Best of Miami Portfolios 2001 - Units.muohio.edu

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The Best of Miami University’s Portfolios 2001 consists of three complete portfolios and selections from fourteen others. A complete portfolio consists of four pieces: 1) a reflective letter introducing the author and the portfolio; 2) a narrative or short story; 3) an explanatory, exploratory or persuasive essay; and 4) a response to a text. Each section and complete portfolio is prefaced with an introduction explaining why The Best of Miami University’s Portfolios Committee members evaluated it so highly. All portfolios are evaluated by at least two readers according to a six-point scoring scale: the 2001 Scoring Guide is reprinted in the Appendix. A portfolio rated “very good” or “excellent” (“5” or “6” on the scoring scale) earns six credits in college composition and completely fulfills the university writing requirements. A portfolio rated “good” (“4” on the scoring scale) earns three credits in college composition as well as advanced placement (ENG 113). A portfolio rated “average” or lower (“3,” “2,” or “1” on the scoring scale) means the student will enroll for two semesters of college composition. While creating a portfolio is an added time investment, such an endeavor is a worthwhile project not only for the opportunity to potentially earn college credit, but also for the experience students gain from creating a portfolio, an activity they will most likely be required to do at some point in their college career. Portfolios encourage authors to approach texts with an eye to revision, and permit readers to experience the many facets of a particular author’s style of composition. However, it should be noted that the entries presented here should not serve as templates or “models” but rather as a challenge to future writers to employ dynamic styles of writing and to enter into new areas of content. Our intention in presenting these pieces is to encourage each and every writer—as we are all writers—to produce and submit what he or she feels is his or her best work. In doing so, we hope that your experience matches Sarah Mandlehr’s when she describes in her Reflective Letter the process of writing and the process of becoming a writer: “I guess that I want it all; the romanticism, the intellectual challenge and the traditions — these are the things that I write about. I hope that when you read the three works that I have sent you that you can glimpse a little of the person I am and envision the person I am becoming.” Diana Royer Acting Director of the Portfolio Program, 2001 Morris Young Director of the Portfolio Program 6
Reflective Letter The reflective letter, addressed to Miami University writing teachers, sets the tone for the portfolio, introducing not only the writer but the individual pieces as well. Readers are not expecting a narrative of your experiences and growth as a writer but, rather, evidence of the critical reflection used in assembling and producing the portfolio. To that end, most useful letters explicitly introduce the pieces and explain the purpose and audience for each piece. Both creative and more traditional letters of introduction are acceptable. As you begin assembling your portfolio, you might be thinking to yourself, “What will help my ‘reflective letter’ of introduction become an interesting piece of prose?” The four reflective letters included in this year’s Best of Miami University’s Portfolios collection will answer this very smart and important question. What will become clear as you read these letters is the sense that each author is able to express her ideas through a uniquely engaging, and thus inherently “interesting,” writing style. While each reflective letter is mechanically flawless with respect to Standard English spelling, punctuation, grammar and usage rules, the success of these four letters is equally dependent upon each author’s ability to be somehow “present” in her writing. Kate Ronald (1999) describes this sort of effective writing style as “writing where ‘somebody’s home,’ as opposed to writing that is technically correct but where there’s ‘nobody home,’ no life, no voice”(171). Thus, as you revise your reflective letter for inclusion in your portfolio, try to write in a style that reflects your presence in the text. In other words, try to be “at home” in your writing. Nicole DiNardo is uniquely “at home” in her letter of reflection, introducing herself and the contents of her portfolio by fictively creating a city scene in which she describes the reactions of passers-by to the various themes in her writing. Nicole’s clever use of setting and description demonstrates the ways in which the genre of letter writing can easily blend with conventions from other genres, like fiction. Similarly, Theresa Donofrio’s presence manifests in her reflective letter as she deftly plays with the convention of point of view. Theresa begins her letter in third-person with a brief scenario of a girl struggling to write at her desk. When she asks, “Who is this girl awake late at night, fighting with the words?” her answer (and the remainder of her reflective letter) is written in the first-person point of view. Theresa’s use of rhetorical questions effectively guides the reader through the specific contents of her portfolio and invites the reader to get to know the writer behind the words. Megan Malanchuk’s letter of reflection opens with a playful description of herself as a writer in her favorite “cherry-red-glow-in-the-dark” pajamas. Confessing that she worries about her perfectionist tendency’s harmful influence on her writing, she artfully employs the image of her “childish” pajamas to explain how she is able to overcome her fears by remembering how much fun she has had while writing the selections for her portfolio. In an equally engaging reflective letter, Sarah Mandlehr graciously describes herself as an authentic individual in a diverse school of other authentic individuals. Sarah’s careful evaluation of her personal interests and goals, especially as they are represented in her various pieces of writing, shows a facility with language and a deeply reflective authorial presence in her letter. 7
Page 1: Miami University Best of Portfolios
Page 4 and 5: Acknowledgements In 1990, Miami Uni
Page 8 and 9: All four of these reflective letter
Page 10 and 11: Your gurgling stomach now seems les
Page 12 and 13: one must prohibit the words from be
Page 14 and 15: And as the result of many enjoyably
Page 16 and 17: would remain viable in the new mill
Page 18 and 19: all of the qualities represented in
Page 20 and 21: honors for past dances, but I figur
Page 22 and 23: in this Mac (I pointed to the Power
Page 24 and 25: There was only one person in the wo
Page 26 and 27: over 500 men sleeping on the dirty
Page 28 and 29: An Explanatory, Exploratory, or Per
Page 30 and 31: decrease will not allow the schools
Page 38 and 39: to make a greater quantity of tires
Page 40 and 41: Response to a Text—Jessica Keel R
Page 42 and 43: the entire novel, but she remains b
Page 44 and 45: “my little squirrel” (2). Torva
Page 46 and 47: status. The Ranevskaya family is on
Page 48 and 49: A Response to a Text—Stephanie Wo
Page 50 and 51: life, showing her growth as a perso
Page 52 and 53: Scott Gruenbaum—Reflective Letter
Page 54 and 55: Scott Gruenbaum—A Narrative or Sh
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Scott Gruenbaum—An Explanatory, E
Page 58 and 59:
another creature for survival is in
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Scott Gruenbaum—A Response to a T
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Complete Portfolio—Camilla Hilema
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Camilla Hileman—A Narrative or Sh
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Camilla Hileman—An Explanatory, E
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Camilla Hileman—A Response To A T
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Complete Portfolio—Pamela Spellma
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Pamela Spellman—A Narrative or Sh
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Pamela Spellman—An Explanatory, E
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Pamela Spellman—Response to a Tex
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2001 Scoring Guide for Portfolios A
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Guidelines for Using Non-Sexist Lan
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Advice from Portfolio Scorers Each
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5. Be creative: Don’t be afraid t
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What’s the difference between a
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2002 Portfolio Information 88
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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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