REFLECTIVE LETTER

Dear Reader,

This portfolio shows that I have met NDSU English department outcomes 2, 5, & 6 through the work that I have collected throughout the semester in Advanced Writing Workshop, as well as in other courses that I have taken during my time as an undergraduate student at North Dakota State University. It also shows the final results of my writing process, including my strengths and weaknesses as a writer.

I have met department outcome 2 because I have read, analyzed, interpreted, critiqued, and evaluated written and visual texts in ENGL 458. For example, in Advanced Writing Workshop, I have written article summaries of four mentor texts that were provided by Dr. Brooks including Diane Brandt's "Sponsors of Literacy," Mary Soliday's "Translating Self and Difference Through LIteracy Narratives," Barbara Tomlinson's “Tuning, Typing Training Texts: Metaphors of Revision,” and Gerald Graff's “On Disliking Books at a Young Age." Through the article summaries, I have learned to analyze the main idea of each article, and inrterpret, critique and evaluate that idea within my summarization. Although I was initially uncertain of how detailed the summaries had to be, my work improved with each assignment that I completed. This progress was also reflected in my grades.

I have also met department outcome 2 in my other classes at NDSU. For example, I have chosen to include in my portfolio an assignment from ENGL 358: Writing in the Arts Humanities and Social Sciences that I completed during the Spring of 2015 titled, "The Educational Value of Sita Sings the Blues as an Interpretation of Valmiki’s Ramayana," underneath additional work. For this assignment, I justified the use of the film, Sita Sings the Blues, in high school classrooms alongside the traditional Indian text, the Ramayana. While working on this assignment, I had to analyze, interpret, critique, and evaluate the film as a representation of the Ramayana. Although I have already spent much time and effort in writing this proposal, which is reflected in the grade that I recieved, I feel that I must go back and justify the religious aspects of the Ramayana in order to ensure that I will be able to teach it in my future classroom. As a result, I will continue to revise this proposal.

I have met department outcome 5 because I have become familiar with theoretical lenses, learning to recognize them at the 200 level, and learning to use them by the 400 level. For example, I have included in my portfolio a reading response from ENGL 279: Literary Analysis underneath additional work that I completed during the fall semester of 2014. The title of my reading response is "Feminism in Dracula," throughout which I applied a Feminist lens to the characters of Mina and Lucy. Because of the feedback that I received from Dr. Emily Wicktor, I felt confident when exploring other theoretical lenses such as Gender and Queer Studies, Marxism, and Post Colonial Studies, whether on my own in reading responses, or in class during group discussions.

I have also met department outcome 6 because I have become familiar with literatures as culturally and historically embedded practices, major writers, genres, and periods, and technologies of writing. For example, I have included a term paper from ENGL 345: American Borderlands that I completed during the spring semester of 2015 underneath additional work. The term paper, "The Naked Judge in Blood Meridian, or Evening Redness in the West," was based on a book written by Cormac McCarthy, one of the major writers of our time. In American Borderlands, visiting professor Daniel Hutchins encouraged me to become familiar with major writers on this topic including Gloria Anzaldua, Wendy Brown through our assigned course readings. As a result, I became familiar with literature as a culturallly and historically embedded practice, specifcally by reading texts like Anzaldua's Borderlands La Frontera: The New Mestiza, which was written from the perspective of a woman who identifies as lesbian and Chicana and shows the relationship between her identity and growing up near the Mexican American border during the 20th Century. Through reading this text, I also learned about the genre of memoirs.

In addition to meeting several aspects of department outcome 6 through ENGL 345, I have also become familiar with tecnologies of writing through ENGL 458: Advanced Writing Workshop, in which I explored everything from audioessays, to twitterature, to using social media for professional development. Evidence of this can be seen in my portfolio through the audioessay and crafting digital writing project that I have chosen to include. Out of all of our assignments this semester, I especially enjoyed digital writing because it was very relevant to my life. For example, I was able to explore the use of Pinterest, a form of social media that I use almost every day, as a professional development tool. However, I am most proud of my audio essay because I feel that I produced a final draft that I could use to model audio essays with in my future classroom with my students.

Throughout the course of this semester, I have learned about my process as a writer through Advanced Writing Workshop. I have decided that I like to write in small amounts over long periods of time. I have found that I also like to share my work with other people, and especially enjoyed working with my classmates, Hannah and Zach. Next, I like to reread my own writing after being away from it for a long period of time. Finally, I will go back and make revisions. This can be seen in the revisions that I have made to my Little Things are Big narrative. After getting feedback from my classmates and Dr. Brooks, I did not revisit this assignment until we started working on our audioessays. That was when I decided to use the audioessay assignment as an opportunity to revise my Little Things are Big narrative. As a result, I am very happy with the final drafts of both. In the future, I may share them with my students if I become a secondary English teacher.

The same can be said about my digital writing process. I prefer to craft digital writing in small amounts, recieve feedback, then make revisions after taking a long break. This can be seen in the design of my portfolio, itself. Initially, I had used a completely different design and layout within my portfolio. However, after sharing it with my classmates, I decided to create a new website to use for my portfolio, which is what I am currently using.

Throughout this course, I have come to recognize my strenghts as a writer. One of my strenghts is in creating visual representations of my work. Out of all of my assignments, I am most pleased with the aesthetics of my crafting digital writing project and my portfolio. For example, I believe that the minimalist design of my portfolio is eye catching, without distracting from my body of work. In addition, I have chosen to include my name and photo on every page of the portfolio in order to give it a personal touch.

Another one of my strengths involves creativity and use of metaphor. This strength can be seen in my Little Things are Big project and in my I am From Poem. For example, one of my favorite things about my Little Things are Big project is the dodgeball metaphor that I use throughout the story. Another example can be seen in the lines, "I am from chicken drummies, strawberry shakes, and a side of pickles served at Ronda's Family Cafe." These metaphors benefit my writing because they add vivid detail that would not otherwise exist.

Throughout the course of this semester, I have also learned about my weaknesses as a writer, one of which involves timeliness. Because I am involved in so many organizations on campus, For the first time in my life, I have had a difficult time finding time to complete my assignments, much less revise them. This is evident in my lack of revision, excluding the changes that I have made to my Little Things are Big narrative and my I am From Poem.

Another weakness that I could improve upon is my willingness to write about my own experiences. This is something that I have not been asked to do in a very long time, after taking so many classes that only placed value on academic writing. In order to improve my ability to write about my own experiences, I would like to start keeping a journal. I have kept a journal in the past, but simply fell out of the routine of writing in it often. However, this course has inspired me to start journal writing again. As a result, I will become a better role model for my future students. By building a relationship with an adult who writes frequently, students will be more likely to picture themselves writing all throughout their lives.

In conclusion, this portfolio shows how I have met department outcomes 2, 5, & 6, as well as my writing process, and my strengths and weaknesses as a writer. Overall, I appreciate your interest in my portfolio and hope you enjoy my writing!

Sincerely,

Rebecca Opp