What Is A Writing Portfolio?
The portfolio (or folder) is a collection of all your work you will do in this class; it
will stand for your entire performance by the end of the semester. You will be
responsible for keeping all materials (handouts, editing sheets, assignments,
papers... etc.) in a three-ring binder organized to include the following sections:
*Policies
*Standards and Checklists
*Paper Packages
*My Editing Sheets
*Main Ideas and Vocabulary
*Reader's Responses
*Exercises
*Other
Why a Writing Portfolio?
Writing is a complex, on-going process. It involves much more than putting stuff
on paper for the instructor to grade. The portfolio will enable you:
- to keep track of other people's arguments (the "Elements of Argument" essays)
on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis, and to become aware how professional
writers organize and articulate them.
- to respond to these ideas, to explore their implications, and integrate them in
your own papers.
- to receive (and provide) responses from other readers.
- to assess the effectiveness of these suggestions in your cover sheets, to
discuss the reasons for integrating them into your own essays, or for rejecting
them.
- to use checklists for each of your papers in order to make sure that they include
the main ingredients which enhance its quality.
- to keep track of various exercises for further reference.
There are multiple advantages in using a portfolio over graded, independent
assignments that add up to a final grade. The portfolio emphasizes the formative
aspect of writing (how to improve the quality of your papers by using other
assignments) rather than the evaluative one (justifying the grade you have
received). It encourages you to regard writing as a fluid process which takes into
account other writers' ideas and responses. It allows for occasional weak drafts
or false starts without affecting your grade, and it encourages you to build on
each assignment on a daily basis, rather than work "in spurts," producing
hit-or-miss essays under the pressure of deadlines. The portfolio will reflect the
variety and overall quality of the work you will do in this class and will enable you
to assess the quality of your own work by providing you with sets of standards
and with a means to keep track of your using them in your own papers.
Portfolio Evaluation
Rather than grading each individual assignment, I will make sure that the
assignment is completed as required by the beginning of the class, and that you
will use it in your subsequent writings. For instance: the assignment for Febr 21
is a fluff deleting exercise (Coordination/ Subordination) you will receive before
the class. You will do the exercise at home, put it in your Exercises section, and
we will correct and discuss it in class. One of the standards for an A grade in this
class is correcting the excessive "fluff" in your drafts. In your self-evaluation, you
will be able to tell in which draft you have detected "fluff", to color-code the
correction, and make a reference to that particular page in your portfolio. In case
your exercise was not done in full at the beginning of the class, you will get an
absence, though you may choose to attend the class (see <Course Policy>) and
fulfill the assignment later, which you will need to do if you are going to argue for
an A grade in your self-evaluation. Note, however, that repeated absences
(excused or unexcused) will make it impossible to argue for an A.
Paper Packages
Each paper you will write will go through a process of several revisions. First,
you will need to produce a first draft at home and bring it to school. (You will need
to make two extra copies for your editors). Before the first editing session, you
will exchange papers with your editors, read their papers, and offer suggestions
or corrections (correcting their excessive "fluff," for instance). You will receive
your editor's suggestions at the beginning of next class, and you will have an
entire hour to discuss with your editors the validity of their suggestions and clarify
any misunderstandings. You will put together your second draft at home, by
following some suggestions and ignoring others.
At some point in the process of writing, you need to bring your paper to the
Writing Center for extra input (some students prefer to bring in a rough draft,
others would rather have their comments to a later version. It does not matter to
me, as long as you have the Writing Center yellow slips in your portfolio, which is
a condition for an A grade folder.) You will explain in your cover sheet why you
choose to follow those suggestions and why you think they have improved the
quality of your paper.
I will read and comment on your revisions, if you feel you need my input, provided
that:
1) in case this is a first draft, you turn it in one class period before it is due.
2) the revision has already been seen by your editors or by the Writing Center
and adjusted as such.
3) you write a brief statement asking what area (CLAIM, EXPRESSION,
SUPPORT, ORGANIZATION, MECHANICS) you want me to look for and
respond to in the revision.
If you do not have the first draft ready, you will get an absence, though you may
choose to stick around and work independently either in the classroom or in the
Computer Lab, during this editing session. Working independently will also
deprive you of the opportunity to edit somebody else's paper. Since one of the
standards for an A grade in this class is having 10 editing responses, arguing for
an A by the end of the semester will be questionable.
Self-Evaluation
At mid-term, you will review the work to that point and write a self-evaluation,
analyzing your activity in this class, your strengths and your weaknesses as
reflected in your portfolio, and what areas you feel need to be improved in the
second section. You will also be able to argue for a mid-term grade, based on
the completed assignments in the syllabus, as well as the checklists I will provide
you with. I will have personal conferences with every one of you, just to make sure
you're on the right track. We will use the same procedure for the final
self-evaluation
Since I will not be grading individual assignments in this class, some students
may become worried about where they stand. If this is the case, do not hesitate
to ask me. We will make an appointment, you will bring in your folder, and I will
give you my estimate of your grade at that point in the semester. That grade will
not be recorded and should not be taken as a prediction as to what your final
grade will be. In case of repeated absences, unacceptable work, late or missed
assignments, I will let you know without your having to ask. At any point in the
semester you will be able to determine your grade based on the syllabus (doing
all the assignments by due day) and the checklists I will provide you with. You
have a model for a Class Participation Checklist in the Standards and
Checklists folder below.)