Writing Portfolio
Tie3D
WritingPortfolioInst-AddOn.docxThe Purpose of the Writing Portfolio
The portfolio should demonstrate what you know about academic research and writing. Toward that end, the choice for portfolio organization belongs to you. Let's start there: with the rhetorical situation. You know the writer (you), the reader (me), and the purpose (to demonstrate your learning in this course). Let's use that rhetorical knowledge to invent strategies for organization. You might consider giving your portfolio a loose "thesis." For instance, consider the following two portfolio "theses":
This portfolio demonstrates both my facility with research and also my skills in critically synthesizing diverse sources to enter an academic conversation.
Or:
This portfolio illustrates my growth as an academic writer over the past eight units. Specifically, this portfolio shows how I have moved beyond offering my own opinion on a subject to using both my experiences and the expertise of others to provide a fuller picture of my argument.
After you have invented a working thesis for your portfolio as a whole, consider organization. Remember, I will read your portfolio in the order you choose. So, endeavor to structure the portfolio in a manner that supports your argument.
For example, the writer of the first portfolio will probably want to include a completed source summary discussion post to show her facility with research. On the other hand, the writer of the second portfolio may want to organize the portfolio in chronological order, beginning with a rough draft of each essay and showing its evolution through peer review, revision, and editing.
Portfolio readers tend to make judgments early in the reading process: usually in the first three or four pages! So consider putting your best work early in the portfolio. You should also think about where your reflective essay is best placed: as the first piece, in order to serve as an introduction? As the final piece, to serve as an "afterword" to the portfolio? Separated into brief sections that explicate each essay and artifact, functioning as a sort of running commentary on the other pieces of the portfolio?
Finally, you must include some kind of table of contents in the portfolio, in order to give me a clear sense of what to expect as I read your work. For instance, a table of contents could look like the following:
NAME
Prof.
Class
Table of Contents
1. Reflective Essay: "Conversing with the Conversation" (p. 3)
2. "Lies I Told My Teachers: One Student's View of Education" (p. 7)
3. Artifacts related to "Lies I Told My Teachers": Close reading log, brainstorming list, rough draft #1, peer feedback (p. 12)
4. "How Pharmaceutical Companies Market Flu Medication") (p. 22)
5. Artifacts related to "How Pharmaceutical Companies Market Flu Medication": rough draft, instructor commentary, source summaries (p. 26)
Reflective Essay
The reflective essay should be an 800-1200 word essay that examines your writing in light of our core learning outcomes: Process, Focus, Development, Rhetorical Strategies, and Conventions. You may choose any number of approaches to this assignment. For instance, you can introduce your reader to any of the following:
· evidence of ways you understand your writing to have improved this term, either by identifying your habits and processes of writing or by examining specific examples from the essays included in your portfolio
· accounts of struggles or challenges this term, specific to academic writing
· consideration of the rhetorical contexts of academic writing, using the terminology you explored in Units One and Two
· descriptions of your next steps as an academic writer
· analysis of the similarities and differences between academic writing and the sort of popular discourse in magazines, newspapers, and popular web sites
· examples of particular paragraphs that you find to be strong or representative of your best work (in the body of the portfolio, you might put these passages in bold if you refer to them in the introduction)
· examples of particular paragraphs that you find to be weak or representative offrustrations you encountered related to writing or certain ideas
· meditations on the most important writing skills you will bring forward to your upcoming academic coursework
· descriptions of changed attitudes or levels of confidence related to your writing (for better or for worse)
· analysis of one or more particular learning outcomes and how it is represented in the portfolio at large
Because your reflective essay will be relatively limited in length, you will not have space to develop a response to all of the above issues. Remember that all good writing is focused, developed, and organized—so consider choosing just one or two of the prompts to write about. You also have leeway in terms of genre. If you prefer, you could format your reflective essay as:
· a letter to your instructor or a fellow student about academic writing
· a researched academic essay making an organized argument
· a rhetorical analysis or close reading of your own writing
· a running commentary on your polished final drafts and artifacts
· an autobiographical account of your journey as a writer
· some other structure of your own choosing
No matter how you choose to approach the reflective essay, it should be thoughtfully composed and carefully proofread. If you refer to outside sources, you must document your research using a standard academic format (e.g., MLA or APA).
Final Drafts
The purpose of this portfolio is to show what you know about academic research and writing. Toward that end, you must include your two best essays from this class. But that’s not all: Your instructor expects to see further revisions of your essay. Even an “A” paper can be improved!
In making decisions about what to include, think about our definitions of academic writing and the level of quality expected in this writing course.
Artifacts
Related to the two other primary pieces of your portfolio — the reflective essay and the final draft essays — your portfolio must also include artifacts that reflect your writing process for each final draft essay. These artifacts can include related discussion posts, brainstorming documents, outlines, email conversations, peer responses, instructor comments, or rough drafts. The purpose of including these artifacts is to give me a full picture of your writing process, which is part of the assessment criteria for the portfolio.
