PO Box 5901 Apt 204

Fargo, ND 58105
December 13, 2010

Department of English
North Dakota State University
NDSU, Dept. 2320
PO Box 6050
Fargo, ND 58108-6050

Dear Portfolio Assessment Readers:

This semester has been filled with many learning moments, challenges along the way, and a time
for me to express my thoughts and feelings in my writings. In this portfolio, you will find all of
the major assignments that I completed for English 320. For unit 1, you will find my application
cover letter, designer resume, and scannable resume that I prepared to apply for a job; included
for unit 2 is the transmittal letter and recommendation report that I prepared for a client stating
which job offer I believe they should accept; unit 3 includes my group’s final instructions project
along with our usability test report; and for unit 4, I have included my individual website
development project proposal, my progress report, and the link for my final individual project
website. Even though I did have to face challenges throughout this course, I believe my works
demonstrate effective communication, show that I have met the General Education and
Departmental Outcomes for this course, and that I have gained the knowledge and ability to
apply what I have learned to future projects and writings.

As part of English 320, we were required to write in many different genres. I believe that writing
in these different genres fulfilled General Education Outcome 1. We started out writing a cover
application letter in business letter format as well as a cover email so that we could apply for a
job. We then moved on to writing resumes in three different styles including: designer,
scannable, and text file. The next genre we used was writing a transmittal letter in business letter
format explaining the recommendation report that we provided for our client. Our
recommendation reports were prepared in book format that included: a cover page, title page,
executive summary, table of contents, introduction, body, conclusion, and final recommendation.
In unit 3, my assigned group prepared a recipe that was bound together and laminated as our
group instructions project and wrote a usability test report in memo format. Using memo format
allowed us to break our report up into headings and subheadings so that our readers were able to
find information easily and understand our report. Also, to report on our progress throughout
projects, we prepared emails in business professional format explaining tasks we had completed,
what we had left to complete, learning moments along the way, challenges we encountered, and
methods we used to face those challenges. When it came time to work on unit 4, I wanted to
complete an individual project in a genre that I had never used before. I decided to develop a
website compiling information for domestic violence victims. Completing this project was a
huge task. It involved working with a website program I had never used before. Therefore, I
believe after completing each of my works, I have fulfilled General Education Outcome 1. I
learned to communicate effectively through writing in many different genres. Also, I believe
that writing in different genres allowed me to fulfill General Education Outcome 6. I was able to
integrate my knowledge and ideas into my assignments to create effective works. One thing I
found helpful was to integrate my knowledge from one unit to the next. This helped me
complete my assignments in a timely manner to the best of my ability.
The next outcomes I believe I fulfilled were Departmental Outcomes 4 and 7. While we worked
with many different genres and completed several assignments, I learned to manage my projects
by planning, organizing, and documenting throughout the course of each assignment. I also
developed professional skills through self-direction, cooperation and reliability in my group
project, and by proofreading and editing my completed works thoroughly. I feel that
Departmental Outcome 4 was also fulfilled when I completed my individual project. I had to do
a lot of planning and documenting the tasks that I had completed. In my project proposal, I
create d a timeline showing each of the tasks I needed to complete in order to submit my final
project. This class has taught me to use professionalism in each of my works, pay close attention
to editing and proofreading, plan ahead, cooperate with others, be reliable, and to complete tasks
on time to avoid stress when a deadline approaches. Overall, I learned to communicate in a
business professional manner. I feel that I am able to apply what I learned to future school
assignments and future projects at work. By completing this course, I feel that one assignment I
completed was my best work.

I especially enjoyed working on my individual project. Since I had never developed my own
website, I learned a lot and faced many challenges that I learned to overcome. I feel this was my
best work because I spent a lot of time on it and I feel that I made my website effective for my
targeted audience and that my readers will benefit from viewing my website. I also believe that
this was my best work because I learned to overcome challenges before I could submit this
assignment. I was having troubles with formatting and getting my website to look the way I
wanted on every computer, but it took a lot of time and frustration to figure out how to make it
work. Also, I spent a lot of time on finding pictures that matched the information on each page.
I wanted to make sure I caught my reader’s attention, but yet made them realize that domestic
violence is serious and that there is help available. The strong point of my website was adding a
blog so that victims and non-victims could voice their opinions and share their stories. While
doing research, I found that it is hard for victims to get help from professionals that may have
never been a victim of domestic violence.

I feel that when it came time to revising my projects, I could have paid more attention to
awkward wording. When I received my projects back once they were graded, the main thing I
was docked for was where there were awkwardly worded sentences. One way I believe I can
avoid this is by learning from the mistakes I made and pay particular attention to previous
mistakes I made so that I do not make those mistakes again in the future. Another strategy I can
use is by having other people proofread my work. When I read my works once, I tend to
overlook mistakes. One thing that helped me out tremendously was having classmates review
my work. This way, they knew what the assignment was and what types of mistakes they should
be looking for.

Thank you for taking the time to review my portfolio. I hope you enjoy my writings and my
portfolio.

Sincerely,

Karissa Kuschel