Hello! My name is Lena Lee and I welcome you to my E-portfolio. This is a collection of my essays that I wrote for English 111 Spring Quarter 2013. Through this portfolio, I wish to show you how much my writing skills have been improved. As I wrote in the very first free-write in class, I was not at all confident in my writing skills. In fact, I had put off taking English class until my fifth year in college because I had been scared of facing my weak writing skills. However, as I completed each assignment, my confidence in my writing skills went up gradually. Through the assignments, I was able to explore and practice some important aspects of writing skills. The aspects/outcomes include: demonstrating an awareness of the context of my writing, using various evidence to support my claim, synthesizing a complex and persuasive claim and an efficient revision process. Here is a brief summary that shows you how I targeted each outcome through my writings. 

Outcome 1. To demonstrate an awareness of the strategies that writers use in different writing context 

I would like to demonstrate this outcome through Short Paper 1.2. The task for this assignment was to write a blog post in which I explained how T.H.T is responding to Backlash. Because of the nature of internet blog, this assignment’s intended audience was somewhat different than the other assignments. For this reason, I had to employ appropriate writing skills such as style, tone and convections for the audience.  

Outcome 2. To read, analyze, and synthesize complex texts and incorporate multiple kinds of evidence purposefully in order to generate and supporting writing 

My Major Paper 2 is an excellent demonstration of this outcome. I wrote about my interpretation of Spirited Away and proved that the film is a reflection of today’s society. In this assignment, I showed how I could use different sources to support my claim. I used a scholarly essay and the director’s commentary to gain more profound analysis of the characters in the film. The statistical fact was used as well in order to emphasize my point. Because I used various sources, it was also a great way to practice the MLA citation. 

Outcome 3. To produce complex, analytic, persuasive arguments that matter in academic contexts 

I am using Major Paper 1 to prove that I have this outcome down. All my assignments have a complex claim. However, I specifically chose MP 1 for this outcome because it demonstrates how my writing skills were used to make my argument engaging and persuasive. At the end, I also included the stakes of my argument to tell the readers why my argument matters. 

Outcome 4. To develop flexible strategies for revising, editing, and proofreading writing 

The assignment that displays substantial and successful revision is Short Paper 1.3. In the revision process, I made changes to my claim to make it more explicit and give the readers more correct information about my sources. I also added more of my own interpretation of the texts, so it became an interesting analytical paper rather than just a summary of the texts. Also, this assignment is a good example to show how fixing grammar errors helps the readers understand my writing more clearly. 

Enough said, let’s take a closer look at how I accomplished these four outcomes through each assignment.