Writing Portfolio School for Advanced Studies • English 10 Honors

Part 1

General Book Requirements

Arrange in this order. (155 points possible)

_____25 cover page

_____10 title allusion excerpt

_____10 copyright information

_____10 reviews (2 required)

_____10 dedication

_____25 about the author

_____25 preface

_____10 quotation page (1 quote only)

_____10 table of contents (1) (alphabetical order by “type or kind” followed by selection titles)

_____10 table of contents (2) (alphabetical order by titles of selections followed by “type or kind”)

_____10 appendix - Be sure to place this at the very end - last page of portfolio.

Part 2

10 Required Writings

Arrange in order of excellence. (200 points each)

• Autobiographical Narrative / Personal Essay

• Blog

• Book Review: Nonfiction

• Case Study

• Cause-and-Effect Essay

• College-Entrance Essay * • Compare-and-Contrast Essay

• Definition Essay

• Editorial

• Essay of Argumentation

• Essay of Opposing Ideas

• Evaluation

• Fable

• Fan-Fiction

• Film / Movie Review

• Free Choice

• Interview Report

• Letter to the Author

• Literary Analysis: Essay

• Literary Analysis: Novel

• Literary Analysis: Poem

• Monologue

• Obituary, Eulogy, or Tribute (for a fictional character)

• Observation Report

• Pastiche

• Personal Commentary

• Personal Reminiscence

• Pet Peeve Essay

• Photo Essay * • Poem (original)

• Position Paper

• Problem-Solution Essay

• Process Essay

• Profile of a Person

• Research Writing

• Response to Literature

• Satire

• Short Story

• Speech

• Spoken Word Piece

• Talk Show Interview

• Tall Tale

NOTE: * = required “writings”

Checklist Notes: • Portfolios must be spiral-bound with a clear, plastic cover.

• Cover artwork or design must be appealing. It must relate to your title.

• Put the heading (name, class, date - the regular) on the back of cover sheet in the bottom, left-hand corner.

• Font size: 11-point or 12-point (no fancy, hard-to-read fonts)

• Include excerpt of allusion - include author and origin. Highlight the words that comprise the title (once).

• You may not use an existing title – even if it is written or repeated within the body contents of your excerpt, that is,

the poem, song lyrics, passage, quotation, or any text you choose.

• Titles must have an allure. Do not use full sentences.

• Pages must be numbered beginning at writing composition number one. That is, composition number one must be

on page 1.

• Page numbers must be centered at the bottom of each page.

• You may use the Roman numerals (i, ii, x, v, etc.) for Part I (the introductory information); however, you need not

number anything in Part 1.

• Include the word count in the bottom, left-hand corner exactly like this: [word count: 600] – adhere to the

requirements: capitalization (do not capitalize the ‘w’ in word or the ‘c’ in count), punctuation (use brackets), and

spacing (two spaces after the colon).

• List the “type or kind” for your free choice. For example, in the upper, right-hand corner write – Free Choice:

Courtroom Closing Argument.

• About the author: should read like the professionals. Include your picture.

• Reviews: one must be from a family member,

• Artwork may be included, but writing is the focus.

• If using block style, skip 2 spaces between paragraphs, and don’t indent; or indent and don’t skip any space

between paragraphs - not both within the same essay. You may choose to use both formats in the portfolio (one

block-style format and the next indented format) as long as you do not combine them in the same writing. Margin

still must be justified.

• Compositions and essays must be single-spaced. Be sure that the formatting palette is set to zero before and zero

after. See the example posted on clevelandhs.org.

• Margins must be justified: minimum 0.75” and maximum 1.”

• Do not use paper or graphics with a background design that obscures the texts makes reading difficult.

• You may adorn your portfolio with special paper such as cardstock and use velum for divider sheets, but do not use

a pack of stationery with a border for all of your writings.

• Do not put classroom headings on individual writing selections within the portfolio.

• Preface (a personal reflection on the overall project) discussed in 6-7 separate paragraphs:

o First, discuss an insight into a truth or observation about your writing experience. Be sure to acknowledge your

SAS tutor(s) - paragraph 1.

o Second, discuss your title allusion: where “extracted,” its original and new interpretations; the “extracted” title’s

significance, why chosen, etc. - paragraph 2.

o Third, provide specific commentaries on your top 4 selections. Tell why they are award-winning, poignant, and

noteworthy. Discuss each award-winning selection in separate paragraphs: paragraph 3 (first-place); paragraph

4 (second-place); paragraph 5 (third-place); and paragraph 6 (fourth-place).

o Fourth, if you have a theme, discuss it in paragraph 7. Themes are not required.

• The “type or kind” of essay or writing must be in the upper, right-hand corner. Capitalize the word(s); for example:

Editorial, Observation Report, Letter to the Author, etc.

• Writings must be one page minimum, two pages maximum.

• Titles must be centered and bolded/boldfaced - do not underline, use quotation marks, or italicize titles (for this

project only, of course).

• Titles needed for all 10 writings. Skip two spaces before beginning the writings.

• Avoid “The blank” type titles. For example: The Bird; The Chair; The Dog, etc.

• Do not do more than 2 compositions on the same topic such as sports, etc.

• College-entrance essay (REQUIRED) - use one of the current UC prompts or one of the current Common

Application prompts. Be sure to include the prompt you use.

• The editorial: Include the published article (include the name of the periodical [newspaper/magazine], title of article,

date, writer, etc.) that your editorial is referencing.

• Response to literature: you may not use an already graded essay.

• Literary Analysis: Do not write on a novel read with school coursework.

• Literary Analysis: Use a published poem. Include the poem on a separate sheet, and do not include the poem in

the word count.

• The poem and spoken word are free verse - do your own thing, BUT it must be at least two-thirds of a page. You

may do one or the other (a poem OR spoken word piece) – but not both a poem AND a spoken word piece.

• If you want to do a traditional poem, note that poetry is single-spaced and that the first word in each line must be

capitalized. Meter (syllables per line) must be consistent as well. Long poems should be divided into purposeful

stanzas.

• Tall Tale is a humorous story with blatant exaggerations, swaggering heroes who do the impossible with an air of

nonchalance.

• Fan-Fiction: Be sure to cite the source (text, title, character, etc.)

• Only one “letter-formatted” composition will be accepted per portfolio.

• Blog: You must first post a comment; there must be 8 responses from 8 different literary characters – each

expressing a different opinion. Be sure to identify the character, and list the literary selection from which he/she

originates. No “text talk” (LOL, OMG, etc.).

• Avoid overused topics such as: pro-life/pro-choice, smoking, pollution, global warming, the bubonic plague, etc. If

in doubt, please ask.

• Photo Essay: By definition, a photographic essay is a set or series of photographs intended to tell a story, make a

point, or evoke emotions on a single topic. You can have images with captions, or images with full text as a

commentary at the end. Your photo essay must have 5 thematic pictures that you take – do not get images from

the Internet. Page limitations do not apply for this “composition.” See the Internet for ideas, and choose the format

and structure of your choice. The photo essay is REQUIRED.

• Speech: pick the time, place, audience, and occasion – real or imagined. Be sure to incorporate rhetorical devices

and appeals.

• Case Study: A case study is a description of a real life problem or situation, which requires you to analyze the main

issues involved. These issues need to be discussed and related to the academic literature and/or research findings

on the topic and conclusions then drawn about why the situation occurred and how best to respond to it. See

http://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/write/casestudy.jsp

• Talk Show Interview: create the show; list the host (real or fictional); select the four panel guests (real or fictional);

choose a topical issue that reflects the current time. This is a “what would the panel guests say” essay. Be sure to

include a variety of guests from different eras. Be sure to have a box on the page that names the show, the host,

the guests – with pictures and a brief blurb on who they are and what they do. Page restrictions do not apply to this

writing.

• Pastiche: Using any literary selection covered in class for the past year and a half, write a pastiche where you

change one of the following: plot, character, setting, point-of-view; dialogue; language. See

http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue197/cc_pastiche.html

• Some compositions require first-person narration; that’s fine. Avoid, where possible, unnecessary use of “forbidden

words.”

• Appendix: title, thesis, and summary for each selection - in alpha order by “type or kind.” You may use bullets for

your summary of selections only.

• Be sure to see the writing samples on another pdf.

• Be sure to have a “Works Cited” sheet - on a separate sheet after the writings that require citations. This is not

included in your word count. Follow the MLA format.

• Upload your essays to turnitin.com by the cut-off deadline of 8:00 AM on the due dates.

• You need not print hard copies until you meet with your SAS tutors at the Writing Seminar, which will be held on

Saturday, March 12, 2016.

ESSAYS DUE DATES:

Essay 1 January 19

Essay 2 January 25

Essay 3 February 1

Essay 4 February 4

Essay 5 February 8

Essay 6 February 11

Essay 7 February 16

Essay 8 February 18

Essay 9 February 23

Essay 10 February 29

Preface March 7

Portfolio Due March 17

[Revised 1-17-15]