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Foundations of Writing Dr. Sherry Portfolio Synthesis Letter Courtney King

In Foundations of College Writing, there are five goals that we have aspired to meet for our writing. Below, I will describe these five goals and provide examples of how I have strived to reach them. I draw my examples from the three different projects we were assigned: a research project related to college culture, using our findings to present the information in different ways appropriate for each genre, and finally a personal narrative that relates back to the main topic of our course, which is, what it means to be educated. In my research project, I investigated why students choose to teach the age level they decide to. When I wrote my professional letter, my audience was the parents of the children who were deciding what age level to teach and my purpose was to show them how important their decision is and by using the research and data I have collected I stressed how important it is to choose the grade level they want to teach based on a connection they have with that age group. “While any of these would be good choices for your child, I strongly urge your child to consider what age group that they connect most with. Studies we have done have shown that students choose the age-level they would like to teach in because they have some sort of relationship with a child of that age. With this in mind, your child should spend time considering these majors and what they think they would like to do.”
 * Goal A: Students will be able to compose for particular audiences and purposes.**

In my research project, I studied why people chose to teach the grade levels they wanted to teach. I chose to write a paper to portray the data I had found. The language that I used while writing this research paper included my problem, background, method, findings, and conclusion. By separating these into sections, it makes it more clear to the reader what I am referring to in each section of the paper. Below I am going to show you a section of my research paper that demonstrates the type of language appropriate for the reader to understand.
 * Goal B. Students will be able to compose using language and conventions appropriate to genre.**

“**Method** I have used ethnographic methods to study the why behind people choosing to do certain things. Using ethnographic methods has helped me get a little closer to answering my basic question throughout this paper. To answer the questions I have posed, I have interviewed different people in each subdivision under the major of education. I have asked them the core question of why they chose to teach the grade level that they did and what influenced them to make their decision."

In my research paper, I studied why people chose toteach the grade levels they want to teach. In this paper I came to a conclusion through the use of evidence and used that as an argument to prove that students choose to teach a grade level because they have had a connection with those children in that age range. By stressing what was used from the data I collected in my research, the interviews I had conducted, I found the answer to my original question. Based on the data I have found, people choose the age level they want to teach because they feel a connection with the age group that they are going to teach. While I was interviewing each person, they told me specific stories that were about children in the age group that they are planning to teach in the future, and they felt a connection to them. This proves that people tend to want to teach the age-level that they are the most familiar and have a connection with.” While portraying my research into different genres, I learned how to use the C.R.A.P. principles to make whatever genre I am using appealing to others. C.R.A.P. stands for contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. I used these points while making a flyer for students to look at and be able to relate to. I have used the C.R.A.P. principles in all three of my projects because they help me use appropriate styles for any genre.
 * Goal C. Students will be able to read, select, and use evidence critically to formulate and support arguments.**
 * “Conclusions**
 * Goal D. Students will be able to interpret and compose in a variety of media and print/non-print genres**



Through each project we used the process of peer review. Peer review has helped me work on what I needed to fix on each of my projects and it also has given me a “fresh pair of eyes” so they can see any mistakes that have been made. Peer review helped us know what our teacher, colleagues, and we should expect of ourselves in each project’s guidelines. We always use the same format as I am going to show you below.
 * Goal E. Students will be able to discuss and apply appropriate writing processes both individually and in collaborative contexts.**