English 51 – Reflective Memo
Assignment
The goal of a course portfolio isn’t simply to make you retain all of your work from the last 16 weeks of
class. Instead, it is for you to chart your own progress as a writer over the course of the semester and
reflect upon the things that you’ve learned or still need to work on developing.
Instead of assembling a portfolio for the entire course, as we have run out of time this semester, I am
asking each student to put together a reflective memo. The purpose of this memo is for you to reflect on
the progress you have made as a student and writer throughout this course and judge your own
performance.
Below you will find some ideas on how to get started. I’m looking for a cover letter/statement of
reflection that is roughly 1000 words, but you can go longer. This set of prompts will help you
select, organize, and reflect upon the writing you have done this semester in order to demonstrate
your ability to fulfill the course outcomes from the syllabus. While the prompts below don’t
necessarily conform to the course outcomes, they can guide you in a general direction as you
think about how to reflect back on the semester.
Course Goals:
Over the course of this class you will
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Develop and apply critical reading and critical thinking skills to writing
Demonstrate understanding that writing is a process
Write essays with a clear and supported thesis
Develop and apply self- and peer-editing skills, and revising methods
Demonstrate knowledge of MLA style and documentation
Participate in critical discussion
Pass a holistically scored department final exam
Dates:
We will not be doing multiple drafts of this assignment. This memo is due on May 8
Requirements:
2-3 pages. MLA format. This can be an informal assignment; you’re writing for yourself and the
instructor.
1. Think about the different kinds of writing you did this semester, and about the different
contexts in which those kinds of writing would be more or less appropriate. In which
documents were considerations of genre, format, structure, voice, tone, and level of
formality most closely tied to the rhetorical situation (that is, considerations related to
audience and context)? For example, in a résumé, both the structure and content of the
document are intimately tied to the expectations of a potential employer in a job
search. Freewrite about how the writing you have done illustrates the relationships
between structure and content, on the one hand, and audience expectations and writer’s
purpose on the other.
Using your prewriting as a basis, narrate the process of your learning about audience and
genre throughout the semester. That is, tell the story of how and what you learned about
audience and genre inside and outside of class, and in your writing. What specific events,
assignments, activities, or revelations inside or outside of class were most helpful in your
learning process? Describe these events or activities in detail to show your reader your
growth through the semester.
2. Look through all the writing you have done this semester, including prewriting and
drafts, and choose the essay for which you best utilized the steps of the writing
process. With this essay, you should be able to demonstrate or provide evidence of
EACH of the steps of the writing process including brainstorming and prewriting,
drafting, editing and proofreading, and revising, as well as your ability to incorporate the
feedback of your peers and teacher.
Additionally, select the final paper that you are most proud of and you feel is the most
polished. This essay may not necessarily be the same essay you chose to demonstrate the
writing process, but it is okay if you do think one essay fits both categories.
Tell the story of the creation, development, and revision of the essay you chose to
demonstrate your writing process. The process you describe will not necessarily be
linear, but is often recursive, and will differ from person to person. As you tell the story,
be sure to discuss, provide or link to examples that give evidence of each step of the
writing process.
Now describe the features of the essay you chose as most polished. In your judgment,
what aspects of the writing distinguish it as most polished? For example, you might
discuss features such as effective word choice, varied sentence structure, focused
organization, and compelling voice. Be sure to provide evidence of these features by
linking to or including passages that demonstrate the culmination of your ability as a
writer.
3. Read through what you have written in the reflections listed above, and jot down some
notes about what these reflections reveal to others about your growth as a writer
throughout the semester. Also, try to recall specific activities and/or readings from the
class that aided this growth, or which made you more aware of yourself as a writer, or of
your writing processes. You may also want to consider all of the various kinds of writing
you have done this semester both in this and other classes, or even outside of the
classroom, and jot down notes about the connections between this class, other classes,
and larger communities.
Create an overview that combines narration of your progress in this class through the
semester with description of the actual strategies you learned and used in the process of
writing your essays and reflections. As you write you may wish to consider some of the
questions listed below, but be careful not to allow those questions to dominate the
structure of your reflection. Use these questions for brainstorming, and then integrate
your different thoughts into a coherent essay discussing and demonstrating your growth
as a writer.
How have you changed as a writer since the beginning of the semester? What activities,
readings, discussions, assignments, or peer or teacher feedback changed you as a writer?
How has your awareness of yourself as a writer changed throughout the semester? What
specifically has caused your awareness to change?
How did the awareness of the portfolio requirement impact your writing habits,
processes, or awareness of yourself as a writer this semester?
How has the development of this portfolio affected both your writing and your
perceptions of yourself as a writer?
What was the most significant factor (person, event, activity) that influenced your growth
as a writer? Elaborate on the nature and role of this influence.