Portfolio Essay

Portfolio Cover Letter

My name is Zachary Buck and this is my second time having to go through English 100. In my first semester I didn't take the course seriously and received a NC. I have since grown and am more dedicated to my school work. I believe I can write very well if I just put enough time and thought into what I'm doing. I'm very excited to finally get a chance to be in English 101 so I will be able to show what I'm capable of. So please allow me to show an English 101 teacher what I can do.

The first assigned essay was "The Sanctuary of School" by Lynda Barry. On this essay I had a hard time relating to Barry because I never viewed school as a safe haven. I've always dreaded going to school but I understood what she felt because I put myself in her shoes. If I had a bad home life I would want to go to school as bad as she did. The final draft is a lot more grammatically correct and better written. The final draft's strengths are that it has quotes from the author and my own personal examples. The only weakness I see in the final draft is that it could be more specific.

My favorite essay, "A Handful of Tips Helps Balance on Minimum Wage's Tightrope" by Claudia Smith Brinson was the second essay assigned. I really didn't have any problems with this essay because I understood it and the subject was something that I could really relate to. The final draft is more grammatically correct and has more specific examples. The strengths of my final draft are that it has good personal examples and a fine understanding of the author's main idea. The weakness of my final draft is that it could have been longer, but I like cutting straight to the point rather than dancing around it.

The final essay was "Every Choice Has Its Consequences-Or at Least It Should", by Cindi Scoppe. I had problems comprehending some of her ideas but after reading back over the essay I was able to understand it better. The final draft is overall a better essay because the first draft was more of a reading response than an essay. The first draft had grammatical mistakes and had examples that I needed to clarify. I strengthened my final draft by correcting my mistakes and being more specific on my examples as well as the author's.

In conclusion, I believe I can