Mikaylan Simon

English 1001
Final Portfolio Introduction Letter
5 December 2016

Dear future 1001 students,

The second half of the semester is coming to a conclusion, and I can say that I have
learned a lot when constructing an essay, and I believe that the knowledge I have learned will
help me throughout the rest of my college experience. This class has taught me a great deal of
things when it comes to developing details, focusing a topic, revising drafts, and much more. I
have learned how to think critically about a topic. Before this class, I did not know how to deeply
construct a focus nor develop ideas that were well thought out in a way that focused details that
correlated with the main topic. I believe that the topics and projects we have done so far has
propelled me as a writer in focusing, organizing, and applying more detail to my paper.
The first project was the Personal Literacy Project, and at first I was a little confused on
how it was supposed to work. But, when we went in class and did the group five-card triad index
card exercise, I began to have a clearer understanding of what this project entailed. Before this
class, the only essay I wrote that I could use the pronoun I in was an argumentative essay. I had
to look up what a personal literacy project was to understand how to appropriately create one. I
found out that it was sort of a narrative, or basically a personal story about a certain topic. I was
immediately drawn to the family and literacy topic. This topic identified with me the most,
because I am very close to my family, and my grandmother, which the essay focuses on the most.
Within the Personal Literacy Project essay, I focus on my grandmothers influence she had with
my experience with literature. In paragraph four I explained the reasoning why my grandmother
wanted me to read so much. Blacks werent allowed to read before the Emancipation
Proclamation, but even then they were discouraged and only given books that were falling apart.
She understood the essence of reading and its importance. She, being a school teacher tried to
relay that same message, a message that says reading was a way to liberate oneself from
bondage.
The second project was the Inquiry Project. Unlike the first project, this was extremely
difficult. I did not understand the essence of the inquiry proposal. I began by stating my inquiry
proposal was: Religious Fundamentalism Means Authoritarianism. This take on the inquiry
question was the most difficult. I had basically come up with an idea to create an argumentative
essay rather than an inquiry essay. Throughout the remainder of the second semester I struggled
to come up with an effective inquiry question. However, when I went to the group conference it
was clear that I should change the premise of my question. With this in mind I decided to change
my question from that concerning religious fundamentalism to asking what the definition of the

American Dream is. In the paper I identified what the founding of the country was based on. In
this I highlighted the Declaration of Independence and its significance. The Declaration was
meant to provide everyone with the opportunity to govern themselves instead of being governed
by oppressive regimes. Once seeking independence, the founders drafted the constitution and
within it the Bill of Rights. As I mentioned throughout my paper, the Bill of Rights didnt include
the rights of the slaves. The American Dream is a dream that encases the idea of freedom and
equality. This was a point I tried to convey throughout my paper.
The daybook entries especially made creating detail and examples in my paper much
easier. The IP proposal daybook entries made me break apart my inquiry proposal and dig deeper
into my topic. The other daybook entries made me discover how to write about a topic and
expand it to create a well thought out paragraph. I found the group conferences to be the most
helpful. In this environment, I received information on how to direct my paper, and which ways I
could take it to make it more effective. This helped me focus my paper on the specific topic and
develop an idea that what thought out in an efficient way. The most informative method I have
learned was how to revise a paper. Before this class, I had primarily revised my papers by
changing the wording in some sentences, fixing fragments, and correcting misspelled words.
However, I learned how to take and dismantle my paper to discover the root of my problems.
This method was called Cut and Paste revisions. This allowed me to take pieces of my essay in
paragraphs and deconstruct them to identify one main point or to bring them together to show
complementary points in my paper. This method allowed me to create a draft that fit the criteria
and scored well.
This class has improved my overall writing potential, and I believe that there is more that
I can discover in future courses. However, I am thankful of what I have learned and will apply it
to further essays I construct in the future.