AP English Language Portfolio Reflective Essay (#5 on Portfolio Checklist)

Please take your time with this essay. Proofread, edit, revise, and put forth your best effort. This essay alone is worth 100 points of the 400-point portfolio assignment, and should reflect AP/College-level work. Be proud of this!

Rhetorical/Literary Devices Paragraph: This should be a paragraph at the top of your essay and written after you write your essay. Please tell me about four rhetorical strategies/devices you utilized in this essay and their effect/purpose. Think to use anaphora, appeals to pathos, appeals to logos, appeals to ethos, parallel structure, juxtaposition, personification, metaphors, chiasmus, etc. Place this paragraph in a text box or a table so it stands out from the rest of the essay. Label this paragraph or put a box around it.

Paragraph 1- Introduction. (I want to see your creativity as applied to this assignment, but please follow directions.)

*Start off with a relevant quotation as your hook. It may be about life, love, pain, growth, learning. change, etc. as long as you relate it to your life in the introduction.

*Give an overview of your year from August to now both academically and personally. Mention your highlights and setbacks.

*End your introduction with a thesis (an argument) that states who you are becoming…

Paragraph 2- You as a scholar.

*Include a topic sentence.

*Which were the most challenging courses and why? (Do not blame teachers or courses here. Talk about expectations of you and your ability to meet or exceed them.)

*What did you discover were your strengths and weaknesses this year?

*What project/paper/assignment are you most proud of? Explain. Give details.

*What project/paper/assignment was not as good as it could have been? Why? What can you learn from it? Be specific. Remember how much I have bugged you about that!

Paragraph 3- You as person of character.

*Include a topic sentence.

*Look at the ESLRS. Identify two that you mastered this year; identify two of your areas of improvements. Give examples and anecdotes (stories) for each of them from your life this year.

Paragraph 4- Godinez Memories 12-13.

*Include a topic sentence.

* What would you like to remember from Godinez this year as you mature? Think personally, as a school, as a class, etc. Talk about sporting events, performances, class memories, fundraisers, community service, or any other memory that is worth recalling.

*Why are those memories important ones?

Paragraph 5 - Growth in Detail.

*Reflect on one particular area of growth as represented in the evidence that you have provided in the portfolio. You will discuss the evidence in detail. You may want to show how the growth in this one area has prepared you for the future.

Paragraph 6- Next year and conclusion

*Give advice to next year’s juniors. Be specific and helpful.

*Give advice to yourself for next year.

*What are you most anticipating about being a senior?

*What are you apprehensive about?

*How would you like your classmates to remember you?

*How would you like your teachers to remember you?

*Connect back to your opening quotation at the end.

Portfolio Checklist

Vision Statement:

GodinezFundamentalHigh School is a community in which all are engaged in academic achievement and character development.

Mission Statement:

The mission of GodinezFundamentalHigh School is to provide a safe, supportive environment with clear, consistent expectations and high academic standards.

Some of the reasons we do portfolios at our school is to help prepare you for college, to help you reflect on all of your learning, to encourage positive academic results for you, to give you feedback on your year, and to help you see the relationship between what you are learning and your life.

You will create an extensive and inclusive portfolio your senior year, and this will help you with that. This will also be a major grade for you this year. I want this to raise your grade!

Each student should have a clean and easily identifiable folder with his or her name clearly written on it.

The following pages should be present in each person’s folder:

______1) A title sheet with your name, AP English Language, Ms. Pruden, and the due date typed (a picture would be wonderful)

____ 2) Your best 4English essays that you have written for your English class this year. (One of these should be the consumer paper, another should be the Huckleberry Finn essay). All of these should be retyped and revised with a thoughtful caption sheet on top.

______3) Your Writing Assessment Essay (school time) from this year (this may not count as one of your English essays). THIS DOES NOT NEED A CAPTION SHEET.

____ 4) 1 written assignment from each of the following classes:

____~ Mathematics

____~ Social Studies

____~ Science

____~ Elective (foreign language, music, art, drama, AVID)

A completed caption sheet should be attached to each one of these.

____ 5) A reflective essay on your writing growth during your junior year in high school (an outline is on the reverse of this paper). No caption sheet is needed for this essay.

Be sure to check off each of the items above when you have completed them.

NOTE: You may put in more than is required above, but you will not be given extra credit for the extra materials. Please do not keep notes, quizzes or tests in this folder unless they have a writing component which you consider worthy of keeping.This is a great place to keep awards and certificates.

You will be using the material above to create a Senior Exit Portfolio when you reach your senior year. You are responsible for making sure that this portfolio is updated each year you attend GodinezFundamentalHigh School. At the beginning of each school year, you will be given class time to visit your former teacher to bring this portfolio to your new English teacher. This is your responsibility.