This is worth 10% of your grade, and I will be grading it very seriously. You will be evaluated on how well it is organized AND how well you have reflected on your own growth (or lack of growth) as a writer. This is NOT an opportunity for you to critique the class; focus on you for this one. I am looking for a body of work that would show someone who you are as a writer, and I am looking for an honest assessment of that work. I strongly believe people do not improve in their writing until they learn to evaluate it, and a portfolio is a great way to evaluate your work over an extended period of time. If you don't wait until the last minute, you may even enjoy it!

As you work through the semester, make sure you keep EVERYTHING you write so you have plenty of work to choose from. Keep backups of everything!

I do not want the portfolio to simply be your best work. Nor do I want it to be your worst work! Instead, you need to build a portfolio that somehow conveys the following information to anyone who reads it:

• How do you use the writing process (prewriting, revising, editing, etc.)?
• How have you met your own personal writing goals?
• How will you continue to work to meet these goals?
• How have you grown as a writer?

As we work through the semester, you need to consider how you will build your portfolio in such a way that it will respond to those questions. I do have some things you MUST include (some pieces may fill more than one requirement), but this is the MINIMUM. Also, please do not include everything you wrote all semester--just pick those items that best answer the questions above. Keeping that in mind, be sure to include the following:

• a title page with your name, the class, and the semester
• a table of contents
• some kind of introduction to the portfolio explaining what you hope to show the reader
• a list of goals you had for the course and your writing
• at least one assignment that shows peer interaction
• something that shows your writing process (can be the research paper or shorter essays, but I want to see prewriting through publishing)
• a final reflection explaining where you hope to go in your writing (can be combined with the intro)
• NOTE: Each piece you choose must be accompanied by a brief explanation of why you chose it for the portfolio.

You can also include journal entries (if you made any in your blog, for example), summaries, analyses, essays, message board discussions, anything that inspired you, fiction you wrote out of class . . . basically any writing from the semester.

The only format requirement I have is that if you use a binder, please keep it to 1" or below.

"Presenting" the portfolios is a casual affair, no talking needed!

Remember: you will also be graded on how well you write your reflections, so proofread carefully!

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