The+Portfolio+Assignment

**WRTG 1310 PORTFOLIO REQUIREMENTS ** **FALL 2012 **

The Assignment:

The WRTG 1310 Final Portfolio is a collection of the work you’ve done during the semester. It is designed as a tool for you to reflect on and articulate what you’ve learned, to give insight to your instructor, and to present you with the opportunity to further revise one of your assigned essays. The portfolio represents 10% of your final grade for the class.

The portfolio is made up of: (1) A reflective essay, (2) The final revision of each of the three assigned essays, and (3) A further revision of the essay of your choice.

How To: Your personal Wiki page already contains the final forms of all three major essay assignments. With the addition of the reflective essay and the further revision, the page itself becomes the portfolio. You may remove anything that doesn’t relate to the portfolio, move it further down the page, or integrate it into the portfolio. It’s up to you. You may organize the page in any way you wish.

(1) The Reflective Essay


 * Write in first person and use MLA Format.


 * This essay should examine your writing, both before and during the course. How did the course change the way you write (or not)? What important incidents do you remember from past writing experiences? Can you divide your life as a writer into stages or periods? Ask yourself what characterizes each of these stages. What sorts of writing have you done in the past and what kinds do you do now? What is different about your experience with different kinds of writing? Who are the important people for whom you have written (not just teachers)? What effects have these different audiences had? Where do you write? When? How fast or slow? Do you write by hand or by computer? Do you feel tense or relaxed after writing? Tell everything that could be figured out from a complete video recording of your writing from start to finish.


 * In it, examine one piece of writing in some detail. Choose a piece that you have strong feelings about or feel really connected to. Look honestly and in detail at the piece. Spend time reconstructing how you wrote it, from beginning to end in as much detail as possible. Look at the writing itself, the various drafts, and see what they tell you. Select specific passages that you can quote and comment on. Show how these examples of words on the page illustrate (or do not illustrate) what you are saying about your writing process. Explain the relationship between your process and your product—between what’s on the page and how it got there. Relate this work with the other work you have done for this class.
 * Include examination of comments or feedback by others. Comments can be from teachers, friends, or classmates, from this course or other courses.


 * Include advice to your future self. On the basis of all this exploration, what suggestions can you give yourself to make your writing to better in the future?

(2) The Final Revision of Each of the Assigned Essays

These should already be present on your Wiki page.

(3) The Substantial Revision

You must choose one essay to revise, and only one. The revision must be a substantial one, and not just a correction of those items that were marked in grading. The revised essay does not replace the existing grade for that essay, but represents a portion of the total Final Portfolio grade.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Suggested Resources:


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Chapter 3, “Writing Profiles”
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Chapter 4, “Explaining a Concept”
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Chapter 6, “Arguing a Position”
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Chapter 7, “Proposing a Solution”
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Chapter 11, “A Catalog of Invention Strategies”
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Chapter 14, “Description”
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Chapter 16, “Defining”
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Chapter 17, “Classifying”
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Chapter 19, “Arguing”
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Chapter 22, “Field Research”
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Chapter 23, “Library and Internet Research”
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Chapter 24, “Using and Acknowledging Sources”
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Chapter 27, “Writing Portfolios”
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">RadioLab “Memory and Forgetting”
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">This American Life episodes 77, 179, 231, 299, and 391.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Criteria for Evaluation: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> **File Not Found**
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Organization and comprehensiveness: Contains evidence of careful planning and an attempt to present information in a logical way; all components of the assignment are present. Worth 20% of total grade.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Reflective Essay: Shows thoughtful consideration, is well organized, and contains few errors. Worth 40% of total grade.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Further Revision: Essay shows evidence of substantial revision, not just correction of errors. Worth 40% of total grade.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Due Date: Post your portfolios TO YOUR PERSONAL WIKI PAGE by the beginning of class on Final Exam Day.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Portions of this assignment were adapted from A Community of Writers, 3rd Ed., by Peter Elbow and Pat Belanoff.