Dear future English 115 student,

First of all, let me start this letter by saying that you've got this! I was in your place not long ago, and I know how stressful it can be. I was the most stressed when I thought about starting college and the courses. I was extremely nervous because I believed my classes would be difficult and exhausting. I was afraid that I would do terribly in my English class as I had never been good with writing assignments. I felt that the English 115 class would be even more complicated than the classes I had taken. I was even worried that I would have a bad grade throughout the semester, as I am not great at wording my opinions while doing essays. But fortunately, it was not as I thought it would be. Yes, it was difficult, but I received a lot of support and guidance throughout the course. I receive help from Professor Koning and Jacob, the leader in our SI class. Both of them were very helpful; they made sure that we understood the things we needed to do and even answered our questions. They were not judgmental; instead, they were very supportive and comprehensive of our needs.

If you are like me, who feels like you need more help with writing papers, then let me tell you that you will be okay. Throughout the semester, there will be three writing assignments in which you will receive help from Professor Koning, and even from your peers. They will also help you revise your paper while preparing for those important assignments.

It is also crucial to address that even though the reading we do in class can be confusing, such as Rankine’s book, Citizen: An American Lyric, it will be interesting and probably even life-changing. This specific book has a peculiar structure, and its wording can be confusing, but with the help of professor Koking, I was able to get a deeper meaning out of it. For this book, we wrote a four to six-page paper in which I discussed its unique structure, such as being written in second-person point of view and the involvement of art throughout the text. Leading up to this big assignment, we did multiple discussions in class and as homework. We received help from Professor Koning. She explained some of the complicated parts of the book, just like the role of its structure. One example could be how Rankine wrote, "You are rushing to meet a friend in a distant neighborhood of Santa Monica. This friend says, as you walk toward her, You are late, you nappy-headed ho” (Rankine Section III). This specific quote shows how Rankine chose that structure so the reader would feel connected with the scenarios and so that they would get a more complex meaning out of them.

I want to also tell you about my writing process and how it became a little better throughout the semester. After completing the progression one paper, I felt a little more confident about my writing, but I still needed support in creating my thesis statements and in making well structured body paragraphs. When I was with my peers revising our work, I took advantage of it, and I listened to their comments and made changes to my writing in the way they advised me to. I also recommend that you do the same, it will help to listen to the advice that others have for you. I can guarantee you that you will have help along the way, so you do not need to worry about not understanding the assignments or not knowing what to do as Professor Koning and Jacob will be there to help you. Enjoy being part of the 115 English class.

Sincerely,

Darlin C.

Rankine, Claudia. Citizen: An American Lyric. Penguin Books, 2015.

My e-portfolio demonstrates my growth as a writer over the semester through the deliberate arrangement of elements, including my papers, exercises, reflections, and images considering that my experience regarding writing has changed from when I first started the course. Also, as I progressed through the semester and this class, I worked on different writing assignments like blogs and even major papers at the end of each progression. On my website, I put those categories in order; first, I listed the personal reading and writing statement that was assigned when we began this project. After that, I wrote the goals and outcomes that I had to create, and the list continues with the blogs, exercises, major works, and the project statement. Choosing a specific order for these categories was complicated as I did not know what order would make the most sense. Regardless of that, I went with this one since I wanted to put what I had worked on first at the beginning of the list and what I had last completed at the end. I then decided to include my favorite page at the beginning of the list, titled "Outside of the Classroom," which I enjoyed making the most. I have to say that even though it was complicated to craft the website as a whole, it was a good experience as I got to be more creative than when writing an essay. However, it is similar as I have to go through the same thinking process of planning what I want my finished product to look like, or what I want to incorporate and what I would rather not. Also, if I think about it, my website is created in the same way as an essay; it is as if I had a prompt, and I was using my e-portfolio to answer it. I am using the different pages and the examples of the work I have completed over the semester as evidence of how I became slightly better and more experienced at writing. I also went through the process of crafting it, just like with an essay. First, I made a sort of draft in which I had started choosing the images and pieces of work for each page. I cannot say that my finished product is the same as I changed things around, and even the pictures I had first chosen might not be there anymore.

While choosing a theme for my e-portfolio, I thought of nature, considering I enjoy gardening. I got to pick beautiful pictures for the covers for each page, but in the places where I included the exercises and even the blogs, I placed images related to what I wrote. I believe that pictures help capture people’s attention, and it also gives them a better idea of what they are going to read. One example for this is the progression one paper where I talked about Claudia Rankine's book titled Citizen: An American Lyric, where I included a picture of her and the cover of her book. That paper is also one of the pieces that I consider to be the strongest in my e-portfolio; not only was it the first paper I wrote for English 115, but it is also an essay in which I talk about problems that exist today, one being racism. In the text, I talk about how Citizen: An American Lyric should be read by all college students as they will learn how words can hurt others or the meaning of microaggressions that are described in the text. The book is complicated to read due to its structure which makes people imagine themselves in the different scenarios of microaggressions, but this exact structure is an essential element for the message it wants to provide. This work is on my major works page, where the Progression papers need to be added after being revised. Overall, the process of crafting my e-portfolio was complicated, but it was a fun experience. I hope I can do another project like this in the future.