English 680 Creative Nonfiction

Self-evaluation

At our final exam, you’ll read your “best piece.” Your final portfolio is due at then [5:30—Dec 13]. With your portfolio, include your three revised papers and this self evaluation.

Part 1: Your Writing. After you have written and revised your papers, set them aside and reflect on them. Discuss how the papers were revised (provide examples) and how these revisions are important to your growth as a writer and to the completion of the respective pieces. In writing your self-evaluation, you could invoke your comparison (writing is like . . . ) or your “why I write” at the beginning of class. Do you view writing differently now? Whatever form it takes, keep the following considerations in mind.

Describe the work -- In describing your essays, give their titles and review briefly its purpose and topic. Tell what you were trying to do in that paper, what you were hoping to accomplish, whether or not you think it was successful.

Justify your choices -- When you justify what you see as your "best" work (the one you will read at exam time), you reveal what standards you have established for yourself about good work. These standards are fundamental to your progress as a writer.

Reflect on your revision -- Consider what you have learned in writing and revising a particular essay as well as what you have learned about the process of writing essays. Talk about specific changes or examples (quote parts of your papers) to illustrate some aspect of your writing and your growth as a writer. What comments did you get? What advice do you have for yourself? For others learning to write? Please examine at least one piece of writing or writing situation in detail.

Also consider (consider means you don’t have to talk about each one but you can decide what’s important for you and your self-evaluation):

Audience. Who do you write for? What effect does the audience have on your writing?

Purpose. Why is it you write? How does having a clear sense of purpose help the writing?

Subject. What is it you usually write about, like to write about? How important is having a good topic?

Process. What do you go through when you write?

Peer Review. What kinds of feedback have you received?

Problems. What things have given you trouble; where have you made breakthroughs, progress?

Revision. What do you tend to do in revision? Provide examples of significant revisions you made.

Risk taking. Do you attempt to write about things that aren’t easy for you? Do you attempt to look at things from other points of view, and challenge assumptions you may hold?

This should be about three pages, double-spaced.

If you want anything back, give me a self-addressed envelope (the dept. can pick up postage).

Part 2: Your Work in Context. Please draw on at least five essays we have read (books or handouts) as models for you, in terms of voice, style, form, subject, etc. These could be your favorites or ones you would consider to be like your own (to be used as a comparison in a cover letter). One may come from off our syllabus. Discuss what makes them effective pieces of writing, as models you aspire to. Please quote specific evidence to show that you are reading like a writer (that is, reading to think about choices they made . . . ).

This should be about five pages total, double-spaced.