A letter to the portfolio reader introducing the papers you selected. These should be about two double-spaced pages long. The letters will address your thoughts about any recurring themes in your papers (and the overall theme of the course), your criteria for selecting the essays you included, and your reasons for arranging your papers as you did. These letters set the stage for your outside reader’s reception of your work for the semester; as such, they may be humorous, but not shallow or flip. They should demonstrate serious thought about your work in Humanities 1.
Your three best papers for the course, arranged in any order you choose. The only paper you absolutely must include is your research paper. The other two papers will normally be your first two revisions. However, in some cases, you may choose to substitute a paper you did not initially revise for one that you did. Students who choose this option usually do so because of unsatisfactory performance on a revision assignment. If you wish to do this, you must clear your plan with me; you will also need to revise the paper before your portfolio meeting so that we can discuss the changes you have made.
A "Works Cited" page that lists all the sources (primary and secondary) you cite throughout your portfolio. This means that you will not include a "Works Cited" page after each paper. Instead, you will combine the three bibliographies into one large bibliography at the end of the portfolio. Stick faithfully to MLA style; see the sample paper in Hacker if you have any lingering questions.
Portfolio Formatting:
The pagination of your portfolios is continuous—do not start each new paper with page number one. Page one will be the first page of your letter to the reader; your last page (over twenty for most of you) will be the last page of your "Works Cited" section.
Please keep the font, margins, and type size consistent throughout the
portfolio. Fonts that make the "not annoying" list include 12-point
Times New Roman, Arial, Book Antiqua, and Bookman. At the top of the "annoying"
list is 12-point Courier, which is ridiculously huge. Margins should be
one inch all the way around.
Fasten the pages of your portfolio securely, preferably in a three-hole report folder.
Make sure your portfolio is free of grammatical and mechanical errors. Please bring any questions about these matters to your meeting with Ivan or me. In addition, I strongly recommend that you exchange portfolios with a peer.