WRITING FOR ENGLISH COURSES Engl 120 Portfolio

WRITING FOR ENGLISH COURSES Engl 120 Portfolio

WRITING FOR ENGLISH COURSES Engl 120 Portfolio

WRITING FOR ENGLISH COURSES  

Engl 120 Portfolio

English 120 is a course that introduces students to the rigors of academic writing and develops each student’s awareness of her/his burgeoning writing process. Consistent with this goal, English 120 requires each student to compile a portfolio of the semester’s work that is evaluated by her/his instructor and at least one other instructor teaching the same course before the student is given a final grade. Though there are five specific assignments required by all instructors, any individual instructor reserves the right to add other assignments to that particular class’s portfolio.

LIST OF ASSIGNMENTS

Mandatory assignments to be included in the English 120 portfolio:

• pre-semester reading response essay
• annotated bibliography
• eight–ten page documented essay
• post-semester reading response essay
• two–three page reflective essay

Optional assignments to be included at the discretion of your instructor:

• prior drafts of the documented essay
• prior and finished drafts of any other assigned essays

Pre-semester Reading Response Essay

This is an essay meant to gauge where you are in your development as a writer and as such all English 120 students are given the same text to read and writing assignment to complete within the first week of class. This is a take-home assignment that asks you to critically read a text and then develop a 3–5 paragraph written summary and response to ideas in the reading you may have an opinion about or experience with. 

Note: The pre-semester reading response essay is an ungraded assignment and is designed primarily as a diagnostic tool.

Dr. Murray and Anna C. Rockowitz Writing Center, Hunter College, City University of New York

Annotated Bibliography

As part of your eight–ten page documented essay, you are required to develop an annotated bibliography encompassing at least five of the sources you will be using as support for your essay’s argument. This assignment requires you to summarize and evaluate the thesis and evidence of each source as well as indicate each source’s relevance to the topic of your essay. Note: The annotated bibliography and the following mandated assignments are graded by your instructor.

Eight–Ten Page Documented Essay

The major writing assignment for English 120 is the documented essay using MLA style as a citation format. Here you will need to do research on a topic chosen by you entirely, one that is chosen by your professor, or one that is chosen by you but conforms to the theme the professor provides.  This assignment is developed in many stages in and out of class. Some of these stages include but are not limited to the following:

• approval of a topic
• development of a research question
• brainstorming
• outlining
• summarizing sources
• drafting the annotated bibliography
• incorporating and attributing sources
• completing multiple drafts of the documented essay itself 

Post-semester Reading Response Essay

This assignment is meant to demonstrate how much you have developed as a writer through your work in English 120.  Near the end of the semester, your pre-semester response essay will be returned to you and you will be asked to revise it based on the writing skills you have practiced throughout the semester. Your instructor will determine the guidelines for revision regarding length and content. 

Two–Three page Reflective Essay

As part of the goal of English 120 to further your development as a writer, you will be asked to evaluate how much your writing process has progressed and why you believe it has done so. As part of this process you will reflect on how you revised your pre-semester essay, what you believe were your strengths or weaknesses, and what assignments or activities fostered your growth as an academic writer.

Dr. Murray and Anna C. Rockowitz Writing Center, Hunter College, City University of New York

WRITING FOR ENGLISH COURSES Engl 120 Portfolio