16 June 2015

Northern Oklahoma College

English Department
Stillwater, Oklahoma 74074
Dear Professor Davis:
In this portfolio piece I have included four writing samples, two from Composition 2, one
from American Government and one from my World Religions class. In this portfolio each
writing sample provides a different style of writing my This I believe Paper being very
opinionated and less factual, my American Government Paper being very comparative between
sources of information, my global citizenship paper being very factual and research based and
my World Religions paper being very factual and comparative regarding broad concepts and
ideologies. Each essay provides a different example of my writing as well as reflects different
styles of writing, where my weak points and strong points can be observed. This whole collection
of writing samples are an envelopment of the different styles and topics which I have had to
write about in various subjects and serves as portfolio with variety where my writing abilities can
be analyzed not only in one set or style of topics but in a wide range.
In the first writing sample This I Believe is an essay about my personal beliefs and values
and what personal experiences shaped them. I found this to be a very enjoyable essay and
included it as my first writing sample as I feel it reflects a little bit about who I am as a person
and my personal value set. This is a very opinionated essay and I found it very easy to write
about as I used my personal experiences and feelings as the content for this essay. Once I had my
topic picked I reflected over my personal experiences and began writing a rough draft for this
essay and later edited my rough draft to conclude with my final.
In my second writing sample I chose an American Government Paper which I wrote as a
take home exam. I uploaded this essay as it provides a different style of my writing which is
more information and source based as well as analytical. This essay was more information and
factual based as every argument made I had to back up with facts and evidence from my
American Government textbook. The process which was involved in writing this essay first
started with the gathering of facts and information as well as constructing a general outline and
structure for the paper and where and what information must be placed within the essay to
support my arguments. After the outline I wrote a rough draft and from there my rough draft my
final draft was constructed.
In the third writing sample I used another Paper from English Composition 2 which was
the final essay on global citizenship. This essay I chose to include as it is a research paper and
gives a different style of writing within the English Composition context. In this essay there is a
lot of source work and a detailed bibliography to reflect proper integration of source work into a
research paper. In the writing of this essay I first gathered all the information and sources that I
was going to use for my essay and compiled an outline with a lot of information from source
work as well as my stance on the topic in my own words. I then used this very unorganized
pamphlet of ideas and information to compile my rough draft and then my final draft. This essay

was a more difficult essay to write as there was so much information as well as had a 6-page
minimum. This essay however gives an example of a more researched based English paper in an
opinionated format.
In the fourth writing sample I included a paper which I wrote for my World Religions
class which was a comparative paper between Judaism and Christianity. This was a very
informative paper which I did not have any trouble writing as it was interesting and all the
information which I needed was readily available. I included this essay as the last writing sample
because I felt that it is a comparative style of writing which is based on ideologies and faith
rather than historical content. It provides a different style of writing from other writing samples
on my portfolio and adds a variety of writing as well as subjects.
Writing has always been a strong point of mine and have enjoyed English as a subject
throughout my school career. I have definitely grown as a writer throughout the years, writing
different types and styles of papers on a variety of subjects. In my College career I feel that my
writing process has become more organized as I now write outlines and rough drafts and not just
begin with the final draft. In this English Composition class, I have learnt to better integrate my
sources into my writing as well as learnt the proper formatting of a working bibliography. My
strengths as a writer has always been my wording, phrasing and development of a topic
throughout the essay. I have always felt that when writing an essay especially about a topic
which I feel strongly about I almost envision my writing as me giving a speech to convey my
message, as I have always been good at speeches. My weaknesses are source integration as well
as simple grammatical errors within my writing which I feel like in this course I have bettered.
This Composition 2 class has been very enjoyable and insightful and I have definitely
grown as a writer especially structurally. In future with my degree my essays are probably going
to be more research based and longer. This course has helped with me learning proper source
integration which will be needed in my future papers for future subjects. I feel confident and
prepared in my abilities as a writer finishing up with this composition 2 class and has been very
informative in identifying my strengths and weaknesses as a writer.
Kind Regards
Lydon Charnley