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Juhas, Catherine Dr. Sherry Found. of Writing Portfolio Synthesis Letter

This semester, in Foundations of College Writing, I have learned and worked towards five important goals for my writing. For each of these goals I will provide examples and evidence of how I made progress toward them. Examples and evidence will mainly come from three projects that we have accomplished this semester: in the first project, CLUE, I collected interview and observation data from articles on college culture and how eating healthy can affect you in college; in the second project, EAR, I transformed the results from my first project into three different genres for three different audiences; in the third project, TELL, I told the story of my own experiences which led me to where I am today and how I chose my career path.


 * Goal A. Students will be able to compose for particular audiences and purposes.**

In my first project, CLUE, I observed how healthy food vs. campus food affects college students, I then took all of my research from my research project and directed it towards different audiences for my second project, EAR. I used the information from my first project and made a poster for families, a letter to the president, and a satire directed towards college students.

My Letter:

I used this approach because I was able to inform not just anybody, but the President of the campus itself. Here I was able to professionally inform him of everything I have researched, observed, and found on the types of food choices students make.

My Satire:

While here, I was able to take my information and shift it around to make a parody like flyer informing students that the food on campus isn't the best choice by saying fries are just like vegetables, and following an unhealthy food pyramid should make a student stop and think.

These two are prime examples from my second project on how I transformed my first project into different genres to connect with different audiences but still get across the same message.


 * Goal B. Students will be able to compose using language and conventions appropriate to genre.**

Here I used my CLUE as a prime example of how I composed language and conventions appropriate to my genre. My CLUE (my research project) talks about and gives direct quotes of how healthy food can affect students in college. By eating healthier you are bettering your chances in succeeding in college, rather than eating unhealthy and staying lazy and not getting anything accomplished.

My CLUE:


 * Goal C. Students will be able to read, select, and use evidence critically to formulate and support arguments.**

To meet this goal I am going to chime in on my CLUE project once more, for the fact that I had to go out and find information and supporting facts that helped give information on why it is so important to be healthy in college.

Here is some important info I have researched when I first started, I used these specific quotes to really help students and my audience to see that it should be an important part of their everyday lives to stay healthy and fit.


 * ==== Students are more vulnerable now, transferring from adolescence to adulthood, to dietary problems for the mere fact of the payments of tuition fees and the economic hardships. (Manwa, 2013) Now-a-days college tuitions go up and up, but the food stays the same. Colleges even add more places and vending machines to snack at throughout the years. Dietary patterns are important as they reflect the types of foods available as well as the nutrient content taken by individuals or groups of people. (Manwa, 2013) Within Universities you will come across many individuals all different shapes and sizes of all different ethnicities and cultures. My question is, do they all take care of themselves and keep themselves in shape? 61% of Cardiovascular deaths are related to diet and physical activity. (Claudiu & Mihaela, 2013) I believe a Healthy body is able to maintain a healthy mind if you have the motivation to push yourself for greatness. Throughout college it is very easy to fall into the eight risk factors – alcohol use, smoking, high blood cholestoral, high blood glucose, low fruit and vegetable intakes, and physical inactivity. (Claudiu &Mihaela, 2013) Living away from home makes falling into all of that more easier considering you don’t have anybody to specifically be down your back about different things. ====

My CLUE:


 * Goal D. Students will be able to interpret and compose in a variety of media and print/non-print genres.**

This goal is highly important because throughout college I now know that I will need to be able to make any paper and/or project directed towards different audiences at times. Professor Sherry really helped me understand how to make an effective letter, flyer, and poster with all the same information, just directed towards a different audience for each genre.

Previously I showed you my satire:

We learned something called the C.R.A.P. principles. CRAP stands for Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity. For my satire I used a black and white contrast with maroon and white lettering, I repeated the images and color of wording throughout, and I aligned and grouped together each section to make it clearer to read.


 * Goal E. Students will be able to discuss and apply appropriate writing processes both individually and in collaborative contexts.**

This goal simply means that you can reflect on your work both by yourself and/or in groups. You are able to take constructive criticism towards your work to not only do better, but to improve and grow with each writing/project. We did a lot of this in class called Peer Review. In Peer Review we would be sectioned off into groups of three or four and in our group we would either pass around our work or read it aloud, we then asked those in our group what they thought we could change or revise. As each was giving their opinion we would write what they said on a Peer Review Sheet (shown below.) As you read aloud you would be able to catch your own mistakes as well!

Peer Review Sheet:

I really like the fact that on this sheet you are able to set goals for yourself and your work and what you expect from your partners before you actually meet with them. I feel as though this is a great way to reflect on your work to improve it!

Another great way to reflect on your work is the Peer Revision Sheet, though the name name catch you off guard, on this sheet you yourself are to find mistakes from your work and fix it as best as you can. This sheet is great because in the three columns Original, Revision, and Explanation/Rule, you can track what you have made mistakes on and remember them for future projects.

Peer Revision Sheet:

This sheet is a great way to self-reflect on your work and to help remember mistakes you have made for future papers/projects!

I feel as though these goals have really shaped the writer in me today into an even better writer. In this class we learned more than just how to write a paper, but what it really means to us to be educated. We have learned how to take our ideas and shape them to fit any audience and/or genre to fit the needs of a college work style. I am now able to take any topic and transform and manipulate the information to make other writings/projects directed towards other audiences with the same information.