Table of Contents Dear Reader Letter Introduction To The Major Writing Assignment Planning A Party Introduction To The Descriptive Writing Piece Child’s Innocents Introduction To The Effective Writing Piece Proactive Attitude Introduction To The Writer’s Choice The Ledge Final Thought

Dear Reader Letter

Trials and hardships are the foundation that defines the person you are. I am currently a single mother of four, pregnant with my fifth. As you can imagine this might be quite the trial of life. I would say that I haven’t always been blessed with the best, always just enough to survive. I cannot say that I am not thankful for what I do have though as trials and hardships have made me into the person I am today. I blow my birthday candles out on February 14th. My idea for life is to succeed; therefore, I am back in school to do just that. I am taking an English 97 class for the moment. I personally don’t like trying to be grammatically correct because I have not learned the how to do so. Although, I do hope to learn how to fix the errors I make in my writing by the end of this quarter.

I would say that I have the typical issues with writing. Which would be, my ideas are strong, but when I transfer them to writing, they don’t make sense to the reader. Another, downfall in my writing is the punctuation. I just didn’t understand the structure and rules of writing which lead to the errors in my writing, such as what a sentence contains in-order to be a grammatically correct sentence. Now that I have learned the rules, such as the structure of a sentence, verb tense, punctuation, and have a better knowledge of how to write, I am able to recognize some of my mistakes. With my good ideas, and new knowledge of how to write I have found my papers becoming stronger.

In this you will find a few of my papers that I wrote for this class. I have picked them for the reason that the idea of each paper has true meaning from my heart and life experiences as I also I find them to be my strongest papers. The first paper you will read is what I believe shows my ability to take a paper through the writing process. Secondly, I have included what I found to be my best piece of descriptive writing. Next paper I have chosen is to present my most effective writing. The last piece I have chosen for you to read is my first major writing assignment that I wrote and I picked this one because I feel that it was my steppingstone to learning. I hope that you enjoy reading my progress in learning as much as I have had putting this portfolio together.

Introduction To The Major Writing Assignment

The first piece that I have chosen for you to read is the last Major Writing Assignments that we did in class. I wrote this paper on how to plan a party, the object of this writing assignment was to give directions, or a process of how something works. I think that this piece shows my ability to follow the writing process. This is why I have included it in my e-portfolio. I chose this piece to show my best writing ability because I find it to be very clear what my ideas are, shows good detail, and writing for more then just personal pleasure.

Planning A Party

You want your party to be a success and enjoyable, just like anyone would. You want people to have fun and leave your party saying that it was enjoyable. You want the people to be able to enjoy the social event without many worries. I’m sure you also want the party to follow your plan, and not have very many dull moments. If this is true, I would suggest you follow these steps to planning a successful party.

The first step to planning a party would be to sit down with a paper and pencil and think about first, who and why are you throwing this party, such as a teenage birthday or a engagement party. Know for whom you are planning, such as the age group of the people that will be attending the event. Also know why you are planning this party; therefore, you will want to know if the event is a birthday party or a baby shower. You want to make sure you don’t have 21 year olds playing pin the tale on the donkey. As you think about these things, write down your ideas about what they might find interesting. You will want to make your list of people that you will be inviting to your party as well.

Secondly, it is time to think about when you are going to host the party. During this step, you will want to consider finding out the availability of the guest. When are they free, what time of day works best in their schedules, and how long they can plan to stay? You will want to try to plan your party when it is most convenient for your guests, so that they won't be forced to do much arranging their schedule to attend. This will make it easier for them to actually show up.

Next, try to single out what type of foods and beverages you will provide. Realize what time your party is planned for, and think about what type of food would go best with your timing. Is it lunchtime? Maybe sandwiches would be a good choice with a fruit platter. Now you will want to think about your beverages. Are you throwing a party for someone that would enjoy soda, juice, or maybe healthy water would be your choice.

Now you should make a list of activities that you will have the guests participating in. Make sure that you have enough activities to fill the time that you plan your party to be, therefore that guest don’t have too much time, just lingering at your party. Although make sure that you are not over planning, and trying to pack to much into a small amount of time. You will want to allow sometime for your guest to simply socialize.

At this time, I advise you to organize your thought paper, even if you think that you are a bit old to be reorganizing your paper, as it is always good to over look your work. Categorize your paper into several different lists. Include a list of the foods you will be making, and a list of the items you will need to purchase. you will also want to list your planned activities. Note when you will need to have everything bought by and maybe how much you are able to spend. You will want to allot yourself a budget for each category and try to keep with-in your limits. You don't want to be over spending on the food and cut yourself short money when you go to buy the activities and decorations.

Next, you will want to think about where you are going to hold the party. Do you want it in a public area such as a park or a cabana? Maybe you want it in a more private area. You can reserve a room at a diner or host the party at your house. Make sure that where you are holding your party follows with your activities, and the general idea of the party. You would not want to be outside in the rain trying to play pin the tail on the donkey, as well as an engagement party held at Chucky Cheese. Also, if you choose to reserve any rooms or areas you will want to make sure that they are available, and what requirements or costs the establishment might have.

Also, it's time for you to create the invitations for your guests that you would like to attend the party. You can decide to create them yourself, buy them, or have someone else design them for you. You will want to make sure that they include, the day and time, the location of the party, and the reasoning for the party. You might also want to include a RSVP if needed, and any gift registrations if applicable. At this time you will want to refer back to the list of your guests, be sure that you have all their addresses, or a way to get them their invitation.

Finally now that you have gotten your party planned, it's time to go get all the stuff that you planned to do and have. Go to the store and buy the decorations that you plan to have for the party when you set up, whether you are making the food yourself, or going to have a cater handle the food. Now is the time to buy any food items, which you planned on providing. This step should be relatively easy, seeing how you have done all the planning before hand.

Getting through the store show be a breeze seeings how you already know what you are looking for. With these steps to planning your party, it’s almost impossible to have a failed party. Your guests are sure to enjoy the social event that you planned. You will also be proud to say you planned the party that everyone is still talking about weeks later. Happy party planning!

Introduction To The Descriptive Writing Piece

For the second piece that you will be reading in my portfolio is the best paper I wrote showing descriptive writing. This piece was actually one of my journals for my English class, simply about 150 words, just a free write for ten minutes. I have of course taken it and developed it a bit more, or as my instructor taught me, I fleshed it out. I picked this piece because I feel that it really captures the moment, and as we all have been children we should be able to relate.

Child's Innocents

As my mother yelled at me for hitting my little sister, I began to get nervous. I was afraid she was going to punish me. I started to twiddle my thumbs, palms sweaty. My eyes began to roam around the room as if they were searching for the escape. She seemed to keep getting louder and louder, piercing my eardrums with every word. Eyes tearing up, body trembling in fear. Not even sure what she is yelling anymore. I am unable to concentrate on what she is saying. My mind is more focused on what my punishment will be. Finally she had stopped yelling, but that didn’t make the situation any better. I stood there staring at what looked like a monster now, hovering over me, as if she was waiting for my response. Body still trembling, I manage to spit out, “I’m sorry.” She made me sit in my room, which was good because it took me for what seemed like eternity to calm down. Learned my lesson and I never hit my sister again.

Introduction To The Effective Writing Piece

Thirdly, this piece of work was another journal that I wrote toward the end of this quarter. This piece was chosen for the purpose to show ability to write effectively. I chose this paper for not only is it on a effective topic as well as effective writing, but also because this paper explains how I have made it through the first quarter of being back in school.

Proactive Attitude

Being proactive means being successful to me. If you are unable to have a proactive attitude in the area that you plan to succeed, it is most likely that you will fail. Being proactive comes natural to most whom have made it a goal to succeed. Although, to be proactive with something you do not want, or dislike, it becomes a struggle to be proactive. For example, me in school I do not have to try very hard to be and stay in a proactive attitude because I want to do good, I have made it a goal to succeed in my academic career. I cannot say I have the same attitude when it comes to my job, as I know that the job I have is a dead-end. Therefore causing me to have to try harder to be proactive in this area of my life. I find myself not going and not doing as good as job that I know that I could. Because I do not care for this job, it has made it very difficult to continue keeping a proactive attitude. Being proactive is a basic necessity to living life and this is how I think of being proactive.

Introduction To The Writer's Choice

Finally, the last piece that I have chosen for you is the first Major Writing Assignment that I wrote. The goal of this paper was descriptive writing, although I did not chose this one in the beginning of the portfolio. I have chosen to include it now, mainly because of the extra effort I put into the details. Using the best of my ability to write with sensory details, such as “the rocks scalded your feet, like lava, during the summer.”

The Ledge

When I was living in Richfield Idaho everyone gathered at a place called The Ledge, a certain area of the river, it was a great place to relax and have fun. This area was not like a city park; therefore the city did not come out to pave a road. To get there you had to first drive down this dirt path, that was nothing like a road, more like driving down a dessert terrain. It had no structure to it just tire tracks through the landscape, big chunks of rock sticking out of the dirt. To either side of you there were tumbleweed bushes. Not a good idea to ride with the windows down, you would taste the gritty dirt in your mouth. When you pulled in to the parking area of The Ledge, there were picnic tables and a little covered area, and barbeque pits for cooking. Off to your right there was a cluster of rocks that you climbed over to get to The Ledge. The rocks scalded your feet, like lava, during the summer. On the other side of the cluster of rocks was the reason why it was called The Ledge. There was a certain rock that was ledged over the water perfectly for jumping or diving into the river. Above this rock to the right there was a diving board, one like you would see in the swimming pools. The story was that some random person had installed the diving board. We enjoyed the excitement of jumping from the diving board, heart racing before you jumped. Once your feet left the board you felt as if you were flying, wind in your hair, hand on your nose, and simply just waiting for the impact of hitting the water. Also, enjoying the cold, wet, refreshing water when we finally emerged into the river, after sitting in the hot humid sun all day the water felt like a fresh breath of air to our skin. At the bottom of the river there were little fish that would suck on your toes, and every once in awhile you would catch a glimpse of a water snake. When you stood at the top of the “ledge” you could feel a faint breeze flow over you, the breeze carrying in the smell of the fresh crisp outdoors. This was the place to be for the summer, enjoyable by the young or old.