A Writer's Self Assessment

So here you are in a college writing class, and you may not know what to expect. Perhaps you’re an adult returning to school after many years, and you haven’t done much of any writing since high school. Or you might have a first language other than English, so writing in English is a real struggle for you. Or maybe you just weren’t the best student in high school, you didn’t really apply yourself or try very hard, and so you find yourself entering college nervous about writing.

Some of you have had very bad experiences with writing and with writing classes in the past. Your papers have been marked up time and again by English teachers who would write end comments you really didn’t understand and give you bad grades for almost everything you did.

Maybe you’ve had some good experiences—written some successful papers, some decent poetry, a good love letter or two, gotten some good grades or received praise for your efforts. Whatever your feelings as you being this writing class, I’d like you to begin the quarter by exploring your experiences as a writer . . . [Explore the following] . . .

Everything you’ve done or had done to you that has helped form your writing or your view of yourself as a writer.
What has helped?
What has hurt?
Where do you think you stand now, as you being this writing class?

Use listing, freewriting, and/or mapping to generate ideas for each of the four items above. These ideas will later be used to help you develop your "Introduction Essay" for your final portfolio.