My Writing Portfolio Review
Going into FYS I was not sure what to expect. I only knew that it was a writing based course and that my literacy skills were about to be challenged. However this was not the case. Yes, I did get critiqued on my literal writing ability, but we also were introduced to finding why we write, who we write for, and the benefits of writing for yourself. My writing had some advantages going into the semester in that I typically tend to not stray away from talking about the prompt at hand. One way my writing improved over the course of the semester was making my essays more focused. For example, in my first essay I state how the Middle East is socially isolated, violent, and irrational. Those are three different ideas that were discussed in the essay. However, I should have just focused on one idea and supported it with evidence throughout the entire duration of the essay. In a later paper written about Aladdin, I talk about how fake identity cannot replace true authenticity(Aladdin faking to be Prince Ali). This was a better option to go with because the claim is somewhat broad, but it only applies to a very specific part of Aladdin. With evidence and explanation I was able to have a much more focused essay. My process of writing a paper has changed in that before I would create a thesis, then construct each essay in a specific order to relate back to the thesis. My essays used be pretty cut and paste regarding the structure of them. Now I can write my essay fully and critique my thesis later on. One piece that I would like to rewrite is the “Why We Write” assignment. Throughout the semester, my FYS has taught me that I am capable of writing for different reasons other than academics. Making a website, free writing, and creative writing, are all ways that I write that aren’t academic based. A further aspect of my writing that altered throughout the semester was the importance of storing all work on an online website. Having a website with all of my work has shown me just how much work I’ve done throughout the semester. Having a website to share my work lets me keep my work after the course has ended. In high school, we would simply hand in essays like clockwork and forget about them once they were turned in. Now, I can see all my past work for as long as I’d like. Furthermore, if somebody wanted to see what my FYS was like, I can simply send them my website link. If I were to choose a favorite piece of work from my online portfolio, I think it would have to be my poem that I wrote for creative writing. I wrote about paraphrasing and how it affects the message of writing when certain words are changed. I don’t usually write poems, so doing this was outside of my wheelhouse. However, with effort it turned out pretty well. Now I can view it whenever(and wherever) I want thanks to my writing portfolio.
