1 December 2019

Portfolio Committee
Northern Oklahoma College
English Department
615 N Monroe St Stillwater, OK 74046

Dear Mrs. Davis,

Famous 20th century writer Virginia Woolf once said “Every secret of a writer’s soul,
every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.” To me,
seeing a collection of my writings really encourages me to keep striving for my goals. Seeing
how I have written some of my thoughts and how I have improved in my writing. I feel my
portfolio shows that I am a strong and capable writer that can construct clear ideas with
descriptive words.
In my portfolio, I have included four of my favorite essays. I have specifically chosen
these four because each show that I have an ability to write different types of essays. The
portfolio includes a descriptive narrative, a research paper, and two persuasive essays. Artifact
one is my narrative essay about my first time skydiving that I wrote in back composition one.
Although you see can the writing is a little choppy and there are some grammatical errors, it is a
top narrative essay that I have written. Not only do I feel I included strong description of my
experience, but also had great metaphors and similes. Artifact two is a research paper about three
Roman emperors that I wrote in my Ancient World History class. I have included this paper
because it was one of my longer papers that I have written. I feel as if I was able to keep my
ideas structured and well developed throughout the paper. I had to do a lot of research and made
sure I gave credit to the writers whom I learned the information from with correct citations.
Artifact three is a persuasive essay that I wrote in comp one about why basketball is the
best sport in the world. This essay holds dear to my heart because I really enjoyed writing about
this topic in particular. I feel that this essay had strong evidence to back my claim, as I wrote just
off the top of my head about the knowledge of the game. Artifact four is in my opinion, the best
essay that I have ever written. It is a persuasive essay that is about why I find conversation
important. From the introduction to the conclusion and the ink in between, it is a well written
essay that flows throughout. Of course, it is not perfect by any means, but really shows my
progression into becoming a developed writer.

As I have grown, so has my knowledge. Once I got to college is when I feel I really
became more focused on my studies. When I somewhat coasted in high school, it had major
effects on me once I got to college, especially financially. I did not a high enough GPA or ACT
score to earn scholarships and I was too ignorant at the time to search for more scholarships
Going through some of these more trying times in college, has helped me develop as a writer,
because of the experiences I face. The more I learn in life helps shape my writing.
As my thoughts and writing have developed, so has my writing process. Where I once
would just immediately start typing whatever popped in my head, I now begin to diagnose the
topic more. I have learned that I do not have to start with my introduction, sometimes my brain
will be going in a few different directions and I draw a blank. So, I have found that writing
things out on a piece of paper really helps me get going. If I had a writing toolbox, a pen and
paper are must haves. The act of writing not only helps me organize my thoughts more quickly,
but also helps with the flow. Of course, I need to include my laptop, flash drive, and a pair of
headphones in my tool box. Those are my five tools I would need to construct a solid essay.
Just like in life, in writing we have our strengths and weaknesses. In my opinion, I feel
like the content of my essays are usually strong, and I use descriptive words, along with strong
figurative language. Where I seem to struggle is making sure that everything flows properly, and
my ideas connect to one another. Also, I feel like I make the occasional grammatical errors that
could confuse the writer. As I look back at my comp one essays versus the essays I wrote in
comp two, I can definitely see improvement. Especially in my ability to connect one idea to the
next.
This will be my final writing class that I have to take in college as I am majoring in
electrical engineering technologies, but it definitely will not be the last time I write. I feel that
writing is somewhat underappreciated by those who want to major in a STEM field where
mathematical equations usually take up ones’ day. I have concluded that being able to write
down in a concise and detailed manner of what happened throughout your day on the job site
will not only be beneficial for you, but also for the company. I would be proficient in writing
daily reports that can help the company I work for, look back and understand my day to day
experience in the field. I feel having these collections of writings will look great on job
applications. Thanks to you and my previous teachers, I feel like I am prepared to take on what
lies ahead in my writing career.
Sincerely,
David Edgerton