E-Portfolio Reflection

One of the English 2010 course goals focuses on citing sources appropriately for the
writing situation and including academic in-text citations with a high degree of proficiency.
Citing sources is often frustrating for me, especially when dealing with websites. My instructor
told me about Citation Machine, a wonderful website for generating correct citation formats for
reference pages. I used this resource extensively during the semester. Another important skill I
gained concerning citing references was how to create a simple in-text citation using the authors
last name and page number. This technique creates easier readability and a cleaner look to the
essay, and I became comfortable using it.
A new challenge I faced this semester was providing credentials for individuals quoted in
my writing assignments. At first, I struggled to remember to give credentials and considered
them a nuisance, but over time it became easier. As the semester progressed, I came to
understand the rationale for including credentials and how it gives validity to the material being
quoted. Now, I am noticing this writing technique as I read my textbooks and newspaper
articles.
Peer reviews were integrated into the curriculum, and initially I perceived them to not be
very advantageous because the suggestions were of a general nature. However, after my
conference with the teacher and then glancing back at the comments written by my peers, I
realized that they had given me some of the same basic suggestions that the teacher was giving.
The conference with the instructor was more helpful than the peer reviews because she pointed
out specific areas in the essay that needed improvement and explained why. Comments that
were helpful from my peers included reminders for me to fix my resource page to conform to
MLA format and to explain the quotes. One comment I gave to a peer was to add more quotes to

eliminate the overall subjective tone in his paper. For another peer, I mentioned that her
evaluation paper needed to focus less on the actors/director and more about the movie and how it
related to her topic. Peer reviews have helped me in my own writing because they see my
writing with fresh eyes and are able to identify areas that I have not clearly explained.
In this class, I discovered that my greatest strength in writing is finding sources that
enhance my paper. However, my greatest weakness seems to be my organizational skills. The
teachers critiques were useful in helping to address this weakness. Her comments caused me to
analyze the purpose for a quote and the direction of the overall paper. The revision process was
very time-consuming but the end result was a paper that flowed smoothly and was better
organized.
This class focused on a variety of genres and how to adapt the writing style for specific
situations. The first assignment dealt with perspective and how to provide information about a
controversial subject without including a personal bias. This was a struggle for me because I
wanted to include my own voice. During my revision process I focused on creating strong topic
sentences and clarifying my three perspectives. One simple remedy for dealing with this issue
was carefully choosing words that were generic.
The position/proposal paper gave me insight into the need for creating a solution to a
problem instead of just stating my opinion on the issue. As I revised my paper, I concentrated on
ICE and removing assumptions from my previous draft. ICE involves introducing the quote,
citing the quote, and explaining why the quote is included. The challenging part of the process
was remembering to explain the importance of the quote because the quote perfectly stated my
point. This process caused me to carefully scrutinize my paper and helped me improve the
quality of my writing.

My rhetorical portfolio assignment included an evaluation and blog involving a related

topic. My instructor gave me tips on how to change my paper from agreeing or disagreeing with
the documentary to an actual evaluation of its merits. During the revision process, I eliminated
some quotes that supported my opinion and thesis statement but did not focus on the
documentary. I also included more references from the documentary in my paper. These two
steps shifted the focus of the paper and resulted in more accurately fulfilling the assignment.
Writing the blog was my favorite writing style for this class. This genre gave more liberty
for adding personal touches compared to the other assignments. My revision included
introducing myself more fully to the audience and creating an intriguing title.
I spent many hours in revising my papers in order to create my e-Portfolio. Each step
humbled me as I removed the flaws in my papers and came to appreciate the desired outcomes
for this class. I have seen much improvement in my organizational skills and writing techniques
throughout this semester.