At the end of the semester, your instructor may ask you to submit a portfolio, or collection, of your writing. A writing portfolio often consists of drafts, revisions, and reflections that demonstrate a writer’s thinking and learning processes or that showcase the writer’s best work. Your instructor may give you the choice of submitting your portfolio on paper or electronically.

Your instructor also may distinguish between a process portfolio and an evaluation portfolio (sometimes called an assessment portfolio). A process portfolio allows you to demonstrate your development as a writer; in it you will collect notes, outlines, reflective journal or blog entries, multiple drafts—in short, the messy stuff. In an evaluation portfolio, you will include a few select final pieces that have perhaps been revised multiple times, along with early drafts of those pieces. Your instructor may assign a combination, asking at the end of the semester that you reshape your process portfolio into an evaluation portfolio.

As early in the course as possible, be sure you know the answers to the following questions:

TIP: Save your notes, drafts, and reviewers’ comments for possible use in your portfolio. The more you have assembled, the more you have to choose from to represent your best work. Keep your documents organized in a paper or electronic file system for easy access. (See 1h.)

Reflection—the process of stepping back periodically to examine your decisions, preferences, strengths, and challenges as a writer—helps you recognize your growth as a writer and is the backbone of portfolio keeping.

When you submit your portfolio for a final evaluation or reading, you may be asked to include a reflective opening statement—a cover letter, an introduction, a preface, a memo, or an essay. Whatever form your reflective piece takes, it could be your most important writing in the course. Reflective writing allows you to do the following:

Your instructor will expect you to reflect, too, on how specific pieces in the portfolio show your development as a writer.

Check with your instructor about the guidelines for your reflective opening statement.

See the next page for a sample reflective letter for a portfolio.