Required:

• Typed, final drafts of papers 1-3, along with representative rough/working drafts that demonstrate the development of the papers (you will specifically explain/discuss this development in your portfolio memo, so be sure to choose drafts which support the points you make in your memo).
• Typed annotated bibliography for paper 3
• Research proposal for paper 3 (does not need to be typed)
• Typed, final draft of article/essay/etc you wrote for the group project
• Typed portfolio memo (see handout)
• Daily assignments and journals (no need to rewrite or type them)

Optional:

• Any other documents (in-class writings, interview/survey notes, workshop responses or responses from me, drafts of group project work, etc) that you believe are important for me to see in considering your work throughout the semester.

Organizing the portfolio:

• Your portfolio should be easy for me to read, with all required elements readily available.
• You can organize your portfolio any way you wish, but please make sure that there is some type of organizational structure to it.
• You can put your work in a 3-ring binder, a 2-pocket folder, an accordion file, or whatever apparatus you're most comfortable with.
• However you choose to structure the portfolio, please make certain that you indicate somewhere (in the portfolio memo, in a table of contents) where all the required documents are, so that I can find them quickly.

Portfolio Cover Letter

After you gather everything to put in your portfolio, you need to write a letter to me about your work. In this letter, I'd like you to reflect on your writing throughout the semester--your writing process, the papers you wrote for this class, the revisions you made to your work. While this letter does not need to be "formal," it should demonstrate that you have thought seriously about the writing you produced this semester. Remember that I will read this letter first, and that you should therefore give me a sense of what I will see when I look through your portfolio. Make it clear how you've constructed your portfolio (is it organized thematically? Chronologically? In some other way?) Tell me what happened as you drafted and revised each paper. Analyze your work and tell me what you think makes your writing successful and what you think still needs more work.

There is no page minimum or maximum for this portfolio letter.

Here are some questions/prompts to get you started thinking about this portfolio memo. Please don't attempt to address all of these ideas in your memo-and feel free to address other ideas/concerns, too.

• How do you assess your own writing? That is, overall, have you produced "good writing," however you might define it?
• What are you writing's strengths and weaknesses as demonstrated by this portfolio?
• With each paper, what changed from draft to draft? Why?
• Which papers are you most proud of? Least proud of? Why?
• How did you organize your portfolio, and why?
• What would you do differently if you had more time to work on these papers?
• How did workshop responses, conferences, in-class writings, my responses, class discussions, and/or course readings contribute to your writing/writing process?
• What are your future writing goals? What do you still need to work on? How will you go about the task of writing in your future courses?
• What's the most important thing I should know about your portfolio as I grade it?

Grading the portfolio:

As we discussed in class, I'll be looking at the following when I grade your portfolio:

How thoroughly your portfolio memo discusses your writing. Be detailed. Explain the process you went through in producing these papers, what you think is successful about your writing, what you think these papers' weaknesses are, etc. (Remember, even if your writing isn't "perfect" by your standards, you can still earn a very good grade on your portfolio by pointing out what you think works and doesn't work with your writing).

The amount and quality of revisions you produced, and whether or not you made a good-faith effort to revise your paper based on your peer workshops and my responses.

Your attention to audience and purpose throughout the writings you produced this term. (Does your research paper suit an academic audience, and is the research clearly documented? Does the piece you wrote for the group project fit that particular audience you chose? Are your papers detailed and clear enough for readers to understand your points?)

Whether or not your assignments are complete and meet minimum length requirements.

Whether or not your papers meet the assignment requirements (refer to handouts I gave to you before you wrote each paper).

Whether or not your portfolio reflects an attempt on your part to edit your work for surface errors (did you run spell-check and read through your papers carefully in order to make sentences as clear as possible?)