DearMs.

Douglas
Ihavegrowntremendouslythroughmywritinginthissummerenglishcourse.Inthis
portfolio,IwillgiveananalysisofmybestworkthatIhavecreated.Throughoutthisletter,I
willguideyouthroughmyearliestpiecesofwritingandcontinueinachronologicalordersothat
Icanfullyshowtheimprovementthathasbeenmadethroughmywriting.Inresultofthis
reflectionletter,youwillhaveabetterunderstandingoftheamountofresearchandeffortthat
hasbeenputintomyportfoliosothatyouareabletoobservehowIhavegrownthroughoutthis
8weeksummerenglishcourse.
Inordertogiveafullanalysisofhowmygrowthinwritinghasexpanded,Idecidedto
includeacause/effectessaythatIwrotelastsemesterinmyENG111course.Thisessayis
postedunderthenotebookpageofmyportfolio.Ichosetoincludethisessayinmyportfolioso
thatyoucouldseewhatIbelievewasmybestpieceofwritingbeforethisclass.Itisthebest
writingthatIhavedonepriortothisclass,becauseitwasadifficultessayformetowritesinceI
wasincorporatingapersonaltopicofmyself.ItshowshowIwasabletowriteaboutan
emotionalissuethatsurroundsmylifethroughaformalessay.Ialsofindthispieceofwritingas
arepresentationofwhoIwasasemesteragoversuswhoIamnow.
Incontinuationofreviewingmymaterialinmynotebookpage,Iwillbeginbyanalyzing
thefirstpieceofwritingyouassignedtousinthisclass.ThefirstfewpostsarequestionsthatI
answeredfromtheProustQuestionnaire.Ichosequestion#30tobepartofmyportfoliobecause
Ibelieveitisanimportantmottothatrepresentsmyselfandmywork.Ithoughtitwouldbea
goodcontributiontotheportfoliosothatyoucouldgetanunderstandingofwhoIamasaperson
andhowthatconnectstomywritinginthiscourse.ItisforthissamereasonthatIchosetopost

theotherProustQuestionstomyportfolio.Theyaretheretohopefullygiveyouaninsighttomy
moralsandbeliefssothatyoucanbetterunderstandthepurposetowhyIchosemylineof
inquiryandtheviewpointsthatIdecidetoevaluatethroughmyresearchblog.
Myrhetoricalanalysisisthenextpostthatwewillreviewinthenotebookpage.Ichose
toincorporatemyrhetoricalanalysissothatyoucanreviewtherevisionsthatIhavemadesince
itwasfirstgradedforthisformalassignment.TheoriginalanalysisthatIfirstturnedinhad
severalgrammaticalerrorsandissueswithtenseshifts.Inthisnewrhetoricalanalysis,youwill
seethatthegrammaticalerrorsarenolongerthereandtheessayshouldbewrittenthroughone
tensethroughouttheentireessay.ThisanalysisisacomparisonoftwoarticlesthatIanalyzed
overmylineofinquiry,whichisamnestyforillegalimmigrantsintheUnitedStates.
WewillcontinueobservingthispageofmyportfoliobyreviewingthepostSexual
Assault.Inthispost,IwroteabouttheknowledgeofwhichIknewaboutsexualassaultinthe
UnitedStatesandtheimpactitcurrentlyhasinoursociety.Iwrotethispieceofwritingaspart
oftheassignmentwhichwastoresearchoneofthetopicsrelatedtothefilmCrash.Although
therewasseveralinterestingtopicIcouldhavechosentodo,Ichosetowriteoversexualassault
insteadbecauseItmeetsmeataverypersonallevel,beingafemaleandknowingseveralvictims
ofthissortofcrimewhoneverspokeupabouttheirexperience.Thispostisareflectionofmy
interestinthetopicsthatIdecidetowriteaboutandhoweachpieceofwritingthatImakeisa
reflectionoftheemotionalandpersonalaspectthatIputintomywriting.
Oneofthelastpostsinmynotebookpageis,DylanGarityTheRiggedGame,
whichisoneoftheslampoemsthatIanalyzedasahomeworkassignment.Ichosethisvideo
becauseitdiscussesaflawintheeducationsystemforstudentswhomoveherefromforeign

countries.IchosetoincludethisinmyportfoliobecauseIfeelthatIdidaverywelljobin
writingtheanalysisinasemiformalmanner.Thispieceisasummaryofthepoemandwhatthe
speakertalksaboutthroughoutthevideo.IfeltthatIwroteaverywellsummaryoftheslam
poemandincorporatedenoughinformationfromthevideotosupporttheclaimsthatIwas
makingaboutthepoemtomyaudience.Overall,Ithinkthatthispostshowsawellamountof
improvementinmymannerofwritingformerlyforaninformalassignment,whichisquitean
improvementformeasIwouldnotnormallyputthatmuchstructureinapieceofinformal
writing.
ThelastpostinmynotebookpageiswhatIfindtobemybestpieceofwritingthatIhave
createdthroughthiscourse.ThepostToImmigrantsFromAnIllegalImmigrant,istheslam
poemthatwewereassignedtopresenttotheclass.Thiswasthemostdifficultassignment
becauseIamnotaverypoeticpersonandfindmyselfstrugglingtomakesomethingcreative
throughwriting.IamcomfortableinmyabilitytowriteformalessayswhichiswhyIthinkI
strugglesomuchincreatingpoems.Ihaveonlywatchedslampoemsbutneveractuallywritten
oneuntilthisassignment.Althoughthismayseemtobeasimplepieceofwriting,Ifindthatit
showsthemostamountofgrowthinmywritingsimplybecauseIwasabletoaccomplishthe
task.NotonlydidIcompletetheassignment,butIalsomadeitsoundpoeticwhichisavery
greataccomplishmentforme.Thisreflectsmyabilitytoexpandinmygenresofwritingaswell
asbringbackareminderofwhatwasprobablythebestassignmentwehavedoneinthiscourse.
Myslampoemspeaksovermylineofinquirybyrepresentingmyselfasthevoiceofanillegal
immigrantlivingintheUnitedStates.

Inmyresearchblogpage,youwillseeallofthe12articlesthatIanalyzedoveramnesty
forillegalimmigrantsintheUnitedStates.Theseanalysisshowasignificantamountofgrowth
inmyformalwritingfromtheveryfirstblogthatIpostedupuntilthelastone.Thisproject
helpedmewithmasteringtheabilitytoresearchatopicandchoosefromseveralarticlesrelated
tothattopicwithwhichwouldbestfitthedirectionthatIwantedtotakeasaresearcherandhow
Iwantedmyaudiencetoviewthetopic.Ifirstbeganthisprojectthinkingthatalltheresearch
thatIwouldfindwouldgoagainstmybeliefthatillegalimmigrantsdeserveamnesty.Although
therewereseveralarticlesthatstatedeverypossiblereasontowhypeopleshouldbeagainst
amnesty,Isoonrealizedthattherearejustasmucharticlesthatsupportedamnestyandgave
supportingarguments.Inresultofthisresearchblog,Ihavemorereasontoagreewith
proamnestyandIfeelwellinformedofthesourcebehindthisargument,whichisthefactthat
peopleintheUnitedStatesaredecidingfortheseimmigrantswhentheydonotunderstandwhat
itisliketoexperiencetheissuesthatillegalimmigrantshavehadtofaceintheirnativecountry.
ThelastthingthatIwouldlikeyoutobrieflyreviewismymultigenreprojectinthe
multigenrepageofmyportfolio.ThispagecontainsalloftheoriginalpiecesthatIcreatedfor
thisprojectovermylineofinquiry.Althoughthispagemightbeseenquitesimplebecauseit
doesnotcontainasmuchpiecesofwriting,IthinkthatitreflectshowwellIwasableto
understandtheissueofamnestyintheUnitedStatesbycreatingcreativepiecestoreflectthe
severalviewpointsofwhatisthoughtoverillegalimmigrantsandtheissueathand.Thisproject
concludestheamountofgrowththatIhavemadeinthisclassbymyabilitytocreatevaluable
piecesformyentireprojectwithinonly2weeks.ThisshowshowIhavegrowninbeingableto
writeaformalessaywithinashortperiodoftimeaswellascreatepiecesbyusingmy

imagination.Ifeelthattheslampoemassignmenthelpedmealotbynotbeingafraidtoletmy
creativityrunwildinthisproject,whichinaresult,helpedmetremendouslywithcompleting
thisproject.
Asaresult,Ihopethatthisreflectionletterwasinformativeenoughtoguideyouthrough
myportfolioandmygrowthinwritingthroughthiscourse.AllofthepiecesofwritingthatI
haveexplainedthoroughly,tookmuchofmytimeandefforttotryandaccomplishatan
exceedinglevel.Inconclusion,myportfolioisarepresentationofhowwellIhaveworked
throughoutthiscourseanditshowshowmylineofinquiryhasallowedmetoexpandinmy
perspectiveofthekindofviewpointsthatarebeingsaidaboutissuesthatarecurrentlybeing
facedinthiscountry.Thankyouforteachingmetothebestofyourabilitiesandhelpingmewith
understandingmoreaboutbeingagoodresearcherandwriter.Bestwishestoyouandtherestof
yousummer.
EmilyMontealegre