Best of Miami Portfolios 2001 - Units.muohio.edu

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And as the result of many enjoyably sleepless nights in front of my buzzing computer screen, I have produced a portfolio that has awakened within me a new outlook on writing: it is fun! A quote that I live by explains, “We are the authors of our own lives.” Besides the silly, cherry-redglow-in-the-dark-pajama-wearing, cartoon-watching girl that I am, I am a busy woman with a life that is so full, I sometimes marvel at the idea that one day I might just write a book about it. And so I begin my portfolio with a piece about me! my life, the way that I think and live. Overflowing with adjectives and a voice that I have failed to hear in many of my school-assigned writings, this is a narrative/descriptive piece that I cannot read without cracking my (Kim Bassinger-lipped) smile. After all, it is my life. My explanatory essay, “Perfect Love,” is one of the more thought-provoking essays I have chosen to write. I chose to analyze two poems that I found intriguing; however, these poems do not reflect my personal opinions and so producing this essay was a challenge. It was planned out and organized on note cards, scratch paper, and took up space in notebooks designated for other classes. I spent hours upon hours in front of my buzzing computer, wearing my favorite pajamas, while working out sentence structures, thumbing through my tattered thesaurus, and struggling to tie together my scattered thoughts and ideas. In calculus class, I probably pondered “perfect love” and what Robert Frost and Paul Laurence Dunbar had to say about it. For a few days, the concepts of this essay encompassed my mind. This is unquestionably one of my many “process pieces” and illustrates the extensive preparation that goes into my writing and ultimately helps me to produce a successful composition. My final portfolio piece, “Devoured By Love,” is a research paper based on Hamlet about Ophelia and love. This was the final writing assignment in my World Literature 12 class. Not only does this responsive essay represent my formal writing abilities (which may be interpreted as notso-risky), it also illustrates that despite instruction and years of being told exactly what to write in each paragraph and sentence, I have benefited from my “overdramatic, oversensitive, and overemotional” inclinations. I am very proud of this piece as a formal and emotional work. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some laundry to do… my cherry red glow-in-the-dark pajamas are missing me. Sincerely, A very excited first-year Miami student 14
Reflective Letter—Sarah Mandlehr A group of girls with perfectly primped hair and flawless make-up turn a rosy pink as the senior football players stroll down the hallway. Four soccer players kick a flat ball stolen from the P.E. locker room. The cast of Kizmet Arabian Nights, still in theatrical make-up, laughs and shows off the new dance moves they just learned in theater class. A cluster of African-American boys huddle around a garbage can making sounds that are Stomp worthy as two beautiful girls hum and move to their music. Some kids wear clothes that look like a mixture of my grandpa’s wardrobe and Salvation Army castoffs. A cluster of girls, with the bronze skin and satin hair of Korea, race to class and pass two guys “posted up” on their lockers trying to act cool for the cheerleaders. Next to them are a couple of students struggling to finish a trigonometry problem. Different races, cultures, ethnic backgrounds, interests, and religions with one thing in common — they are all smart. This is my high school. This is not me. I come from a white, Catholic, middle-class, two-parent family. It was too easy for me to stay in my safe and sheltered world and I knew that to grow as a person I had to choose a new environment. I chose to sit in classes with brilliant students from all around the world who have often taught me more than my teachers. Our class discussions have stimulated my mind, and I haven’t been allowed to just sit back and listen anymore. I began to question things and look for answers on my own without them being handed to me. My peers have had such different experiences in life from mine, and they have opened me up to a whole new spectrum of thinking. It was in writing my first piece, “Family Dinners,” that I realized how different the world was from my upbringing. “Family Dinners” is a narrative on my favorite family tradition, a tradition that I found not everyone had the luxury of experiencing. Until I was a freshman in high school, I was of the firm belief that all families sat down together every night around six-thirty for dinner. All of my Catholic grade school friends followed this pattern, so why not the rest of the world? I can still hear in my head the discussion held in my freshman English class with Mr. Peacock when I was first exposed to the harsh realities of many kids’ home lives. Stories of deceased parents, poverty, abuse and neglect horrified me as these teenagers, just like myself, opened up their world for everyone to hear. I didn’t say a word that day. I was stunned that so many of these brilliant students endured such hardships. These students taught me more about the world than I will ever learn from a textbook. In realizing how lucky I was to enjoy this traditional family dinner, I decided to put it on paper so I could reflect on it whenever I was feeling greedy and remember what I have that many others aren’t as fortunate to experience. While sitting in my AP Government and Politics class, I found myself struggling to keep up because of my own inhibitions. Toward the end of the year it was somewhat intimidating to participate in discussions with students who had already been accepted to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, and Princeton. I questioned my worthiness to speak out and defend my point of view on topics such as gun control, homosexuality, abortion, and one of our favorites, George W. Bush. I wanted to prove my intelligence more and more with every topic that was brought up, but acceptance was important to me and I was afraid that I would be shot down by one of the “Ivies.” An assignment was given to write a persuasive essay on whether or not we thought the Constitution 15
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Essential Instructions Papers writt
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Supervising Teachers 2001 Kristen C
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Julie R. Hagerty Mount Notre Dame H
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Craig E. Potter Perry Meridian High
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