Building a Portfolio for the

Professional Writing Minor

 What is a Portfolio?
• Portfolios are a collection of
one’s writing
• They demonstrate essential
writing skills developed in
the professional writing
minor
• They should include an
analysis of each chosen text
• The analysis should explain
what the piece of writing
shows about the writer’s
skills
 The Seven Learning Outcomes
• Understand and discuss the varied roles for writers and the varied
purposes for writing in professional contexts.
• Apply ancient and contemporary rhetoric, composition, and
professional writing theories in producing print, digital, and
multimodal texts.
• Identify, analyze, and strategically apply and modify the rhetorical
conventions of different professional genres.
• Compose, design, and edit texts that are rhetorically purposeful as
well as usable and accessible for different audiences.
 The Seven Learning Outcomes (Continued)
• Identify, analyze, apply, and modify strategies for communicating
complex, specialized information for both technical audiences and lay
audiences.
• Understand what different types of digital technologies and different
modes for communication allow writers to do, and apply this
knowledge to select and compose effective media appropriate for
particular contexts.
• Demonstrate visual design skills, including the use of graphics and
page design.
 Establishing a Connection between Skills and Artifacts
Learning Outcome
Understand and discuss the varied roles
for writers and the varied purposes for
writing in professional contexts
Apply ancient and contemporary rhetoric, •
composition, and professional writing
theories in producing print, digital, and
multimodal texts
Identify, analyze, and strategically apply
and modify the rhetorical conventions of
different professional genres
Specific Skills / Traits Artifact Examples
• Ethnographic Research Report of a
Professional Writer (from English 297)
• Primary research skills used by PWs in
• Two documents written on the same
the workplace (observations,
topic but for different purposes
interviews, document analysis)
• Team charters, task schedules,
• Collaboration
meeting agendas, meeting minutes,
• Scaffolding or coordinating multiple
other documents planning and
written documents or communication
managing a collaborative project
tasks as part of a larger project
• Scaffolded writing projects as part of a
longer research project
Analyzing a rhetorical situation and
• Any document from your PW Minor
applying theories or heuristics (about
courses combined with reflective
writing process, about genre, about
analysis of the theories that inform
usability, about visual communication,
your work and description of how you
etc.) to develop a project plan and
applied them
produce an effective text
• Any document that shows you
• Organization; flexibility; document working within specific genre
design; appropriate sentence style and conventions to achieve your rhetorical
complexity goals (newsletter, press release, white
paper, feasibility report, etc.)
 Establishing a Connection between Skills and Artifacts (Continued)
Learning Outcome
Compose, design, and edit texts that are
rhetorically purposeful as well as usable
and accessible for different audiences
Identify, analyze, apply, and modify
strategies for communicating complex,
specialized information for both technical
audiences and lay audiences
Understand what different types of digital
technologies and different modes for
communication allow writers to do, and
apply this knowledge to select and
compose effective media appropriate for
particular contexts
Demonstrate visual design skills, including
the use of graphics and page design
Specific Skills / Traits
• Organization; flexibility, document
design; definitions, metaphors, visual-
and-text connections
• Analytical and synthesis skills;
appropriate complexity of sentence
style, creating effective, appropriate
ethos
• Software applications, web design,
video production
• Design sensibility, color, document
design
Artifact Examples
• Instruction Sets, Train Manuals,
Recommendation Reports, or any
other document written for a specific
purpose, for a specific audience, and
within specific genre conventions
• “Technical Definitions for Two Different
Audiences” assignment (from ENGL
390)
• Podcast; Video; Blog; Website; PPT
Slides and scripts for or video of an
Oral Presentation
• Research Poster, Website, Brochure,
Flier, Data Visualization within a Larger
Report
Requirements are listed
below, but will be
Portfolio Requirements
covered in more detail
throughout the slideshow

• Welcome page
• Table of contents
• Section introductions
• Six, finished texts written by the
student in professional writing
minor courses
• Document context statements
• Reflective essay
 Welcome Page
• Should contain an
introduction
• May consist of a personal
statement, background
information, or an explanation
on the process of creating
your portfolio
• May explain overall theme of
the portfolio or help to
instruct readers on how to
navigate the portfolio
• May include table of contents
 Example of a Welcome Page
In his welcoming statement, this student talks about
his experience within the minor and what he has
learned from this.
Welcoming Statement:
“The decision to join the Professional Writing Minor was
one of the best decisions I made in college. Going into
the minor I just expected my general writing skills to get
better, but I was wrong. The way I thought about
writing and the way I approach writing has changed. It
was a necessary change as I had decided to go to law
school after I graduated. My decision to join the minor
and pursue law school became intertwined. Instead of
the professional writing minor being a simple means to
enhance my writing, it became my way of prepping for
law school. From each course, I was challenged to
develop my research, organization, teamwork, and
written communication skills. Throughout this portfolio
I have highlighted assignments that showcase the skills
just described and my experience working on them.”
 Section Introductions Should:
• Provide transitions to other
sections
• Maintain thematic consistency
throughout portfolio
• Guide readers along in their
viewing of your portfolio
• Explain each section’s purpose,
skills, and connection to the
overarching theme
 Example of a Section Introduction
“ENGL391 is Advanced Composition. This course taught me a broad
understanding of how to write professionally in many different
This introduction was
medians. At the start of the semester, I was required to pick a topic I
was passionate about and interested enough in to research for the included before the
duration of the semester. The result was a grant proposal as well as student’s document and
a web site designed to inform the public about my issue. document context
statement. It explains
The website I created to inform the public was not a formal piece of
what she learned from this
writing, but did include hyperlinks, research, and a synthesis of
information. I was trying to effectively reach my audience, and have specific class and what her
them understand the issue I was researching so thoroughly. The goals are for this specific
result is a site that not only provides the public with vast section of her portfolio.
information about gendered marketing, but why gendered Notice how she includes a
marketing is important.
hyperlink to her own
Click here for a link to my informational website on gender website.
inequality among toys.”
Choosing Documents
• Make conscious decisions as you
choose what to include and how to
arrange and present your entries
• The way in which you arrange your
portfolio will impact the way the reader
sees you as a writer and as a
professional
• Include variety:
• Consider pieces of different lengths
• Consider pieces that have different
purposes
• Consider pieces that have come from
different points in your experience as a
writer
 Creating Your Own Table
• Create your own table in order to
choose what documents to include
Learning Skills/Traits Artifact
in your portfolio Outcome
• The example on the right shows that
I want to… The skills used in The project I have
the student wants to showcase this learning completed that
his/her design skills, and so the outcome are… best portrays
what I have
student has chosen to include a learned is…
brochure Demonstrate Design sensibility, A brochure
• Consider how the brochure visual design color, document
skills, including design
showcases the learning outcomes, as the use of
well as the student’s ability to create graphics and page
design
a document for a professional
purpose
 Document Context Statements
• The reader should be able to
glance at a text and get a
sense of the skills and
purposes behind it
• Each page must stand out on
its own and connect to the
rest of the portfolio
• You must make decisions
about labeling, captioning,
and narrating or listing skill
sets
 Example of a Document Context
Statement
Here, the student explains what
her piece is going to include so
that the reader has a good idea
what the document will
illustrate, before even glancing
at it. She does a great job at
explaining the focus and
purpose of her writing.
“To the left is a rhetorical analysis I
completed on the movie The Imitation
Game​. I chose public memory as a rhetorical
focus, and spoke about how other rhetorical
devices helped to emphasize the importance
of public memory within the work. I used a
combination of Cicero's canon of memory
and Barbie Zelizer's theory of public memory
to speak on how The Imitation Game alters
public remembrance of significant historical
events.”
 Questions to Guide Annotations Within
Document Context Statements
• Do you, as a reader, understand
what each document in the
portfolio is?
• Do you understand where it
came from or how it was
produced?
• Do you understand why this
document is significant in terms
of your professional writing
education?
Questions to Guide your Reflective Essay
• What is your best entry? Why is it the best?
• What revisions have you made that you want
the reader to notice?
• What are the strengths of each piece?
• What was the process that one or more of your
pieces went through?
• What does this portfolio illustrate about you as a
writer, student, researcher, or critical thinker?
• What are some of your weaknesses? How have
you overcome these?
• What have you learned about writing, reading,
or other topics throughout the minor?
*Remember to include specific examples of your
work in your essay!*
 Example of a Paragraph from a Student’s Reflective Essay

“For my introductory course of ENGL297,  Mentions specific

I spent the majority of the semester using course she took
Highlights specific skills  my research skills and also teamwork
skills in order to learn all about sports
marketing. My partner and I conducted Talks about
particular methods
ethnographic, interview, and secondary she used
Includes her source research in order to find out more
purpose  information on the head marketing
contact for Maryland men’s basketball.
Although the final project was done
individually, I still actively used my
partner as we had discussions on the
assignment and research conclusions, as
well as preparing for the interview.”
 Example Paragraph #2
“The Undergraduate Writing Program Teaching
Assistant program provided me with the
opportunity to take my tutoring skills into the
classroom. As an ENGL101 Teaching Assistant, I
designed and implemented lesson plans,  Mentions
Describes her contributed in regular meetings with the teacher lesson plans,
various roles and of the course, and supported students outside of which would be a
duties  good document to
the classroom through office hours, individual include and
elaborate on later
conferences, and email correspondence. I was in the essay
able to receive practical teaching experience and
gain a better sense of what the profession
Explains what she requires, while developing the key skills of
learned  composing classroom materials and public
presentation delivery.”