PORTFOLIO SELF-EVALUATION

WHAT GOES INTO MY WRITING ASSESSMENT PORTFOLIO? --Personal narrative --One poem, play/script, or piece of fiction --One piece of writing the purpose of which is to: a. present/support a position, idea, or opinion; b. tell about a problem and its solution; or c. inform --One piece of writing from a study area other than English/Language Arts. --A "Best Piece" --A Letter to the Reviewer: a letter written by you discussing your "Best Piece" and reflecting upon your growth as a writer.

What you see in the box above is taken directly from the Portfolio Assessment for Kentucky 4th Grade Students. As part of the Kentucky Reform Act, students are now required to do a lot of writing and to make critical comments about their own writing.

You are being asked to do something very much like these students are doing. To be a good writer, you need to not only write a lot but also be able to write well about what makes writing good. By the time students who are now in the fourth grade get to college, this type of writing should be a lot easier for them than it is for you.

Your last theme for English 101 is a critical evaluation of what you have chosen as your best writing: one of your first three themes, final revisions of your last three themes, and your last sentence style writing exercise (#10). You need not comment on the writing exercise since commentary is built in to the writing exercises; however, you have not, as yet, written any self-critical remarks about your other themes. This is your chance (I was going to say "This is your opportunity," but I thought you might believe I was not being serious. But it is an opportunity). Think of it this way: it is the last time in your entire life that you will (most likely) take the opportunity to closely examine your own writing.

This is your chance to add comments about the work you have done. If you have completed the writing exercises, the structure exercises, and the logs, this final essay should be relatively easy. Just keep in mind that you must illustrate your statements with quoted examples from the essays you refer to. Good luck.

What do you do?

Look back over the four themes in your folder.

By using examples (quoted) from these themes, explain some or all of the following:

• Good introductions and conclusions: Why are they effective? What techniques did you use? Why these techniques and not others?
• What kind of details did you use in the Body of the papers? Do the details give specific illustrations of your ideas?
• Look again at your conclusions. Do you leave the reader with images that linger long in the readers' mind?What about unity? How does your conclusion unify your paper?

What kind of focus does your commentary have?

REMEMBER: Focus is where you begin. You start from here; focus is your main point, your point-of-view.

• Are you commenting on improvement in your writing?
• Are you primarily concerned by your change of attitude?
• How about how you have become more self-aware of what writing is all about?
• Self-realization rather than expression may be important to you.What about disappointments you have experienced about your writing (and your instruction)?

Return to Themes Table of Contents

Return to English 101 Syllabus