WACT COURSE PORTFOLIO

DUE DATE/TIME
Your portfolio is due by class time on Friday December 4th (last day of class). You can turn it in early!

LENGTH
The essay you revise should be around the same length as originally requested in the assignment
guidelines; the self-assessment essay should be approximately 1-2 DS pages.

FORMAT
The reflective essay should be written as an informal letter addressed to me; follow the original format
guidelines for the revised essay.

ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW
For your final portfolio, youll revise your choice of one of the first three essays (the autobiography,
rhetorical analysis, or the album review), accompanied by a reflective self-assessment essay. Your final
portfolio invites you to demonstrate the writing and critical thinking accomplishments of which you are
most proud.

ASSIGNMENT PROCESS
1. Look back at the first three essays you submitted for grading and compare your writing from
early in the semester to where you were at midpoint and now near the end. What problems did
you typically run into early on? What goals did you set for yourself at various points? Where have
you made the most progress when you look at the research project you recently submitted?
Write a zero-draft of your reflective self-assessment letter that looks back over your work this
semester.
2. Now choose one of the first three essays (not the research project) to revise; pick the one you
feel needs the most work.
3. Do your revisions, really re-thinking the essay rather than only focusing on easy-to-fix problems
such as formatting or citation errors.
4. Make annotations throughout the essay using Microsoft Word; note the most significant revisions
youve made. Please dont annotate every tiny edit; rather, focus on true revisions (organization,
content, examples, transitions, etcetera).
5. Return to your reflective self-assessment and add anything you newly realize after revising the
essay you selected.
Make sure youve addressed the following in your reflection:
What aspects of the writing process (coming up with material, drafting, work-shopping,
developing, revising, whatever) were the most challenging/unexpected/rewarding?
What did you find most helpful in developing and shaping material into complete drafts?
In what ways do you feel you contributed to the learning of the other writers in our class?
Organize your reflection chronologically: what your strengths and challenges were coming into
the course, where you made good progress, what youre proudest of, what you still find
challenging.

PORTFOLIO EVALUATION
Your portfolio will be evaluated almost entirely on how deeply youve reflected on your learning process and
development as a writer AND how well your revised essay reflects the growth you discuss in the reflective
letter. Ill refer to the original evaluation criteria for whichever assignment you chose to revise as well as my
feedback (on the essay itself and on the rubric); however, the strongest revisions will go beyond addressing
only my suggestions and will take responsibility for making the essay the best it can be.