Reflective letter for portfolio

In my portfolio, I have chosen to put in my Olive Branch Petition Text Analysis, and my second essay. The reason I chose to use these writings in my portfolio is that they show my growth in the areas I needed, such as my critical thinking, proof reading and summary and analysis skills. These are my weaknesses in writing but I have improved greatly over the duration of the class, my strengths now that I have completed my class are; I can write and edit papers as easily as I can read them: which is a big turn around for me, and I can read over a paper and determine how I could reword the material effectively to make it flow better.

When I look back on my high school writing classes, they were run of the mill very bleak classes that didn’t help me whatsoever. They never challenged the way I write and I usually pulled essays together at the last minute with bogus information.

The reason I like History and Writing 101 is because the classes challenge the way I think and process data. I actually have to think about what I’m reading and writing instead of repeating what a book said, then forgetting it after the assignment is over. The material we have covered in the classes will probably stick with me till I become senile or I die. This is because I have had to think critically on them during the in-class discussions and the writing assignments that I have completed. The fact that our teachers actually read our work instead of looking for a five paragraph format has really taught me how to write and what to look for in my writing while editing. Completing this twelve week course has educated me more than a traditional 1 year class. Yes it was hard and stressful half of the time, but it was not unwarranted. Everything Ben and Craig have us do had a purpose to help us become better writers and have a more in depth understanding of history. That is why I have chosen these 3 items to go in my portfolio, I believe that they show my best work in the sense that I have matured and grown wiser in my writing skill.

My first essay was a bit of a disaster, all my weaknesses were very predominant and I was unhappy with the outcome of my paper. I decided not to rewrite it because it would have only made a 2 point difference. I was disappointed in myself because I knew I didn’t try hard enough and I could have done better. That is why I praise myself on my second essay because I leaned a lot about how to write, like what works and what doesn’t. after my first eaay i walked away with a blow to my pride but a growth in my charachter

The second essay I wrote required me to write from the perspective of a Loyalist during the late 1700’s in the state of North Carolina. I had to write a persuasive essay explaining why I was a loyalist and why “the reader” should be too. This paper is by far the best writing I have ever completed (after I had rewritten it). The reason I had to rewrite it was because I forgot to proof-read it and it had some words missing, but besides that I put my heart but mostly my mind into reading primary documents and piecing together a well rounded argument for my cause. “The Patriots have done this to us loyal colonists because we remain steadfast in our faith to our Majestic Sovereign Lord, the King of England. The reason for their actions is irrational, nay they are absurd. The Patriots believe that withdrawing from the empire and the King’s influence will be good because the Patriots believe the king to be an irrational tyrant. By exaggerating most rumors, the patriots claim that it’s the king’s fault for all the taxes and economic disarray that some of the colonies are facing.” This quote from my paper shows my standpoint and some of my argument.

Overall, Coming to PSEC and taking Ben and Craig’s class has shown me that I’m not a bad writer, I just didn’t know how to write. I had no idea how much work and mind power it takes to write a good piece of literature. I used to hate reading quotes and writing things that were assigned to me, but now that I have learned so much I like challenging my mind, analyzing and thinking about why people write this and that. It’s really embarrassing to look back at my past work and then to look at my present work. I can see a major turnaround for me; I can tell how much I have learned during the past twelve weeks, because I could never write about anything this in depth with out serious work and now I can do it without trouble for most my assignments. I believe that this is my greatest achievement.