On the Exit Paper

What It Is

As you know, the portfolio exit paper (minimum 2 pages) is a concise self-reflective exploration of your development as an English major. In it, you are to consider the following questions: have you met your goals as an English major? have these goals changed over time? how do the other papers in the portfolio and projects in this course help you contemplate your goals as a student? how do your overall learning and experiences in the major help you contemplate your current goals as a graduate-to-be?

In the exit paper, then, you are to do for yourself what we did as a group in the "Looking Back" section of the course: to look back over your learning and experiences in the major; to find patterns and connections in the courses you've taken, the books you've read, and the modes of analysis and expression you've used; and to consider how you and your goals have changed since you first entered the major. For those whose teaching presentations were "looking back" talks, you can draw on and expand your ideas from your talk, but you shouldn't simply reproduce what you did in the talk.

What For

Since an exit paper is required for portfolio completion and hence graduation, I'm making it a required final reflective essay in the course. Writing the reflective essays on your three major course assignments--the research-based revision project, the application project, and the audience/genre revision project--should have given you experience in writing thoughtful metacognitive reflective essays. The exit paper thus gives you the chance to draw on what you've learned in these assignments in the process of "looking back" on your time as an English major at SUNY Fredonia. Finally, think of the exit paper as a companion piece to your entry paper--a reflection on your past in the Fredonia English major to complement your earlier projected future in it. The English department will use a sampling of yours and other seniors' completed portfolios to assess the effectiveness of our majors--to see how well we're reaching our own goals and where we can improve our curriculum and teaching.

How To

If you need to consult your portfolio, see the department secretary, Diane Bohn, before May 8, or come see me during my office hours between Wednesday, May 8, and Wednesday, May 15. Bring your exit paper to the peer review workshop session in class on Thursday, May 9. By the time you turn in your exit papers (no later than W 5/15 at 5 pm), you must also have returned all the papers you've removed from your portfolios, and have let me know if you want your research-based revision or your audience/genre revision papers from this course (or both) added to your portfolio (this last option is your call--not a requirement of the course or for graduation). I'll put all these papers in your portfolios, sign the forms indicating that your exit papers have been turned in and that your portfolio requirement has been completed, and return all your portfolios to the English department by F 5/17. You may pick up all your papers in the course from me at that time, as well.

Assignment Sheet

Due: Peer review in class on Thursday, May 9, 2002. Final copy due on Wednesday, May 15, no later than 5 pm, in my mailbox in the English department main office (277 Fenton) or in the envelope outside my office door (240 Fenton). Please be sure to turn in any papers you removed from your portfolio at this time and attach a note letting me know if you want any other papers from this course added to your portfolio. Also, if you want any course papers returned to you but will be leaving town before Friday, May 17, please turn in a large, self-addressed envelope with a note explaining which papers you want back.

Format: The exit paper should be a minimum of two pages; should be double spaced, with reasonable fonts, font sizes, and margins; and have a title and a heading that includes your name, the course name or number, and the date.

ENGL 400: Senior Seminar, Spring 2002
Created: 5/7/02 5:13 pm
Last modified: 5/9/02 10:48 am