McCann 1 Chloe McCann Mrs.

Ingram English 1101-049 5 December 2013 Portfolio Essay I can honestly that this English class has made my first semester of college more enjoyable, worthwhile, and rewarding. I have seen the most growth in myself as a person and my writing abilities. I am more willing to take risks and feel confident doing so. My writing process in general was a concept that I really developed and molded during this course. I was so encouraged to stay engaged in this class that I approached each assignment with an open mind and willingness to learn. I have always struggled with my writing in years past. I always received poor grades on papers up until about senior year and I was seldom given chances to improve. I lost much of my confidence. I knew after the first few meetings of this class those feelings would change. From one of our first assignments titled Shitty First Drafts to learning how to properly peer edit to getting beneficial teacher feedback I have found a way to writing papers that is most helpful for me. My style becomes visible in my blog and weebly site. When I created the e-portfolio, I wanted readers to have the chance to get to know me. That is why I included facts about be and pictures of my life. I felt as though that would be just a fun thing to add to my page and something interesting for my classmates to read. On my page I have headings for each of my major works in this class, as well as one for and my blog. Under each heading I have a process draft, feedback and a final draft. I also included two

McCann 2 pieces from my writers notebook. My two pieces from my writers notebook are essential because they shaped my writing process and how it really grew this semester. My portfolio flows from one major piece of writing to the next THE BLOG The first header on my page is my blog. These six posts really relate to my growth and show my thoughts during the semester. Starting out in this class, Ms. Ingram had us look at the syllabus and write down our inquiries and questions. I had plenty. Most of the key concepts were foreign to me. I didnt know how to take risks; I had no idea how to take responsibility of my own writing either. As far as giving feedback, that seemed like a joke. My second post confirms this thought. In the beginning of this class, Ms. Ingram informed us we would do a peer-editing workshop. Those words alone scared me. I never received worthwhile feedback from a workshop like this and giving someone feedback was always a challenge. Hearing we would be participating in a workshop like this put me down a little. I was looking forward to a college English class, but I didnt want my same experiences that I had in high school. I would soon find out this class would indeed be different. Ms. Ingram took the time to explain the whole process we would be going through. Her approach to peer editing was completely different than anything I had been exposed to. We were given focus questions to ask in our group and we also had guidelines to follow. Another revelation from my blog was my noticeably apparent growth and learning. During my reflections post, I mentioned my experience that I wrote about in my High School Literacy Narrative. The whole process was a journey, it was about a month long and it was emotional for me because the topic of my paper was something personal. Writing this post I saw that the narrative assignment also

McCann 3 helped me find even more of a purpose to my month long search. I was becoming responsible for my own learning. HIGH SCHOOL LITERACY NARRATIVE For my High School Literary Narrative, I included my two writers notebook artifacts, very first draft, a process artifact, a paper with feedback, and my final paper. On the top of my page I have my first brainstorming page, which explains what high school and literacy both mean. I also was exposed to the rhetorical triangle for the first time. I also included my Seeing the Moment exercise. These both influenced the basis of my writing. I chose to use my first draft, which I used in my first ever peer workshop and I also chose the draft I received from my professor with her feedback. This paper I consider to be my first ever college paper and I am proud of my paper and the process I went through to write it. I included the first draft because it is much different than any other draft I have done before. I had never heard of the concept of a shitty first draft and I used this paper to first try it out. I literally wrote all my thoughts down and I didnt try to make this draft close a final draft. I wanted it to be raw and have all of my thoughts out there. It most definitely helped me write a better paper. I was able to see all of my ideas on paper and from there I could choose bits and pieces, and organize it to make the most sense. I wasnt limited like I have in the past when writing first drafts. I used to write as if I was writing a final paper and editing was always so difficult. This time around, editing went much more smoothly. It wasnt easy, but I had more to work with. Another item that influenced this paper greatly was peer workshopping. I had such a pleasant experience and I thoroughly enjoyed giving feedback as well as receiving it. I included it because I wanted to show that this experience as mentioned above, really

McCann 4 helped my writing process flourish. The second draft I included was after I received feedback from two of my peers and Ms. Ingram. The big element that was missing was definitely dialogue. I barely included any and I adding this element will strengthen my paper. All three of them expressed how much stronger my paper will be. I needed two conversations, one with my teacher and another with a counselor. These quotes would really shape my views in my paper and would be the turning points of my research. In class we had an exercise called seeing the moment which also helped my paper turn from a first draft to a final draft. I envisioned my conversation with Mrs. Jankowsky in her office when she was telling me all about her profession. I tried to think of everything I was thinking and feeling in that moment. Never in my many years of schooling have I approached my writing in this way. I know that this added to the full effect of the paper and built up the suspense of it as well. My final draft is thorough and includes many quotes from various conversations. I see a first draft starting out jumbled with lots of information. It is fairly focused, but needs some refining. And also needs quotes to help the paper. Besides Mr. Brooks, I also talked to one of my favorite people at my high school, Mrs. Jankowsky. She is a SAP (Student Assistant Program) counselor who also has a lot of job requirements that resemble a social worker. One morning, she called me down to her office just to talk about what this job can entail. I sat there in her big black chair playing with a miniature zen garden as she told me that I would see situations that I wouldnt even think or dream of seeing. She informed me of countless pregnancies, abandonment and unstable home cases she sees daily. This really hit me hard. All the sudden I felt a rush of emotions: fear, hopelessness, and doubt. I listened to everything she was saying and I knew that I had thinking to do. What about this job is so enticing that it makes me keep pursuing it? Why do I still have this drive? Mrs. Jankowsky knows me well and she was 100% real with me. She understood that I have passion, but she wanted me to be aware that

McCann 5 sometimes our passion isnt enough. There are plenty of difficult days, but you need to push through for the benefit of others. Mrs. Jankowsky is one of the strongest people I know and for her to say that was definitely an eye opener. I began to doubt even more if I could handle this profession. As I left her office tears stung in my eyes. I wondered if this search was over and I found an answer. I appreciated her guidance and I found myself still questioning everything I had learned thus far. After I received feedback from my peers as well as my professor, I added in more quotes right away. I think the quotes add more emotion and the reader is able to relate with myself as the writer. Besides Mr. Brooks, I also talked to one of my favorite people at my high school, Mrs. Jankowsky. She is a SAP (Student Assistant Program) counselor who also has a lot of job requirements that resemble a social worker. One morning, she called me down to her office just to talk about what this job can entail. I sat there in her big black chair playing with a miniature zen garden as she told me that I would see situations that I wouldnt even think or dream of seeing. She goes on to say, The number of pregnancies, cases of abandonment and unstable home cases is countless. I see them on a day-to-day basis and sometimes what you want to happen doesnt. This really hit me hard. I sat there with a blank stare on my face. The temperature in the room seemed to get warmer as tears stung in my eyes. I wanted to seek this profession so bad it hurt. Suddenly I felt a rush of even more emotions: fear, hopelessness, and doubt. I listened to everything she was saying and I knew that I had thinking to do. I sat there with so many questions running through me, What about this job is so enticing that it makes me keep pursuing it? Why do I still have this drive? Mrs. Jankowsky looked at me and calmly stated, I know you well, and I know you feel strongly about this. Its hard work and I dont think just anyone can handle this. You have a passion and a drive that will get you far, but sometimes its not enough. This is hard having to look at brokenness all around you. She was 100% real with me. Mrs. Jankowsky continued saying, There are plenty of difficult days, but you need to push through for the benefit of others. Have outlets, make daily routines that prepare you for the day. I sit and pray with my family everyday. I have every belief you can succeed. Mrs. Jankowsky is one of the strongest people I know and for her to say that was definitely an eye opener. Leaving her office, I was just trying to hold back my tears. I was so confused at this point. The question, Where do I go from here?! ran through my head I wondered if this search was over and I found an answer, an extremely disappointing answer. I appreciated her guidance, but I found myself questioning everything I had learned thus far.

McCann 6 I can clearly see the improvement with these two block quotes. Using my new writing process approach, I was able to make my paragraph stronger, more in depth and it really grabs the readers attention. THE MIDTERM The next header on my weebly site is my midterm. This assignment was difficult for me because it required a lot of reflection and thinking. It sounds so obvious to say I had to think, but I genuinely had to stop and think. I pondered the key concepts and how I was already seeing how feedback and my writing process was changing. I recalled back to the beginning of the semester and as I have mentioned before, I struggled with my writing process. Slowly but surely, I am learning new techniques that have helped me improve. In this midterm assignment, My biggest struggle is being unaware of how to apply [critical thinking] into everyday learning. This concept is foreign to me, but I want to be able to implement this into my way of thinking. This assignment helped me focus in on what I was to get out of this class. It also helped me realize what key concepts I was tackling with ease and what I still had to work on GENRE ANALYSIS My genre analysis page is the next header on my website. This paper was definitely a long process for me. The word analysis scared me at first, but I soon realized that this assignment is not difficult just extremely tedious. It requires you to think farther and deeper than normal. On this page I included one of my first drafts that was rough! My High School genre was a personal statement. For some reason this genre was not very difficult for me to analysis. I went through it with ease and I thought the college genre would go the same way. Well as I have seen many times before, I was wrong. I decided

McCann 7 to write about blogging and I bit off more than I could chew. After turning in a draft to Ms. Ingram, I knew this portion of my paper would challenge me. She suggested I change my genre to educational blogging, which was a trend among our English 1101 class. Basically I had to rewrite my college portion. I included her feedback so you could see the changes from one draft to the next. My final draft was much improved. After pouring over this piece for weeks, having my peers read and reread it, and going to see Ms. Ingram, I am confident it is to the best of my ability. I can see my intellectual growth because I know that normally I would have done the bare minimum to change my paper. This time around I read the piece I was analyzing, Ms. Ingrams first blog, and I pulled quotes left and right to add and back up my points. I definitely can see a trend that adding quotes makes any paper stronger and has been something I struggled with in the past. I am learning to add them as I write and not just stick them in later. THE VISIT The last thing on my website is my reader response letter and short description of Henry Dosss visit. When I first read his blog post, I had to reread a few paragraphs because the language was not what I was expecting and it was much stronger than my own. Then I met the man and I could see why. He was distinguished, smart and most definitely accomplished. I was honored to be in the same room as him. I included this piece because he really touched me. In my reader response letter, I talked about how language should be a critical skill. As I have written about in a blog post, language is something important to me. I have learned from my High School Literacy Narrative that the language of social work is something I am learning and continuing to learn daily here

McCann 8 at college. I see it as a critical skill to survive in the world either in your profession or on a day-to-day basis. As we were talking in the class, we talked about language, education and wealth. I have a desire to become a social worker and with that, I know the dream of being well off financially is far fetched. One classmate said she desired money and that struck a cord with me. I strongly disagreed, but I was too scared to speak my mind. Until Mr. Doss posed the question, Who here thinks money is the key to happiness? He started to say See no disagrees, but he stopped short when he saw my hand. I told him, I dont think it is at all. I believe that you find happiness through others happiness. My dream is to be a social worker in the inner city and that is what motivates me every day. Not the money or the possessions, but the people I will get to interact with and hopefully bless. I have grown up in a poor family and I am used to living this way. I dont need materials to be happy. Ive accepted the fact that I wont have much and I am perfectly okay with that. He looked at me and I could tell he was proud of my answer and somewhat impacted by it. He told me there were ways to make money in that field, but having my point-of-view is my own right and good for me! I am extremely thankful for the opportunity put before us when he came to our classroom. New ideas were thought and different approaches were popping up in each one of our heads. This visit will definitely be one I remember for a long time. THE GRADE Looking over my portfolio and reflecting on this semester, I believe the grade I deserve is an A. I have seen tremendous growth in myself and I am proud of the work I have put forward. I started out really absorbing all of the new concepts and I begun to see the writing process really form. Starting from a shitty first draft where you pull out all the

McCann 9 stops and just write, to taking a little break and going back to your piece. I have found that giving and receiving feedback can be helpful and essential to a paper. Another set of eyes can be what makes the paper. Coming to college I have become more of an impendent person and I see that in my schooling as well. I am responsible for my own learning meaning what I put in, is what I get out. As I stated in my High School Literacy Narrative, I was the one who determined my fate. I think that my writing improved immensely over this course as well. I went from being far from confident to being proud of final papers and even proud of the road I went on to get there. I am excited to see where this confidence and knowledge will take me next.