advice from portfolio scorers
Each year, portfolio readers at Miami read hundreds of portfolios. And each year at the end of
the scoring sessions, we ask those readers to evaluate their responses to the portfolios they
have read and to offer advice to students who are compiling portfolios in hopes of receiving
credit from Miami University. What follows here is a summary of the evaluators’ remarks and thoughts
from the last two years.
aim and audience
Evaluators this year follow previous evaluators in indicating that a clear aim and sense
of audience are the two most important features of a successful portfolio. In fact, the majority of
remarks from instructors this year emphasize that while students need to show mature and insightful
thinking and writing, they should also present themselves naturally, not artificially. Evaluators suggest
that students should not be afraid to use “I,” and that “their own voice(s) should not be drowned by research.”
We have recommended in the past, and we continue to encourage you to “write as yourself,” not as the student you
think college professors want you to be. We look for evidence that you think about how you fit into the world,
about how issues you write about relate to your personal situations (social, racial, gendered, economic, regional,
religious, etc.). Instructors suggest repeatedly:
“Consider your audience. We’re real people who can see through stereotypic, immature arguments. We appreciate
critical thinking and self-awareness in each piece, not just description.”
Raters are interested in what you think and see and how you see those things in relation to broader
issues and concerns. Evaluators tell students to “think about how the pieces you write connect, and talk
about them as a whole, not just as random pieces.” Also, “think seriously about ambiguities, feelings, and problems.
Revise, rewrite and show that you are thinking about your audience.”
The readers at Miami are diverse in age, teaching experience, interests, and tastes. While we range from
experienced graduate students to tenured professors, we are all interested in students and spend quite a bit of
time reading and evaluating college writing. When we score the portfolios submitted to us, we develop a set criteria
that describes the qualities we value in writing. (See Appendix D: Scoring Guide in the Best of MU Portfolios downloads.) Before completing your portfolio, you should spend time reading your work with the scoring criteria in mind. While we make changes from year to year,
the major criteria remain the same, and you should be familiar with them.
suggestions for improving your portfolio
While you should keep audience and aim in mind as you develop your portfolio, you will benefit as
well from more specific advice and suggestions our raters offer below.
- The importance of the reflective letter: The most common pieces of advice our raters suggest concern the reflective letter.
This initial piece is obviously an important part of the portfolio, much more that just a cover letter. Part of what we mean
when we say “reflective” is that we want you to situate yourself for your readers—in terms of your “social location,” or, in
other words, how your race, class, and gender influence your values and opinions. One rater insists, “Give much more attention
to the reflective letter. It should be REFLECTIVE (many were not) and interesting,” and “go beyond simple summary of what is
in the collection. Reflect on how the pieces reveal something about you as a writer and how they are connected.”
The reflective letter sets the tone for the whole portfolio and creates a first and lasting impression.
Think about what reflection involves—not just including details about who you are and how you write but also about
how and why your background and environment have affected what you write. Many successful letters strike a balance
between confidence and humility; many show awareness of strengths and limitations, as well as awareness that writing
has consequences (beyond getting credit for English at Miami).
- Use the full 12-page allotment: We strongly urge you to take full advantage of the 12-page limit and develop
your pieces fully. All raters notice whether or not a student’s portfolio has enough “substance.” With this in mind,
we ask that students use the page limit and make it work. Five or six pages isn’t enough. Longer portfolios offer
analysis and discuss the complexity of issues. Brief portfolios rarely get a high score because they can’t fully develop,
support, and sustain a writer’s position.
- Develop with specific detail: Use many details, examples, and illustrations to develop and explain your points.
Instructors prefer concreteness to vagueness and showing to telling. When appropriate, use dialogue and narrative
examples and scenes to help develop your work. As one rater suggests, “Look at a lot of examples in Best of Miami
Portfolios and try to figure out why they are good pieces. Usually, it’s not because of the topic but because of
how the writer develops the topic.”
- Content and style should suit audience and aim: Be aware of “big issue” topics and make sure you can take them
on in a way that is focused and thoughtful. A reader is less likely to be enthusiastic about the 26th paper on
abortion or Hamlet unless it’s got a fresh angle. Also, when using outside sources, work from your own viewpoint
instead of simply retelling other peoples’ ideas. If you use outside sources, be sure to include a Works Cited page,
so readers know that you know how to give appropriate credit to other writers when you use their ideas.
- Be creative: Don’t be afraid to experiment. Include pieces in a variety of styles if possible. Raters say,
“forget formulas” emphasizing that “a good five-paragraph theme has no greater chance than a good paper with any
other structure… Life is too short to cram into five paragraphs!” Several raters have mentioned that they want
a writer to “take chances, use humor—show different sides of yourself! Take time to ask yourself:
‘How can I make this more interesting? More engaging?’ and then take time to revise. No one wants to be bored.”
- Revise your portfolio carefully: Most professional writers see revision as going well beyond changing words
and correcting grammar. Give yourself plenty of time to spend reading and re-reading your work, thinking of ways
to offer fresher examples and more compelling arguments. Revising also means considering your audience: “Go over
your pieces and ‘re-see’ them for this audience and situation.”
- Appearance and correctness count: Of course content is most important, but after taking the time to do the
writing, you need to spend time polishing and correcting the work. Both spell check and get a trusted person to
proofread. Give pieces titles, number pages, and use a legible, plain typeface or font. Full portfolios in italics
or long narrow fonts are difficult to read, and anything smaller than 10 pt. is also extremely hard to read.
Remember: a readable point size: 12 pt. (depending on the font) is best. Double-spacing is standard, as
are one-inch margins on all sides of the page.