about producing embryos at will merely for research purpose’ (Harris 61)” (Lastname 3). After realizing that I had failed to successfully frame this quote, I adjusted as necessary for the next draft of this essay:
His 1998 book Clones, Genes, and Immortality: Ethics and the Genetic Revolution, indicates that embryos are living at the level in which they are derived. As embryonic stem cells are generally derived from in-vitro processed embryos, they are considered to be embryos that have the complete possibility to develop into a living human-being, as ‘Most embryos develop to birth and generate a normal animal [or human]’ (Harris 46). (Lastname 3)
This example is one that can represent about every single quote I used in the first drafts of these essays. The introduction of the skill of framing into my writing habits was one that took a while for me to get used to, but definitely added depth and credibility to my papers. Development can also be seen in my drafts through simple things such as using a 1 inch margin instead of 1.25, or not putting a comma in the citations after quotes. I feel my writing has increasingly gotten better throughout the semester in major and minor details of my writing. I feel as if I have become a much better writer than I was at the beginning of the semester, and am surprisingly thankful for some of the tedious little details expected in my work, as they made me aware of these things in my first drafts now.
Overall, I feel that I have definitely met the requirements of the English 101 Rubric. I started off very rough, but I feel that I have developed into an excellent writer.
Student Name