Created by: Thomas Ferrel Portfolio Content Requirements and Portfolio Preface Guidelines Portfolio Contents Your portfolio must include the following in the order listed below:  title page  preface  final versions, drafts, brainstorming, outlines, notes from Writers’ Workshops, etc. of Writing Projects 1-2 and Speeches 1-2 with major changes marked and reflective comments in margins (see note below).  Annotated Bibliography  three revised versions of any the following mini-papers: 2, 3, 7, 8 Note about arranging and marking revisions: Please mark significant changes or additions to the latest drafts with a different color pen, a consistent change of font, a squiggly line in the margin, or some other means so that I can quickly see what has changed. Place the most recent draft of the project on top, followed by the two “final” drafts, additional drafts, brainstorming, Writers’ Workshop notes, and other related materials. Organize materials from latest to earliest.

Portfolio Preface Your Portfolio Preface should be a 3-4 page in-depth analysis that discusses the following:  how you have grown as a writer, reader, and critical thinker this semester  the contents of your portfolio

As an introduction to the portfolio, reflect on the writing you have done this semester in a 3-4 page preface. How do you evaluate the work you've done in the various phases of the course? What should I or others think about in evaluating your work? What should we notice about your writing? What specific features or moments in your major projects, mini-papers, or other work are most important in terms of the overall development of your thinking and writing in the course?

In reflecting on your work, be as specific as you can. Are there specific moments in your writing that show growth or progress? Are there moments of uncertainty, moments when you reached an impasse, or experienced confusion or doubt? Sometimes such uncertainty can produce significant learning, even if it does not produce polished writing. Also, the metaphor of “growth” may not be the best image to describe how your writing and thinking has changed through the term. What other metaphors might you use to describe your mini- papers and how your understandings, as expressed in your writings, have changed over time? Try to avoid vague generalizations. Name the class items that facilitated growth (e.g., a class discussion, reading assignment, activity, video, mini-paper, writing project, peer response group, etc.) and cite (i.e., summarize, paraphrase, and quote) specific passages from your writing projects that support or illustrate your observations. When writing about the contents of your portfolio, you are to discuss and justify your rhetorical decisions. In other words, explain why you wrote what you wrote. Topic choice, organization, source selection, and tone represent a few of the items you might write about as you discuss each major writing assignment. What aspects of your Projects are especially important and intentional? What impact do you hope your Projects will have? What do you plan on doing with your Projects? What are potential problems with your Projects? These represent just a few of the questions that you might address. Again, throughout your Preface, you should continually reference and quote specific parts of your work. For more ideas about items to include in your Preface, please consult the second page of this document. If you would like to argue for a particular grade that you believe your work deserves based on its current form, please feel free to state your view of the matter—just be sure to provide specific support.

Portfolios should be bound. Spiral or comb binding with a clear plastic front cover and a vinyl back cover is preferred, but three-ring binders will be accepted. Portfolios are due Thursday, December 18, 10:30 a.m. in Education 260. Portfolios can be picked up after January 20 by appointment only. All uncollected portfolios will be recycled after July 1, 2014, unless special arrangements are made. Things to think about regarding your major projects:

1. Considering the major projects that you have completed, what do you see as their main strengths and weaknesses?

2. How did you revise any of these projects, and what did you learn from the revision process?

3. What do you want me to focus on as I re-consider your writing?

4. Consider the specific issues we have addressed in our reading and discussions of writing.

a) Focus: does the writing have a thesis that readers might reasonably take varying perspectives on? If you were to paraphrase the point or purpose of your paper as a promise (e.g. "In this paper, I will.. ."), does the draft fulfill that promise?

b) Rhetorical stance: What is your rhetorical stance in the draft, and how is that working?

Ethos: What picture do you present of yourself and how does that self-presentation help establish your authority as a writer in the text?

Pathos: How does the writing address or imagine an audience, either directly or indirectly? Do you provide enough context and information so that outsider readers will understand your discourse?

c) Organization: How do the various ideas or points you are making fit together? If you were to provide a map or blueprint of your piece to guide the reader, what would it say?

d) Using sources and citations: How do you typically use citations in your projects? As an appeal to authority, as a way of representing and assessing another perspective, as a counterpoint to articulating your own views or experience, as points to criticize, or what? How does it work?

e) Considering your target audience: Who are the target audience(s) for this piece of writing and how do you try to reach them? What audiences need to be reached if reflections or actions on this issue are to be effective?

f) Stylistic editing and error correction: How do you vary your sentence types and structures and how well does that work? Consider also how you introduce and comment on quotes, how you use paraphrases of others work, and other rhetorical moves that show how your work ties into the writing of others (intertextuality). Lastly, consider your citation and bibliography. Are they done correctly, and does the reader have everything needed to track down the sources of particular quotes or paraphrases?