Seemingly Simple Advice:

An Educational Tale about English Portfolios

By: Erik Davis

            Many of you might vaguely recall your English 200 professor talking to you about the importance of keeping up to date with your English Portfolio.  I am writing this piece as a warning to everyone who has been putting off compiling their portfolio—you have been warned.

            It was the end of my freshman year, the weather had finally warmed up, the grass was beginning to green, birds were singing in the trees, and I was trapped in Dr. Hale’s office.  Even though English 200 was over—I had survived—Dr. Hale would not let me leave campus until I conferenced with him about my newly completed English portfolio.  At the end of the last English 200 class we were all supposed to receive a nice, black, three ring binder that would house our English portfolio.  Unfortunately Dr. Hale did not bring enough binders for everyone, and I had to use one of my own folders.  Back in Dr. Hale’s office I was sweating, not as much as Dr. Hale but who does.  I was sweating because I had just finished throwing together my ‘end of the year reflection’ right before I left Cleland to walk to Dr. Hale’s office.  I was banking on two circumstances to save me from being forced to do a rewrite.   First it was the end of the year, and second it was spring.

            He had been reading my one and a half page reflection far too long and it was making me feel uncomfortable.  I knew he was going to make me rewrite the whole thing.  I was incredibly depressed.  My roommate had already moved out for the summer, and I was totally alone on campus.  Then he looked up and said in no uncertain terms that it was not good enough to represent my freshman year, but he wouldn’t make me revise it at this time.  I grabbed my fledgling portfolio (in a bright pink ‘Dancing Diva’ paper folder)and ran as fast as I could away from his office.  Ten minutes later I was driving back home, and the portfolio was the last thing on my mind.  I did not think of it again until the end of my sophomore year.

            It was the end of my sophomore year, the weather had finally warmed up, the grass was beginning to green, birds were singing in the trees, and I was trapped in Dr. Hale’s office again.  He was glaring at me over the top of my hastily put together ‘end of the year reflection.’  I still had not received a black binder from the English department, so my portfolio was housed in my bright pink ‘Dancing Diva’ paper folder.  I felt even more uncomfortable than I had last year, probably because I had come to expect better work out of myself.  I was disappointed in my reflection, but I was also anxious to get home.  I was saying something to the effect that I knew it was sub par, but I had fried my brain taking all of my finals.  I left his office having promised that I would revise it for next year.

            Right after I got home for my long awaited summer vacation something happened that changed the life of my portfolio forever.  Most of my family had left to go to see a play in Peoria.  My brother, who was going into his senior year of high school, was left home alone.  Just as we were nearing the small town where I live my mother received a phone call from Alex.  He was in a blind panic.  He told my mom that our basement was flooded with murky water.  Hearing your basement is flooded is never good news for a homeowner, but this was especially bad.  It was a flood of Biblical proportions.  By the time we got home there was two and a half feet of water in our basement.  Floating right beside our cat, who was frantically clawing to gain purchase atop a random piece of debris, was my English portfolio.  The bright pink that had made the ‘dancing diva’ look so festive had bled into the water surrounding it.  It was a horrible sight.  After cleaning our basement and rescuing our cat, I recovered my portfolio. It was totally ruined all of my hard work was for naught!  All of my papers and end of the year reports had been dyed a light pink, and the water had fused them into one inseparable lump.

            None of you can imagine the look I got from Dr. Hale when I related this very story to him on a lovely day in spring at the end of my junior year.  It was a terrifying mixture of contempt, rage, disbelief, and disgust.  Flash to my senior year.  I had put off doing any work at all on my portfolio, and it was due the next day.  I also had a paper to write and my senior research prospectus was due.  I was in a bad place.  I managed to get everything done on time, but I had to stay up all night to do it.  My work was not as good as it could have been which, as I am sure many of you know, is disappointing.  If you do not want this to happen to you should listen to these three pieces of advice.  First, keep the portfolio in the back of your mind, and every so often do a little work on it.  Second, when you write a good paper save the original, with comments, to include in your portfolio.  This way you will not be scrambling around your senior year asking professors if they have comments on a paper you wrote for them three years ago.  If you are wondering only Dr. Hale and Dr. Belschner have comments saved from three years ago.  Finally, never under any circumstances store your English portfolio in a bright pink ‘Dancing Diva’ folder in your basement.

Research Blues:

Part 1: Noelle Templeton

           So…research.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy researching topics that interest me, and I can’t say I don’t love learning, but most research essays end up causing much more trouble than they should.  It all begins with the issue of choosing a topic.  I possess the disastrous combination of being chronically indecisive with procrastinating tendencies.  Thankfully we were given a list (I love lists), and after much deliberation and many sleepless nights, I chose the writer whose name I liked the most:  Adrienne Rich.  Reading Rich’s poetry was fun, and I appreciate her work, but I got the impression that she might want to fight me if we ever met in person.  I chose again.

            My next choice was Ernest Hemingway.  Perhaps he and I would be forced into a rumble if we ever met in a dark alley, but I really enjoy his short stories.  Plus, I think I could take him (in a scuffle, that is).  So now that I’ve decided on a writer, I must choose a specific piece of his.  All of this choosing is making me anxious.  Thanks to Watson’s American Survey, I got plenty of Hemingway-reading time, and within the week I had narrowed my choice down to nine stories.  Clearly, my own contemplation was getting me nowhere, and a quick flip of a coin got me ready for take off. 

            I am left now with the thoughts of dozens of critics, many of whom are painfully cynical and most are obsessed with the kinky and erotic.  While it is troublesome sorting through the views and interpretations other readers, I finally find myself at point where I can enjoy this process.  Reading, analyzing, and creating are the reasons I chose English to be my focus for at least four years, if not the next few decades.  If I can avoid distractions and discouragement, I will have fun with my research, and isn’t that what college is supposed to be?

Part 2:  Erik Davis

          Before I took senior seminar I had always found that I struggled most with coming up with a topic to write about.  I had always assumed that coming up with a suitable topic for my senior research paper would be the most difficult part of the paper.  This has not been the case.  Coming up with a topic was challenging and took several revisions, but the hardest part for me has been finding research.  In previous papers my research problems usually came from having to sift through the numerous research results that I had found.  This time it was very different.  I am not sure if this was because my topic was more obscure than previous papers, or if there is not as much written about Russian literature. In any case, I have had no end of trouble finding sources that discuss my topic.  I cannot count how many different combinations of search terms I have used.  I used every academic search engine that I know about.  Eventually through sheer persistence rather than any newly acquired research skills I found enough sources to put together a tentative bibliography.  This whole experience has really illustrated how much more rewarding research is when it is not sans results. 

          I would encourage everyone to work seriously on beefing up his/her research skills before senior seminar. This paper has definitely put my research skills to the test.  Also do not be afraid to go to any of the professors with questions.  This paper will go much more easily if you illicit the help of the faculty.  Most of the time, unless it is during a particularly busy time during the semester, the faculty are more than willing to sit down and help with research questions.  The librarians have also been a great resource to me when I get stuck.  They can help tweak your search terms or point you to another database.  There are tons of different resources available to help you with research.  If you utilize them you will get through your paper, it might not be easy, but it will ultimately be rewarding.