Portfolio: Reflective Letter (Draft)

To whom it may concern:

I have gone through a major evolution as a writer. As I am given more assignments from my teachers, and evaluated on what I've done; I gain a better understanding of what should do to better the next one. From the time in elementary all the way through the first two years of high school, I have been given informative essays to write by my lenient grading teachers. When I reached PSEC, Craig told us our first essay was to be argumentative and I was totally out of my comfort zone. As I have gone through this quarter I was taught a new form of writing that challenged me as a writer. In doing that I have greatly improved in several areas of writing that I wouldn't have had if I was in my old school.

In general I have progressed in a few areas that have made me a greater writer. When I look back at my first essay I can see that I needed to add more evidence and explain it. I also realize I didn't make much sense in the intro. These small realizations show i have improved in revising. Another area I have progressed in is organization. While I go over what Craig has commented about my essay I have kept it in mind and know what things go together and what isn't necessary in a certain part of my essay.

The first essay assigned to the class was about Bacon's rebellion. We had to chose an area that had an impact on causing the rebellion, whether it was political, economical, or social. Then we had to give evidence about whether we were for or against it in an argumentative essay. We also had to cite books or whatever we researched to support or decision. I didn't do as well as I would've wanted because like I said before, I had never done an essay like this one. Now that I look back at it I could find several things I could revise to make it better.

The areas I still need improvement in are obvious to me. Like I am not confident when writing my final drafts. While I'm writing it I'm not convinced that it is written well or not. Another thing I need to improve on is the proper use of words. I don't think my writing style is up to the standards of my placement in school. To extend on my need of improvements, I also know I have trouble writing enough. When I did the first essay I wrote way too less than the minimum. Usually I would stay away from going into depth, I would only scratch the surface and use main details. I definitely need to work on improving my skills in creating introductions and conclusions. I'm not sure what goes into an introduction or conclusion. My question is whether an intro and conclusion written different in an argumentative essay or is it the same in any form of writing?

Another essay I have attached to my portfolio is the last essay I had worked on with my wiki group. For this particular essay our group was given the state Connecticut. This essay was also argumentative because our state and a few others were for the ratification of the Constitution, whereas the rest were against it. Our group split up jobs for writing the essay. My part was to write about economic issues in Connecticut that caused the state to move toward ratifying the Constitution. According to my instructor, the only problem with my part was the verb context and I could've broken up the portion about money, added a few more details, and made it another paragraph.

Along with my improvements that need to be done and my general progress I have already made, I do have a few strengths. Even though I stated I don't know how to right my final drafts, I really know how to plan out my essay by creating a pre-write. I setup my essay and where I want everything on my pre- write by putting the topics of each paragraph in the body, then I add the supporting details under each topic. Research is another strength of mine. I love looking up information because I find it easy. I have a great strength about writing essays on things I can honestly relate to. Normally I stay away from going into depth, because I'm afraid of not getting the right facts or not being correct. When I can relate to something I know what I am talking about, which creates a comfort for me. Because I know what I am talking about, I feel I can go as deep as I please becauseI know the facts and the outcomes.