Intro To My Portfolio Essay, Research Paper

Introduction to My Portfolio

I believe I picked papers that reveal my progress from the beginning of the year to present day. I chose one ?Taking Stock? exercise to show my earlier writing so one may be able to see the changes I have made from the beginning of the school year to more recent works. The next paper I selected was the response to the Ways of Reading introduction because this is when I show a change in my writing for the better. I feel it?s one of the strongest papers I have written because it truly shows my opinion and how I felt reading the introduction. In writing the response I feel that I was able to make a meaning out of what I have read. I do not feel that I am a ?strong reader? yet but I do feel that after having responded to the introduction I took a step in the right direction. The one long paper I have chosen was my set paper. I was not crazy about it because it did not show what I was capable of doing. I chose it because I knew that I could revise it to make it connect more to me. When I first wrote it I knew what I wanted to say but in writing I could not express myself. Now I feel more comfortable writing about what I got out of other people?s papers because I truly understand what to look for.

I did not understand what writing was until I read the Introduction to The Ways of Reading . I found out that writing was just a part of reading. That was why I feel I did not write as well before reading it. I finally figured out how to read. It sounds silly coming from a college student but it is true. Now I know that reading is merely interrogating a writer?s work and making my own meanings of his or her story. I know now how to make a story relate to myself. I feel like the hand covering my eyes for many years was finally lifted and now I have the tools to become a ?strong reader?.

In the ?Taking Stock? exercise I make an observation of my writing but I do not really say why the observation I made was made. I do not completely understand why I wrote what I wrote. Maybe I was just trying to make sense of nothing. Still there are some valid points in my response to the ?Taking Stock? exercise. One point I make in the exercise is that my earlier pieces of writing do not compel the reader. When I say, ?My papers did not raise any questions and did not draw me in as a reader.? It means that I truly was not a ?strong reader?. It means I was not a ?strong reader? because ?strong readers? figure out what the significance of a text is and then analyzes it. The do not just come to a conclusion before viewing and analyzing a text. This is an example of my earlier writing and I feel comfortable putting it in my portfolio because it helps to show how far I?ve come in terms of becoming a ?strong reader and writer?.

My response to the Introduction of The Ways of Reading was a turning point in my writing. It cleared up the fog that made it hard for me to find what was really important in a text. I found that how a story relates to you is a major tool for a ?strong reader and writer? because it makes the story significant. I believe this is one of my strongest papers because it started a new way that I observed stories, essays, and other texts. It is full of emotion and significance because I finally revealed what my problems were when I wrote and I fixed them. To me this is the most important paper in my portfolio because it shows my full potential.

I wanted the set paper in my portfolio because it was a new challenge for me to revise it and make it say what I wanted it to say. It was a challenge because I wrote the paper before reading the introduction to The Ways of Reading. After reading it I had a whole new way of writing and finding significance in pieces. I believe this paper shows what I could start doing to my older works through my new view on reading and writing. It shows what I could do because I changed an unconnected paper into one that may raise questions and compel the reader to read more of it. It grabs attention and shows why these papers were significant to me.

I know I am not yet a ?strong reader and writer? but I also know by reviewing my mistakes and trying to correct them in every paper I write next I am taking a step closer to becoming one.