Notes from the example portfolio shown in class:
Not a five paragraph essay for the introduction
- I was a journalist in high school, so I’m knowledgable about writing articles structured differently than your typical academic essay
- I think I might style my essay more like a journalism article, with shorter but more paragraphs
Rather, the student wrote a less academic, more unorthodox introductory essay
Avoided using links; she embedded her documents
Each document was followed by thorough analysis
For the introductory video, she had a flyer explaining how it connected to the lessons learned throughout the semester
- I thought the flyer idea was super creative
- For my portfolio, I plan on creating a similar graphic that attaches various concepts and themes to a specific source
Did not stick to the conventional format that the tutorial video uses
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how you format your portfolio as long as you explain why you chose that specific format to convey your ideas
Everything you do with the portfolio should be done with a purpose behind it
Think outside the box
Don’t make your portfolio boring
Make it stand out so Dr. A enjoys reading it
The example includes a lot of artwork
- For my portfolio, I could consider adding drawings of scenes from my story to increase the level of multimodality
- The one issue with this is I’m not the best artist so I may need to do some additional research on how to draw simple yet aesthetic pictures
- I could include this additional research in my portfolio
Analysis
The example shown in class was insightful. It offered me a better idea of what Dr. A expects out of the ePortfolio. Originally, I thought the assignment was more mundane, believing all I would have to do is just write a typical introductory essay and attach some artifacts below it. However, I’m now aware of the level of creativity required to get 1500 points from the assignment. As an initial idea, I plan on making my ePortfolio one long essay that has artifacts and process documents embedded throughout, and the essay will culminate with my final product, which is the piece of flash fiction I created for my research project. Obviously, the first part of my essay will act as the introduction; however, as you continue to read, paragraphs will start getting interrupted by documents I worked on during the semester. These interruptions will be seamless as the preceding paragraph will flow smoothly into the content of the document, explaining my method for creating the document and how the document contributed to my ultimate goal. My final product at the end of the essay will add a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction, concluding my time as an English 1102 student. Before writing my essay, I want to look through my research notebook and record key terms we have learned this semester that I can embed throughout my essay to make it more applicable to the course’s content.
That example was less what I expect and more an example of the range of possibilities available for this assignment. I think journalistic writing might be a very interesting approach.