Fairy Tales

There’s an important typo in the previous email: final portfolios are due not on Friday, Dec. 15th (which doesn’t exist) but Friday, Dec. 14th.

Your portfolio should include the following, in a folder or large envelope:

• your draft and revision of each essay (preferably the commented-upon copies), including your revision of Essay #4;
• an end-of-term reflection (see below); and
• if you wish, and have met with me to discuss this, a revised version of one of the first three essays (see below).

For the end-of-term reflection, read through all of the drafts and revisions that you wrote this semester, then write a letter in which you reflect on your development as a writer this term. Here are some questions to consider:

• Comparing your first essays of the semester with your last, where do you see the most progress with regard to the elements of the academic essay (motive, structure, etc.)? What have you learned about writing academic essays?
• What skills of essay writing do you still need to work on? How do you plan on going about improving and refining these skills?
• How will the skills that you’ve developed in ID1 be particularly useful in other courses?

Feel free to address any other aspect of your development as a writer in this course.

If you wish to  revise one of essays 1-3 you may do so; I will grade the new version and will replace the earlier grade with a new one.  You must meet with me to discuss doing this and get my approval — and you should think carefully about whether or not this will be the best use of your time and energy for this course.  (For example, since Essay #1 counts for a smaller percentage of your final grade than Essay #4, it might make more sense to put that energy into making Essay #4 as strong as you possibly can.)

***I will have your portfolios ready to return to you on Thursday, Dec. 20th, and you can come by my office to pick yours up between 9 and noon.  If you’d like me to mail your portfolio to you over the break, make sure you include your home address in the portfolio.***