Portfolio Reader

English Department
Cal State Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330
December 12, 2019

Dear Portfolio Reader:

My name is Alyssa Mandessy. Going into college I saw that my English class was a critical
thinking class and I started to worry because critical thinking in English is not one of my strong
suits. However, I went into the class with my moderate writing skills and some confidence.

Throughout the semester I really struggled with finding the motivation to keep up with work
since English was not one of the important subjects to me. However, I found that keep in touch
with my peers helped me greatly. English 115 helped my critical thinking skills because of the
many discussions we had as a class or in groups. In high school, I never really had many
discussions that weren’t just for a grade. Sharing ideas, discussing the readings, and giving more
meaning to what we read with my peers enhanced my process of thinking.

With the assignments, I tried to focus on bettering my analysis when writing an essay, comparing
to articles, or a simple class discussion. In my first essay “Muhammad Ali: The People’s
Champion” I really liked the way I analyzed my quotes and connected each claim I made
towards my thesis. Again, working with my peers on my essay made me see so many things
wrong with my essay because there were so many different perspectives resulting in more
problems to be found. My student instructors made my writing process very easy since they
know how college essays are structured from experience they really worked with me to better my
essay.

Writing this essay taught me that I should improve on my writing process. Meaning, I should
find my evidence/quotes before I begin writing my body paragraphs. Getting essay revisions
from my professor was the best tool I used to write my final draft. I appreciate that my professor
took the time to thoroughly read through my rough draft and add useful commentary. In the past,
teachers would just simply ask for a rough draft and do nothing with it. I’m glad this time was
different.

What was new to me from this class is our progression and blog assignments. My favorite
progression exercise is the second one the class was assigned to which was the argument and
analysis of the “Two Ways to Belong in America.” The analysis for the assignment is probably
not my best work of the class, however, it was my first try. I was really proud of the work I
turned in and those moments are very rare. The article we read is interesting because we
discussed the topic of immigration in America. This semester my classes focused on immigration
so I liked that I got the chance to apply outside knowledge from other classes and apply it to this
one assignment and vice versa.

The blogs had to be my best work because it was kinda my own perspective on a certain theme. I
liked that we got to use whichever type of evidence to support our theme of choice. I believe that
I really used my critical thinking skills here because at first, I did not know how to find and
apply media, novels, or a movie to a specific theme. My best blog is relating the theme of “Moral
Values” to one of my favorite movies, ​Meet The Robinsons. T ​ his movie impacted my life
morally because I always thought that everything I said or did had to be at its best version. As a
result of watching this movie, I know that every now and then everyone makes mistakes and
mistakes are okay. That with mistakes we learn from them and keep moving forward. I was
excited to write about one of my moral values in my blogs.

I show great appreciation towards my student instructors because they improved my participation
skills. I was very shy to join discussions at the beginning of the class but towards the end of the
semester, I felt myself being more comfortable to voice my own opinion whether it be an open
discussion or a class seminar.

If I could give advice to my past self I’d simply say to stop being scared. With writing, I always
try to write things that the professor wants to hear. I would tell myself to write like there is no
rubric to critic my writing. To simply voice my opinion.

I see more success in my papers I believe that I should take more time when finding my quotes.
Having my evidence at the top of my writing process will benefit my essays more because I will
have a set thesis with quotes to back up my claim. Ultimately, without the support of my
evidence, my thesis is useless.

To future students of English 115, English is an important subject and is to be taken seriously.
Learning how to think and write critically is a great skill to have. Go to office hours and take
advantage of your SI instructors. They are here to help.

Sincerely,
Alyssa Mandessy