Abigail Todd

Prof. Melton
Engl 5 Section 5
May 13, 2016
Portfolio Cover Letter
Writing is something that I never really used a process for before, I would just write essays on
whatever topic I was given. After reading papers on the different components of the writing process,
practicing different components and using them to actually write an essay, my grasp on the importance
of writing as a process and how to have to most efficient process is much stronger now. It will also be
more effective to revise papers now using direct feedback from multiple sources that understand the
concept of the essay and are reliable sources for criticism.
After going through this class my reading process has become much more in depth and active.
Before this my typical reading process was really passive and just reading through the material without
really interacting with the material. Now I interact more with the text by annotating, asking questions
about the text as well as looking at the context surrounding when it was written and who wrote it. By
looking at the context of the material I can understand why people would be reading this material, who
the intended audience is and who the author is expecting to read it. This is relevant because with this
information I can evaluate how the information in the material is important and how I can utilize it in
my life based on who the information is originally intended for.
My writing process before this class was to read the prompt a few times then start immediately
on a first draft, no real pre writing or drafting ideas first. This was easier for me because it took less time
but it was not the most effective and I did not typically get the best grade that I could. Now my writing
process starts with the prompt and really paying attention to what is important and what questions really

need to be answered. Then I move on to listing out possible ideas of what to write on and what would be
interesting, having these ideas in a list helps me because I can refer back if I am lost on what to write
about or if I feel I need to incorporate a new idea. I have also done more peer revision and more peer
workshops now to realise that having an outside source provide feedback and read over a draft can be
very helpful if they are doing so effectively and know some of the context of the paper. Having someone
else read over my paper has been helpful because it gives you a different perspective and everyone
perceives things differently so having someone else tell you how they read something can allow you to
make things more clear and easier to understand. These were the two largest changes to my writing
process but there have been a few smaller changes as well.
My researching process changed to become more efficient and more productive. By learning
how to use the databases and how to use them effectively made my process better and it ensured that I
was using reliable sources and using scholarly sources that would give me more credibility in my
arguments. This change also helped me to be able to develop my arguments better because I know I have
more solid evidence and can create a more powerful argument because I am more confident in my
sources and in my research and in my knowledge of the topic.
The writer's narrative was the simplest essay for me to pick a topic and plan out what I was going
to write for it.This was because I knew I had essays I could have done better on and how I could of done
better or where the I thought that the essay lacked and I could have improved. My process for the essay
was to first list out what I thought I lacked when I originally wrote the essay. From that list I was able to
combine a few ideas and rework them to be more inline with the essay prompt, this was my outline that I
referred back to once I had exhausted an idea and needed something new to expand on. Then I ordered
the ideas in what I felt was the most logical order and started writing the essay, trying to expand as much
as possible on each idea.

When it came to revising the narrative I first went through the essay and fixed the logistical
errors, so incorrect punctuation, grammar and a citation format error. Then I read through it and
annotated where I thought my sentences ran on. After annotating I broke up the clunky sentences that
should have been two sentences in the first place. The main aspect of the essay that I revised was the
conclusion; my conclusion for this essay was very weak and did not entirely encompass the meaning of
the essay and tie the ideas together. To improve the conclusion I summed up more specifically what I
said in the essay and developed my concluding statement by saying specifically where, in hindsight, the
information I know now could have been helpful
Writing the rhetorical analysis was difficult mostly because I did not know what to write about,
or what would be a good topic. In the end I choose a Hillary Clinton speech from 1995. The topic was
on women's rights which is something that I am interested in and invested it so it made it easier and
more enjoyable to write about and analyze. To create my final portfolio draft, I included a works cited
page with all of the sources I used to find the speech and to find context information on Clinton during
this period of time. I also expanded on my explaination of her use of Pathos and Ethos to get her point
across. I had touched on these points briefly before but used more information to talk about them
specifically and in more detail. By expanding on these techniques and going further in depth on how
these tactics work and are useful helped me develop the goal of understanding textual conventions, and
understand how these conventions change in different settings and can change depending on how the
writer wants to portray themselves and their ideas.
My revision process for the rhetorical analysis started with revising the structure of my
paragraphs, I had a few paragraphs that had three or four ideas in them, making it too long and bulky. To
do this I first identified the different ideas in each paragraph, then decided which ones were short
enough to leave together and made sense to be together. After deciding which ideas still worked together

I separated the ideas that did not into their own paragraphs. Once I had fixed the more structural errors I
went in and expanded on specific points, like how Clinton establishes her credibility, how she makes the
troubles of women all over the world more relatable to people and how impactful the speech was. The
final revision I made was to include a works cited page citing the source I used to watch the speech, it
also included a transcript of the speech which was helpful.
When it came to writing and researching the research proposal, picking a topic to research and
that would be interesting to research was difficult but I was happy with what I choose which was how
social media affects education and how it can be incorporated into education. The process for this was
different then anything I had really done before because it required scholarly studies rather than just
what comes up first when I search the topic. This meant that it went into a lot more detail and it was
more difficult to find things that were inline with my topic and that I had to look further into the papers
and surveys I found to see if they went with my topic or went against it and if I could use it.
When I revised my research proposal, the main thing that I did was clarify a few things and
break up my paragraphs that were too long. To clarify things I reworded a few sentences that were
clunky and had two ideas or two points in one sentence making it difficult to understand. It was also just
sentences that were too long and needed to be separated by a comma or a semicolon or just two or three
sentences completely. I also expanded on a few ideas that were incomplete or needed more information
added to make them into fuller thoughts. The other major revision I made was to expand on the
conclusion to come to a more effective end that ties everything together better and creates a more solid
conclusion.
My writing strengths have typically been connecting different ideas and explaining things more
in depth. These strengths have developed over the semester because they have continued to be useful
and I have needed to explain myself more and provide more background for certain things without just

summarizing too heavily. My strength in explaining things in depth has developed because I have had to
explain the premise of an essay, my process for the essay and why I did everything that I did without
sounding repetitive or like I am summarizing things without any depth or analysis.
My major weakness in writing is having too many ideas in one paragraph or having too much
information in one sentence. To try and turn this into a strength I will work on being clearer in my
explanations so even if my paragraph or sentence is too long it can still be understood and can still be
read. This shows up in almost all of my writing, making it difficult to read and difficult for people to
understand which is a problem because I think that I have clearly gotten my point across but really it is
impossible to understand and way too long.
My writing process has really changed over the semester and has become much more involved.
My process for reading, drafting, writing and researching an essay is much more in depth now and much
more thorough whereas before it was quite shallow and just working my way through it quickly rather
than actually working through each step and having multiple steps to do within each larger step.