For the final portfolio, you’ll revise one or two of your essays from this semester. Each essay you revise will be re-graded. I don’t average grades, and you can’t lose any points: your grade will either stay the same, or it’ll go higher.
The portfolio is paper, not electronic. You can submit it in the box in front of my office (JH305) anytime before midnight on 5/3. Don’t worry about putting it in a binder or fancy cover-thingy; a neat stack of stapled papers is just fine (but please staple it. If you drop a bird’s nest of loose papers into my box, I’ll be pre-irritated when I grade it, which is probably not what you want).
The portfolio will have two sections, with an option for a third.
1. Cover letter
In which you’ll talk about the big changes you made to your essay(s), and why you made them. This “why” is very important. “No revision without reflection” is the old saying. If you made changes just because someone else told you to, then you’ve learned little. The big game we’re after here is your improvement as a writer, and that will only come through the reflection and reasoning behind your changes.
These cover letters are usually about a page long.
2. The Essay(s)
Highlight the changes you’ve made. You can either do this by hand, or by using the compare-documents function on Word.
The highlighting step is required if you want your essay(s) re-graded. All together, I’ll be looking at around 600-800 pages in these final portfolios. Don’t make my job harder. If you skip the highlighting, I skip your portfolio.
3. Contribution Note (optional)
Your contribution score for the stand-up unit (out of 5 points) is posted in Moodle. If you would like a chance to raise your contribution score, you can write a short essay outlining all the ways you have contributed to the class outside of whole-group discussion. Remember: this is a persuasive essay, driven by evidence. Vague claims like “I talked so much in small group, like ALL THE TIME” are much less persuasive than specific examples and details. This option isn’t an invitation to grade-grub; it’s an opportunity for you to show me all the pixels of the picture of your contribution, particularly the ones that I can’t see in a Harkness discussion.
LAST THING: Remember to write & turn in your process letter for the stand-up unit through Moodle by 5/3. It’s worth up to four points on that twenty point assignment.