LilaBilsky

Dr.SuhrSytsma
English181001
04/25/16

CoverLetter
DearPortfolioAssessmentCommitteeMembers,
InthisletterIwillprovetoyouhowIhaveachievedthelearningoutcomesforthefirstyear
compositioncourses.Additionally,IwilldemonstratehowIhavesucceededinaccomplishing
mycoursesownlearningoutcomes.Mycourse,
IndigenousAdolescence,
presentedmewith
thetaskofdemonstratingafamiliaritywitharangeofIndigenousYoungAdulttextsandthe
issuestheyaddress.Theseconduniquelearningoutcomeforthecourse,taughtbyDr.
SuhrSytsma,wastointerpretpassagesfromliterarytextsbyclosereadinginrelationto
literary,historical,national,andculturalcontexts.Hopefullyyouwillseethatmymajorwriting
assignmentsandweeklyblogposts,whichareincludedinthisportfolio,showmygrowthasa
writerbydemonstratingclosereadingandfamiliaritywiththenovelsfromthecourse.
ThefirstoutcomeofthefirstyearcompositioncoursesatEmoryasksstudentsto
composetextsinmultiplegenres,usingmultiplemodeswithattentiontorhetoricalsituations.I
thinkthatallthreeofmymajorwritingassignmentschallengedmetowriteinanewandcreative
style.Myfirstassignment,entitled
Chapter6.5,WhoAmI?,
isthefirstpieceoffictionIhave
everwritten.ThegoalofthisprojectwastowriteachapterfromShermanAlexiesnovel
Flight,

takingintoconsiderationAlexiesstylisticchoices.Ihavealsoincludedmysecondwriting
assignmentfromthatproject,entitled
MakinganIndependentStatement.
Thisessaywasmy
artistsstatementinwhichIexplainedmyresearchandstylisticchoicesforthefirstpartofthe
project.ThesecondprojectofthecourseaskedmetoreviewascholarlyarticleonSherman
Alexieswork.Mypaper,
BearingWitnesses,
wasinresponsetoJanJohnsonsHealingthe
SoulWoundinFlightandTheAbsolutelyTrueDiaryofaPartTimeIndian.Thispaperforced
metoworkonextendingandcountering,aswellasdevelopmyownuniqueargumentatthe
conclusionofthepaper.Iincludedtheoutline,called
NeverForget,
ofproject2soviewersof
myportfoliocouldseemywritingprogress.Forthelastproject,Ihadtowriteathesisdriven
paperbasedoffofresearchdocumentsofmychoosing.Mypaper,entitled
AdolescentSelf
Discovery
,argueswhythesongAstheYearsGoPassingBybyGaryMooreisasignificant
musicalreferencein
WabanakiBlues
byMelissaTantaquidgeonZobel.Iincludedmy
multimediapresentationthatIpresentedinclassinmyportfolio,whichcontainsmytentative
thesisfromanearlierstageintheproject.IwantedtoshowhowIcouldreflectbackonmyown
work,soIalsoincludedallofmycoverlettersfromthecoursesthreemajorwritingassignments
inmyportfolio.Lastly,myweeklyblogpostspresentedmewiththetasktowriteinanewand
funstyle,allowingmetofocusmyattentiononmyrawideasratherthanonstylisticchoices.
Therefore,Ichosethreeofmyfavoriteblogpoststoincludeinthisportfolio,whichhelps
diversifythedifferentgenresthatmywritingsamplesarecomprisedof.
ThesecondoutcomeofthefirstyearcompositioncoursesatEmoryasksstudentsto
summarize,analyze,synthesize,andevaluatetheideasofothersasyouundertakescholarly
inquiryinordertoproducemyownarguments.IfeelasifIhaveaccomplishedthisoutcome,

specificallywithinproject1part1,theproject2conclusionparagraphandtheproject3thesis.In
project1part1,IdeeplyanalyzedAlexies
Flight
inordertoproduceabookchapterthat
resembledhiswritingstyle.Mychapter6.5
WhoAmI?
includesrepetitionandtheoveruseof
questionsbytheprotagonist,whicharetechniquesthatAlexieusesthroughouthisnovel.Ihave
Hank,thechaptersmaincharacter,askquestionslikeWhenhaveIeverbossedotherpeople
around?andWheredoesthatputme?,whichforceshimtofocusonhispersonalgrowthand
whoheisasaperson.Inproject2,Iworkonevaluatinginformationinmywritingbynotonly
extendingandcountering,butalsobydeterminingasowhatfactor.Icanagreeanddisagree
withotherwritersandexplainmyself,butIbelievethattrueevaluatingcomeswhenyoucan
explainwhywhatyouarearguingmatters.Inmyconclusionparagraph,Igivereaders
somethingtothinkaboutforthefuture:
EventhoughIhavecontinuallyassertedthatthereisaneedtoincreasecrossracial
interactions,thequestionstillremains:whoneedstoinitiatetheformationofthese
relationships?
WhileIevaluatedthroughextendingJanJohnsonspaperthatcrossracialinteractionsare
beneficial,Igoonestepfurtherandquestionwhoneedstotakethenextstepandformmore
crossracialinteractions.Finally,IbelievethatIdemonstratetheskillofsynthesisinmylast
paper
AdolescentSelfDiscovery
bycreatingacomplexanduniquethesisstatement.Iended
mysecondintroductoryparagraphinthepaperwiththisargument:
Byanalyzingwordchoice,adolescentneurology,andsocialcontext,Icontendthat
Monaisabletoacceptthatteenageloveisnotfulloffireworksandrosesthroughher
semisupportiveparentalupbringing.AsopposedtoDelsfather,Monasparentsinstilled
secureattachmentintoherbyfulfillingthebasicfourS'sofattachment.Nothavingthe
fourSsofattachmenthasleftDelwithasenseofinsecureattachment,whichlimitshis
abilitytoactindependently.Independenceisthekeyfactorthatadolescentsmust
possessinordertoobtainasenseofselfidentity,whichMonaachievesbybreakingup
withDel.
IappliedtwoofmyresearchdocumentstomythesisIappliedapsychologystudytotheliteral
textofthesong,whichthereforeallowedmetoapplymysecondsource(whichwasa
psychiatristsresearch)tothemaincharactersbehaviorsin
WabanakiBlues.T
hus,Icreateda
uniqueargumentthatisalsodependentonmyresearchsources,demonstratingthatIanalyzed
thesourcestosynthesizemyownargument.
ThethirdoutcomeofthefirstyearcompositioncoursesatEmoryasksstudentsto
practicewritingasaprocess,recursivelyimplementingstrategiesofresearch,drafting,revision,
editing,andreflection.Atofallofmyassignmentsin
IndigenousAdolescence,
Iworkedon
revisionandeditingthemostinmy
WhoAmI?
chapter.Afterreceivingpeerandteacher
feedback,IdecidedIneededtorevisethemajorthemeofthechapter.InmyroughdraftIwrote
achapterwithoutanyargumentormajortheme,anddecidedthatmyfinaldraftcouldfocuson
thethemeofindependence.Inmyfinaldraft,IhaveHankreflectonhislevelofindependence:
ArtleadsthewayinhiscarandIfollow.IfeellikemyroleistofollowArt.
Ishouldntbecomplainingaboutthis.ItsnotlikeIknowwhattodoorwhatisreally
goingon.Butman,wouldntyouthinkthatmypartnerof14yearswouldgivemealittle
moreauthority?WedoeverythingArtsway.HegivesordersandIfollow,givingmeno

independence.MaybeIshouldtakechargeforonceandtrytodosomethingmyway.If
wedidthingsmywaytherewouldbelessviolence.Ifwedidthingsmywaytherewould
belessevil.Ithink.ButthenagainIshotupabankfullofpeoplebecausesomeonetold
meto.
IdemonstratedraftingandrevisionbecauseIchosetorethinkthethemeofmypaperand
implementthatchangeinthefinaldraft.Tomakemychapterreflectmoreontheideaof
independence,IhadHankscharacterquestionwhyhenevertakeschargeandifheshould
startbecomingmoreassertive.Ialsobelievethattheresearchcomponentofthisoutcomewas
mostdemonstratedinmy
AdolescentSelfDiscovery
paper.Hopefullythecommitteelikesthe
sourcesIchosefortheresearchdrivenproject,andIbelievethatIadequatelybackedupmy
claimsinthepaperwithscholarlyresearch.
ThefourthoutcomeofthefirstyearcompositioncoursesatEmoryasksstudentsto
demonstrateafamiliaritywitharangeofIndigenousYAtextsandissuestheyaddress.I
believethatIshowafamiliaritywitharangeofIndigenousYoungAdulttextsthroughoutallof
myprojects,whichrequiredmetoreadandanalyzethenovels
Flight,TheAbsolutelyTrueDiary
ofaPartTimeIndian
,and
WabanakiBlues.
ItackletheissueofNativeAmericangenerational
painandcrossracialalliancesinmy
BearingWitnesses
paper.Idiscussthecurrentinjustice
NativeAmericanfacebyhavingthemainstreampopulationneglecttoacknowledgetheir
historicaltrauma:
NotacknowledgingthetraumaNativeAmericanshaveenduredisnotanappropriate
meansofdealingwiththepast.SincethesufferingandhencepainofNativeAmericans
hasneverbeenadequatelyaddressedinthiscountry,adeepwoundhasbeenfestered
withinindigenouscommunities.
WhiletherehasbeenadeepsoulwoundinstilledwithinNativeAmericancommunities,I
proposethatwecanabolishthesoulwoundbyincreasingtheinteractionsbetweenNative
Americansandnonindigenouscommunities:
theincreaseincrossracialinteractionstheprotagoniststakepartincontributemostto
theirrecoveryprocesses.Afeatthattheirpastrelativeswerenotabletoaccomplish,Zits
andJuniorarefinallyabletobreakthechainofsufferingduetothehighnumberof
relationshipstheyhavewithnonindigenouspeople.
Both
Flight
and
TrueDiary
havetheirprotagonistscomefromhouseholdswithunstableparents,
whosufferfromagenerationalsoulwound.However,Ibelieveitisimportantnotonlyto
addressthesoulwoundbuttoalsocombatitonceandforall.Inadditiontopovertyand
depression,thesoulwoundisjustoneofthemanycontemporaryNativeAmericanissuesI
addressinmywritingsforthiscourse.
ThefifthoutcomeofthefirstyearcompositioncoursesatEmoryasksstudentsto
interpretpassagesfromliterarytextsbyclosereadinginrelationtoliterary,historical,national,
andculturalcontexts.Ichallengedmyselftoworkonclosereadingforeveryassignmentwithin
thecourse,andIthinkIexcelledatclosereadinginmyblogposts.Inblogpost16,Icloseread
thelyricsofthefirststanzaofAstheYearsGoPassingBybyGaryMoore.Itwasinthis
analysisthatIdiscoveredthatthesingerofthesongissingingaboutabreakup,andhow
he/sheisreallystrugglingwiththeendoftherelationship.ItwasbecauseofthisanalysisthatI
wasabletopicksomeofmyscholarlyresearchdocumentsforproject3.Ialsodidsomeclose

readinginblogpost3.Inthispost,protagonistTiffanyinDrewHaydenTaylorsnovel
TheNight
Wanderer
struggleswithheridentity.InthebooksheponderssometimesIdontknowwhat
beingAnishinabemeans.InresponsetoTiffanysstrugglewithheridentityandthissentence,I
triedtocometotermswithwhyTiffanyquestionsheridentity:
WhyisTiffanyevenquestioningwhatitmeanstobeAnishinabe?Ofcourseshewas
bornintotheNativeAmericangroup,sowhyisshequestioningwhatitmeanstobe
apartofit?NotonlyisTiffanytryingtofigureoutwhatitmeansforhertobeAnishinabe,
butalsotryingtodiscoverwhatitmeanstobeNativeAmericaninamodernworld.The
lackofunderstandingforwhatitmeanstobeAnishinabebyoutsidersofthecommunity
isevidentinthenovel,astheauthorwrites,whenshe[Tiffany]wasyoung,someofthe
kidsatschoolhadaskedherifsheshotabowandarrow,livedinatepee,orrodea
horse.
Icompletelyanalyzedthesentence,determiningthatTiffanystruggleswithwhatitmeanstobe
NativeAmericaninapredominantlywhitesociety.Thisstruggle,whichhasbeenexacerbated
bypaststereotypes,isstillongoingandisapparentinTaylorswriting.HadInotclosereadthis
passage,IthinkIwouldhaveoverlookedthesignificanceofTiffanysidentitycrisis.
Myfirstyearincollegecouldbesummarizedintwowords:newexperiences.Inmylife
outsideofacademicsIjoinedthecrewteamasacoxswain,completelyonawhim!NeverhadI
hadexposuretothesport,norhadIeverbeenonasportsteam.ThereisnoreasonwhyItried
andeventuallylearnedtolovecrewexceptforthatIwascurious.InDr.SuhrSytsmasclass,I
believeIpushedmyselfasawriterandtriedexperimentingwithnewwritingstylesand
techniquessimplybecauseIwantedtoseewherebeingcreativecouldtakeme.Therefore,the
themeofthisportfolioisanovicecrewboat.Acrewboatsymbolizesunityandnovices
symbolizeexperimentingandlearning.Mywholeteam,whohadneverhadexperiencewith
rowinguntilEmory,justthrewourselvesintheboatandlearnedbyexperience.IthankDr.
SuhrSytsmaforpushingmeoutsidemycomfortzonewiththewritingassignments.Even
thoughIwasinitiallyhesitant,IbelieveIhavegrownmoreasawriterinthepast4monthsthanI
didthroughoutmyentirehighschoolcareer.Movingforward,Iamgoingtoworkonmakingmy
writingsmorelinearinthesamewaymyboatneedstoworkondroppingtheoarsdowninto
thewaterinalinearmanner.Whileanoviceboatsometimeslooksfragmentedandnot
together,Iwantmyparagraphsandargumentstobelaidoutinaclearmanner.

Thankyoucommitteemembersfortakingthetimetoreadmyportfolio
Sincerely,LilaBilsky