SamplePortfolioAssignment

ENWR106:CollegeWritingII
Instructor:EmilyIsaacs

DueDate:Onthedayofyourfinalexam.[Ifyourexamdayfallsononeofthelastfewdays
duringexamweek,andyouneedmoretimetocompletegrading,youcanmovetheduedateup
afewdays.However,thefinalduedatemustnotoccurbeforethebeginningofexamweek.]
WhatIsthePortfolio?

Aportfolioisacollectionofawritersworkfromagivenperiodoftime.Thiscollectionwill
consistofthreeoftheessaysyouhavewrittenthissemesterandashortfinalessay,"Measa
Writer."[ForCWII,substitute,"MeasaReader."]Thisportfoliowillreflectyourverybestwork,
andtoachievethataim,youwillneedtoreviseyouressaysfromthecommentsIhavemade,
reviewercomments,andfromyourowncarefulrereadingofyouressays.Finally,youneedto
grammaticallycorrectandproofreadyouressays.Thisisyourfinalchancetoletmeseehow
hardyouhaveworked,andalsohowstrongyourwritingis.Thisis20%ofyourgrade.

1.TheEssays

Reviewandreviseallofyouressays,usingthecommentsthatyourpeersandIhavewritten,
andalsoyourowninsightsasyourereadyouressays.Theserevisedessaysarethemost
importantpartofyourportfolio.Withperhapsoneortwoexceptions,yououghttoadd
substantiallytoeachofyourfouressays.Successfulessayswillincludeseveralnewparagraphs
aswellassomesignificantcuttingofoldmaterials.WhenIevaluateyourworkIamlookingto
seethatyouhaveconqueredthebigchallengesofcollegewriting:focus,development,analysis,
organization,clarityofproseandediting.

HereisanoccasionwhenIwillnotoverlookerrors;youhavetimetofixerrorsandmakeyour
prosebothclearandgrammaticallycorrect.Therefore,failuretocleanupgrammaticaland
proofreadingerrorswilldeeplyloweryourgrade.Itismyresponsibilitytomakesurethat
studentswhohavetakenCollegeWritingI[orII]arepreparedfortheexpectationsofthe
academiccommunity.Thoseexpectationsincludegrammaticalandproofreadingcompetence.
Witheachessayyoumustincludeaparagraphexplainingthechangesyouvemadeto
youressay.Describewhatyou'vedonetoimproveyouressay,usingtheestablishedcriteria
(focus,development,etc.).Makesureyouincludetwoversionsofyouressay:theoldoneand
thenewone.Itmightalsobeusefultoputnewsectionsinbold.Thatwaywecanreallysee
whereyouhaverevised.

Hereisanexample:

InessayfourIwroteanentirelynewintroduction,removedthesecondexample,andgreatly
expandedthesecondexample.Ialsoworkedontheintroductiontothequotes.Finally,I
workedreallyhardtoremoveALLmyprevioustyposandtogetridofthefragmentsandrun
ons.


2.FinalEssay,"MeasaWriter."

Thisessayisashortessayofonetotwopagelength.Considerthefollowing:
Whoareyouasawriter?
Whatareyourstrengthsandweaknesses?
Whatcharacterizesyourwriting?
Whatdoyoulikebestaboutyourwriting?

Whatisthepointofwriting?

Howhasyourwritingchangedoverthesemester?Howhasitnotchanged?Or,takea
longerview:howhasyourwritingchanged,ornotchanged,overyourmanyyearsofschooling?
Inthisessayyoudon'thavetolikeyourwritingorthinkyourwritinghasimproved.Youdohave
towriteananalysisofyourselfasawriter,forthatiswhatyouare,forwhoelsebutawriter
wouldwritesixessaysinjustfourmonths?
Forthisessay,showmetheskillsyouhaveused.Donotattempttoanswerallthosequestions
I'veaskedasthenyouwillhaveanunfocusedessay.Rather,chooseyourownwaytofocusyour
essay,anddevelopitwithexamplesandevidence,asyouhavelearnedtodothissemester.
And,iftherewaseveranassignmentdesignedtohelpyoutothink,toanalyze,thisisit.
3.Presentation
Putyourportfoliotogetherneatly.Don'tspendalotofmoneyonpresentationfolders,butdo
putittogetherinanorganizedandclearmanner.Inthepast,manystudentshaveputtogether
theirportfolioscarefully,withtitlepages,pagenumbers,etc.Youdecidehowyouwantto
packagetheresultofasemesterfullofwork.
Reminder:Yourportfoliorepresentsyourverybestwork.Thisworkwillthereforeneedtobe
carefullyrereadandrereadagain.Iexpectnoproofreadingorothercarelesserrors.When
youworkhardonsomethingitwillshow,andIwanttoseethatinthislastpieceofworkyoudo
forthisclass.
Assessment
Yourfinalportfoliogradewillbeweightedasfollows:

3/4onthewritingqualityoftheportfoliorevisedessays.InthisanalysisIwillusethesame
criteriaIhaveusedallsemesters,butthestakeswillbehigher:Inowviewyouasgraduatesof
IntroductiontoWriting[orCollegeWritingI/II],andsothestandardsforanA,B,C,etcetera,are
higher.Youarenotinthefirstweekofthesemester,butattheendofafullsemesterof
instruction,andyourwritingshouldreflectthatimprovement.Yourportfoliowritingandthe
gradethatitreceivesshouldaccuratelyreflectyouracademicwritingabilities.

1/4onimprovement.IwillessaytheimprovementIseefromtheprevious"final"drafts,to
thereviseddraftspresentedbefore.Evenstudentswhoareearningveryhighgradesatthis
pointinthesemesterneedtoshowmetheycancontinuetoimprovetheirwriting.

MontclairStateUniversity;FirstYearWritingProgram;Isaacs2007