In this portfolio I have included all of my work over the course of the semester

I've only helped with one other paper and I don't really have time to do another one, so I am posting my Portfolio Cover Letter in this thread. I hope that is okay and that you will be able to help me to the best of your ability. Thanks again!

December 1, 2014

Dr. (Professor) and Miss. (Teacher Assistant)
English 101*75 Lecture Class
(College)
(City, State, Zip Code)

Dear Dr. (Professor) and (TA),
In this portfolio I have included all of my work over the course of the semester. I have arranged my work in order of which styles of writing I am most familiar with to what I am least familiar with. I feel as though my range of writing has broadened significantly because I now know how to write in certain styles that, before this class, I'd never even heard of.

I am most familiar with the literacy narrative style of writing because it resembles a typical narrative, in which I am fairly good at. Incorporating the literacy aspect was a little challenging; however, I found a way to incorporate how I learned to love to write while still being able to tell a story. I talk a lot, so when prompted with a narrative assignment, I jump for joy! I encountered a bit of trouble with length as well. After taking some time to overlook my narrative and consider different aspects of the story, I learned how to elaborate more in depth and get my paper to the required length and then some.

I've listed the profile second in my portfolio because I've written papers similar to this style of writing. While I've never specifically interviewed someone, I've done a lot of writing on specific people and their lives. I feel as though this style of writing broadened the, formerly narrow, technique that I've learned. I interviewed my friend for this paper and I found it somewhat difficult to gather the correct information I needed because I was not sure what questions to ask her. After I figured these out, however, I was able to interview my friend with ease. The interview went very smoothly because we know each other very well. I was able to predict most of her answers, although, there was a lot I learned about her that I was surprised I didn't already know. I really appreciated this assignment because it gave me a chance to view my friend from a different perspective.

The next paper in my portfolio is my position paper. I have never done a paper like this before, believe it or not. However, I had a lot of fun writing it. I learned a lot about the different preferences people have towards box and scratch cake mixes. I also learned a lot about certain things inside of box mixes that I never even considered. I, again, had a bit of trouble figuring out how to lengthen it, but I was soon able to come up with some other aspects of the debate that I'd only briefly discussed. I found it fairly simple to argue my opinion because I am a very opinionated person. I have been told by my dad that I should be a lawyer because I am very good at arguing, so this paper gave me no trouble in that department.

I've placed my analysis paper last because, not only have I never written one, but I did not quite grasp the concept of writing it. I am most disappointed in this paper as well because I feel like I have the God-given potential to write a well-written piece, I just wasn't familiar with the concept of an analysis. I found it relatively easy to talk about baking because I love to bake. Unfortunately, it was difficult for me to find sources for my paper and for me to write in a style that I don't completely understand. I've learned that I really need to become more familiar with the style of writing I am attempting before I attempt it. I hope I will gain more experience in this style of writing so that I can broaden my writing skills even further.

Please let me know if this is formatted correctly and written properly.

Brianna, don't worry about the timezone. I will stay up with you for as long as need be. I have to warn you though that I might have to step away from the computer for a bit but I will be in touch via tablet. I'll be happy to review your letter for you if you can point me towards the link in your signature card on the forum. Remember, analyze the recipes. That means the ingredients and baking style. The difference in flavor and texture can be done last. Perhaps you can visualize the difference in the taste of the two products based on the recipe? Imagine yourself a contestant on the Food Network show Chopped. How do you think those different ingredients would taste when mixed together? Use that as part of your analysis since you don't have the time to bake the other recipe at this point :-)

Hahahahaha, I laughed outloud when I read that because I actually have Chopped on tv in the background! It helps me if I have something quiet going on while I write because I am able to focus better. I don't know, I'm weird lol. But okay that makes a lot of sense actually, and thanks for being willing to stay up with me! I don't know if you saw it but I posted my letter on this thread. (I hope I'm allowed to do that!) I have to edit another paper in order to be able to post another thread and I just don't have the time right now.

Brianna, the rules are one topic per thread so I do not really know if the MOD will allow the letter to stay on this thread. I will give it a few minutes before I try to advise you about the letter because if they choose to delete the thread, my response might be deleted as well. If you can tell me what your cover letter must contain, I should be able to review it in the proper manner. Sorry about that but cover letters are a bit tricky and unless I know what the letter is for, I won't really know what to do with it or how to review it :-)

In the meantime, try to think yourself as a judge on Chopped. See how they taste the food and then give a critique of what is good or bad about the dish? That is exactly how your analytical essay about this cake or sweets is supposed to go. I am glad we have that in common. I think it will be easier for me to explain what you need to do now :-)

Awesome! I'm going to get working on it! and as for the letter, my teacher gave us guidelines:

There are any number of things you can tailor your portfolio towards showing, but you may want to organize it so that it highlights one of the following:

- your improvement as a writer if you feel you have improved significantly, or
- your range as a writer if you feel that it has expanded over the course of the semester.

I chose the second option so hopefully it reflects that! She also wrote:
write an introductory letter that explains how you've organized your portfolio and what your portfolio shows.

I hope this helps!

thats pretty mate, id hesitate at submitting that to an african american :(

Brianna, try this on for size. I revised the wording in the essay to make it more direct to the point and allow you to sound more confident.


- This portfolio contains all of the written work covered this semester arranged from what I feel are my strongest papers to my weakest papers. The essays will show that I have broadened my writing range significantly over the past months due to my newfound familiarity with various writing styles of which I was previousy unfamiliar with.


- Being most comfortable and familiar with the literacy narrative style of writing due to its similarities with the typical narrative, which is my most proficient writing style. It took some adjustment on my part before I got a good handle of how to write in this narrative style, eventually finding the balance that still allowed me to tell a story within a given length. In developing this writing style, I learned how to consider my narrative in relation to the required length of words.


- My second developed writing skills covers the profile style of writing. This paper, which is similar to an autobiographical paper allowed me to gain a different kind of learning experience by interviewing a person in relation to a given topic. I learned how to gather necessary information through interviews and follow up questions that would help to shed more light and information about given assumptions. For this essay, I interviewed my friend and discovered that while I knew a lot of things about the person, there was more to be learned about her on a personal level. Thus allowing me to view my friend from a different perspective afterwards. Profile writing helped me learn that we cannot trust everything that we think we know about a person because there will always be more to learn about him once you take the time to actually talk to the person.


- The position paper, which is third in my list was the most fun paper that I had to write this semester because it allowed me the freedom to discuss something I am highly familiar with, baking. I compared the various cake mixes as opposed to cakes backed from scratch and debated upon its efficiency in delivering the final product. I was given a chance to argue my personal opinion and being highly opinionated, I took the chance to present my point of view on paper.


- Finally, I present you with my analysis paper not because it is my weakest point, but because, having never written one, I was not quite sure if I was able to grasp the concept of this writing style. It was easy to discuss baking because i love to bake, but since I did not really understand the requirements of the written work, I was unable to develop the paper properly. Therefore I have decided that I will keep practicing this writing style until I get it right. I will do that in the hopes of continuing to broaden my writing talents and horizons.

As you can see wordiness does not equate to confidence. This cover letter is actually the final part of your writing lesson. That is why it had to evoke a higher sense of learning, understanding, and presentation when compared to the other papers you have already written. I hope you approve my suggested changes :-)

Srikanth, I'm not sure what you're talking about.

Louisa, thank you for the revisions! I am currently working on my Analysis. I accidentally fell asleep last night :/
Oh, and was the heading correct? With the date and the professor name, etc.?

I can't answer for the heading format because that depends upon the format your professor requires. As far as I can tell, it has all the required elements for a cover letter. I hope my suggested revisions really helped you out. Don't worry if you fall asleep or get busy with other stuff, we can always pick up where we left off :-) When you revise this paper, keep the objectives in mind and you should be fine :-) We can continue to revise as you see fit.

good!