5.22.

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Dear Mr. Gardner,

Over the course of my freshman year, I have experienced a tremendous amount of growth

as a writer. This portfolio especially demonstrates the maturity in my compositions. As I look

back on my writing pieces from the beginning of the year, I notice improvements in my

grammatical choices, thesis crafting, and word choice. I have learned to avoid passive voice,

expand my use of advanced punctuation (such as semi-colons and dashes), and form complex

sentences, rather than simple ones. Additionally, I have learned to refrain from the “listing

thesis,” and instead, form elaborate thesis statements with strong claims. Furthermore, applying

Membean vocabulary and strong verbs to my writing has advanced the word choice and structure

of my compositions. This portfolio has forced me to revise previous pieces and modify them

using these techniques and methods that I have learned over the year. Through the frustration,

resentment, and realization that comes with revision, I overall, had the opportunity to recognize

and acknowledge how my writing has improved throughout the year. This portfolio has allowed

me to recognize the beauty, satisfaction, and joy of growing as a writer.

In class, we not only discussed literature, but we discussed how the pieces of literature

that we read connect to modern society and the world around us. For instance, we discussed the

concept of a single story in The Penelopiad as well as in Things Fall Apart. Additionally, we

researched Autism while reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Nighttime. Learning

about the social issues and notions addressed in literature has allowed me to reference my

schema when reading the story, reading similar compositions, writing papers, and having

conversations. I also can gain perspective and awareness of the world around me. As for the

portfolio, I incorporated many of these lessons and themes into my writing. For instance, my

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Curious Incident of the Dog in The Nighttime chapter required me to empathize and sympathize

with Christopher. Using the lessons and research we learned in class as well as observations I

observed in the book, I was able to integrate this knowledge into my chapter. Additionally, my

revised Penelopiad paper addresses the idea of a “single story” which I incorporated in the

conclusion section when I addressed the “so what.” Overall, throughout the year, our class has

learned and discussed many social concepts to help us gain perspective on the world we live in

and absorb that knowledge into our reading and writing.

Revision on my earlier pieces has forced me to organize my outlines to effectively and

efficiently communicate my ideas. I followed a similar process for each piece revised in my

portfolio. I first read the original and graded piece one time for context (maybe twice if I had

trouble remembering or understanding the assignment). This would allow me to recall my main

points and topics addressed in the paper. Next, I took notes on major changes I wanted to make

in the piece (changing of thesis, evidence, main points, etc). I used these notes to make an outline

of my revised paper. Later, I used track changes to add these revisions, fix poor sentence

structure, and make repairs to any grammar/spelling/punctuation errors. This intense and

intricate system of revision allowed me to organize my work and have ideal, refined pieces of

writing. Revision in my portfolio pieces provided me with a tremendous amount of organization

that efficiently and clearly demonstrated the key points in my writing.

My first analytical piece, the Revenge Falls Short of Justice paper, discusses to what

extent the maids achieved justice against Odysseus in The Penelopiad. This paper mimics The

Penelopiad, as it references Greek mythology, but in a different character’s perspective. The

Penelopiad tells the story of Homer’s famous The Odyssey in Penelope’s perspective. Similarly,

my paper, Revenge Falls Short of Justice, discusses the same story, but in the maids’ perspective.

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My intended purpose of this paper is to show that every story isn’t a single story. I specifically

discuss this in my conclusion when I state, “The single story of The Odyssey has so much more

to it than just a heroic, clever, man killing everyone he sees. Penelope, the maids, and the many

other characters portrayed in the famous epic have stories of their own. Everyone has a story and

an opinion, and why listening to all sides may prove wise when seeking the truth.” Odysseus

may have seemed like a hero in The Odyssey, but every story holds more perspectives than just

one. Overall, in this piece I strived to discuss the concept of a “single story” and demonstrate that

stories like The Odyssey, have much more depth to them than the superficial.

For my second analytical piece, I revised the in-class poetry essay (the “Fishbowl”

assignment). The original assessment required me to take the poem, “When Death Comes” by

Mary Oliver and write an essay about its overarching theme. I discussed how it takes extreme

difficulty to comprehend and grasp a concept such as death. This poem’s purpose referenced the

idea that we as humans don’t know what death feels like, i.e. it is the “ungraspable” concept. As

I read Mary Oliver’s poem, I used her poetic devices to support my claim. For instance, I used

the lack of rhyme because death has no tune or melody. Our lack of knowledge on the subject

would make it inappropriate to add a melody or tune to the unknown topic. Overall, this piece

demonstrates the idea that poetic devices are critical to the full understanding of a poem.

For my first creative piece, I revised my Odyssey map illustration. For this piece, I not

only redecorated and refurbished my map (it is now more intricate and detailed), but I also made

major changes to the destinations/experiences on the map. I will discuss more about these major

changes later in this letter, but for now I will discuss the major design changes. I strived to make

my map more organized and clean as I revised it. To begin, I used an appropriate font to type out

the map title and key. This gave the map a more organized and clean look. Additionally, I

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changed the base colors on the map, such as the grass to, once again, make it simple and clean.

The drawings and pictures for my destinations also have clearer and cleaner sketches. The

purpose of this piece, which once again, I will discuss later in the letter, is to show my growth

and maturity over my freshman year as well as to show a cleaner and more orderly map.

My second creative piece will also be discussed later in this letter. This new piece

referenced the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. In this assignment, I wrote

my own chapter to the book. This chapter could go anywhere in the book, except for the

beginning and the end. In this chapter I strived to use the same writing style that Christopher

would use, or the author, Mark Haddon. I embodied Christopher’s character as I used many

techniques such as drawings, word choice, diagrams, etc. that I noticed throughout the book. I

will discuss more in the upcoming paragraphs. Overall, the purpose of this piece involved

noticing and adapting to different writing styles, as well as embodying Christopher, and making

decisions based on how I perceived him as a character.

I chose the map illustration as my first creative piece. The journey of Odysseus is also

called a metaphor for life. Simply put, each of us travels through life and experiences problems,

adventures, and discoveries, just as Odysseus did. At the beginning of the year, I followed fifteen

references from the Odyssey and alluded them to my own life experiences. Recently, I looked

back on my Odyssey map to use in this portfolio. I initially set a goal to make it more detailed

and clean. However, as I was revising and changing artistic parts of the map, I noticed that a lot

of my life experiences have changed since the beginning of my freshman year. Still referencing

Odysseus' experiences, I decided to update some of my previous life experiences to more recent

ones. For example, destination 10 on the map references one of Odysseus' most difficult

decisions he had to make (Scylla or Charybdis). In first semester, I discussed that my most

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difficult decision was to finish a long cross country race. Despite my dehydration and lack of

energy, I was able to finish the three-mile race without giving up. However, as I have grown and

experienced many new adventures throughout my freshman year, I have encountered various

difficult decisions that change my "Odyssey." Recently, I selected my courses for next year.

Little did I know, the process of choosing classes comes with much difficulty. I found it

extremely challenging to decide what classes I wanted to take, while at the same time, not

overwhelming myself by picking too many difficult courses. This change on the map reflects one

of the many experiences found in my map illustration that have changed and I have grown from.

In fact, the “Final Piece” tab under “Piece 3” of this portfolio holds the new map illustration as

well as a summary of all the changes made in the map destinations (scroll down on the web

page). This summary demonstrates all the new experiences that I have encountered compared to

the old experiences present on the original map. As stated earlier in the letter, I also made my

map more organized by adding a visible and legible key. I also added numbers that indicate the

destinations on the map. The creative map title also adds a unique aspect to my map. Overall,

revising my Odyssey map has demonstrated the tremendous amount of growth I have

experienced this past year. Additionally, it exhibits the many difficulties and adventures I have

encountered.

For my second creative piece, I wrote a chapter in the book, The Curious Incident of the

Dog in the Nighttime. I embodied Christopher as I chose to write a chapter about him in the

bathtub. I took note on many of Mark Haddon’s writing choices, and I adopted them into the

piece. For instance, I used shorter sentences and tended to use more passive voice than usual

(purposefully, as I was embodying the artistic writing style). Additionally, I made slight stylistic

choices, such as using scientific words and italicizing them. This required a significant amount of

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research on my part; finding scientific terms that would fit into the story presented itself as a

difficult challenge. I also had to wonder what Christopher would think about in a bathtub. Based

on how I view him as a character, I figured that he would think about the small details in a

bathtub, such as the tiny bubbles I discuss in the beginning of the chapter, or the temperature of

the water. I noticed that Mark Hadden uses the listing technique in his writing, which I adopted

into my chapter. I also brought math equations into the chapter because Christopher tends to

resort to math when he needs to clear his head. I used equations I had learned from my personal

experiences (e.g. math and science class) that I knew Christopher would likely know. I ended up

having Christopher measure the volume of the bathtub. Additionally, I provided the audience

with the math equation he used (the equation is 100% accurate). Notice that all the numbers in

the story (except the ones in the math equation because those cannot be changed) are prime

numbers. They are also very specific numbers which I notice that Christopher often uses, such as

the phrase “23 minutes later.” However, I must say, my favorite part of the chapter involves the

portion about the bubble soap. Recognizing Christopher’s sensitivity to overwhelming details, I

felt that bubbles flawlessly represented something that would overwhelm Christopher. The word

choice and diction used in this chapter follows a theme of simplicity and intellectuality.

Christopher uses simple phrases, yet he incorporates strong words like hydrophobic. I also took

note that Christopher lived in England, and instead of simply saying terms and phrases that I am

familiar with, such as “bubble bath” or just “bubbles,” I used more English-derived terms like

“bubble soap.” I also used imagery and detail when I described the science behind the air

bubbles that appear on Christopher’s skin in the bath when I state, “Tiny air pockets will then get

trapped in the indentations of your skin and form bubbles.” Christopher’s observations teach

scientific and mathematical lessons. From the reason that tiny bubbles appear on the skin, to the

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volume formulas Christopher illustrates, many educational lessons are present. Overall, I

absolutely enjoyed embodying Christopher’s character as I wrote this chapter. Writing in a new

and different style felt both refreshing and challenging as I immersed myself into the lenses of a

new character.

I have so much pride and satisfaction in all my pieces. The amount of effort and work put

into each one greatly delights and contents me. Therefore, choosing just one to be my favorite

seems impossible! However, if I had to decide, I would choose my Curious Incident of the Dog

in the Nighttime chapter. Unlike any of my other pieces, I had the opportunity in this piece to

embody Mark Hadden’s writing style. This challenged me to go beyond my style of writing and

take on a different author’s approach. Although this arrived with many difficulties, I forced

myself to observe Mark Hadden’s writing, and imitate it—while at the same time, portraying

Christopher’s voice and character. Despite my frustration, writing in the voice of Christopher

allowed me to find my creative outlets. Using what I knew about autism and how I viewed

Christopher’s character, I created and discovered many details and instances about Christopher

to incorporate in my writing. I am proud of this piece because it forced me to leave my style of

writing and adopt/incorporate someone else’s. I had the opportunity to use my creativity and

observations from the story while writing. Overall, this piece presented me with an exciting

challenge that I was able to conquer, and I am therefore, most proud of it.

Besides writing my Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime chapter using Mark

Hadden’s writing style, the greatest challenge I faced involved revising the Fishbowl assignment.

When I revised this piece, I knew I wanted to have strong points that would support my claim of

death as an “ungraspable” subject. This required me to perform a lot of research on my own on

Mary Oliver’s poem “When Death Comes.” In addition to the notes I took from the Fishbowl in-

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class assignment, I reprinted the poem on my own and took fresh notes on any poetic devices I

noticed that supported the greater claim. Although time consuming and frustrating, my intricate

note taking proved to be extremely helpful when I revised my paper. I forced myself to restudy

the poetic devices from the poetry unit. Additionally, I researched facts and other helpful

information to facilitate my understanding such as, “what are the characteristics of a hungry bear

in autumn?” Overall, this paper proved to be most challenging because of the massive amount of

studying and note taking that was required to write it.

This portfolio has demonstrated to me the tremendous amount of growth that I have

experienced over my freshman year. I plan to grow on these experiences in years to come as I

move up to the 10th grade. I hope to expand my use of advanced vocabulary as well as my

grammar. I plan to use the social issues and concepts that I have learned in future conversations,

observations, and writings. Additionally, I hope to gain more perspective on the world around

me in years to come.

Sincerely,

Lilla Timperman