ellory speckman

Introduction: When the semester first started, I was nervous about writing. I didn't feel confident in my skills, and I often worried about whether I was doing things the right way. Over time, I learned more about how writing works, and I started to feel more comfortable expressing my ideas. Now, I am much more confident as a writer, and I understand how to organize my thoughts and make my writing clearer. This Portfolio shows how I have grown throughout the semester.

One assignment that helped me improve was my Research Essay. At first, it was challenging because I didn't know how to create a strong thesis or use evidence correctly, but after getting feedback I understand what I did wrong and how to do it right in the future. Another assignment that helped me grow was the journal entries. I think that you can tell throughout the year how they got better as I continued to be more comfortable with writing. 

Feedback played a big part in helping me improve. One comment that helped me the most was when my teacher told me that my paragraphs are underdeveloped and that helped me to figure out how to develop paragraphs better and learn how to write better. 

Throughout the semester, I also learned more about rhetorical choices, like purpose, tone, evidence, and audience. I'm now better at thinking about who i'm writing to and what message I want to send. The assignment that I think shows my strongest rhetorical awareness is my Rhetorical Analysis because I learned how to apply rhetoric to my essays and how to organize it so that it makes more sense.  

All of the pieces in this portfolio show how much I've grown as a writer, I started the semester unsure of myself, but now I feel more confident and capable. The biggest habit that changed for me was learning to take my time and revise. I have learned how to express my thoughts clearly, and I know these skills will help me in future writing.

C. S. Lewis