The course is just about over now. You've written a lot of compositions in it and (although there are still a few more to go) this is the final assignment of all.  In it I'd like you to assess your own writing during this course.  (I'm thinking of "writing as both noun and verb--what you wrote, how you wrote it--and also as skill--how well you can write.)

Your assessment may be in any form you think best. However, it must address the specific grading criteria in the course description that I gave you at the beginning of the semester, and it must contain your recommendation for your course grade. You'll need to support that recommendation by referring to specific evidence contained in your collected writings for the course.

Here's a suggestion for procedure:

1. Assemble all of your primary writings for the course and anything else that you think is relevant. Here's a list of the primary writing assignments:

 
Primary Writings
************************************
How Do You Feel Right Now?
Memorable Experience
The Nacirema (and The Sacred Rac)
Favorite Place
ToiletPaper
Neighborhood
AMERICA UNDER ATTACK
Interview
Resume
"Dangerous" Place
Cover Letter
Boxes
The Question & The Quest
Reporting The Quest
MidCourse Correction
Trouble!
Newspaper
The Other's POV
Write a Letter
Quiet Place
Essay Exam Simulation 1
Essay Exam Simulation II
Purses
ReVision
Self-Assessment
.
2. .Review the grading criteria in the course description. The criteria for passing the course (a grade of C) are essentially quantitative; for a B or an A, quantitative and qualitative.

 
3. Review your writings and any other relevant information to assess how far you've come in this course. You'll probably want to consider how much you've learned and in what ways you've developed as a writer. And you should probably account for how fully and how consistently you've been exploring the writing assignments.

 
4. Factor in your attendance record. The grading criteria require that you attend at least 90% of the class meetings (since the end of late registration).  If you've done that, you're okay. If not, then we'll have to assume that you missed out on some proportion of the learning for the course, and that will have to be reflected in your course grade. If that's the case, you'll need to propose some sort of weighting for attendance or some clear means of demonstrating that irregular attendance shouldn't affect your grade. (Course grades should indicate demonstrated writing ability.)  Note: If we agreed on some other arrangement, be sure to remind me of the terms.

 
5. Write an assessment of your performance and development in the course. Say anything you think appropriate; but be sure that you base it upon the grading criteria. Your assessment must include your recommendation for your course grade, and that recommendation must be supported by specific references to your writings (and any other relevant information).

To demonstrate that you should get a "B" or an "A," you'll have to show that the quality of your work surpasses the bare minimum quantitative requirements of the assignments--that you explored the assignments and the readings fully. That is, you'll have to demonstrate that your thinking-writing-learning in this course has been "deep."
 

YOUR BOOK OF COLLECTED WORKS
Please assemble your primary writings in chronological order, beginning with the earliest. Add any other writings that you think relevant to your development in this course.

1. Please do NOT include copies of my Invitations (assignments) to you.

 
2. Please enclose your collection of your writings looseleaf, inside some kind of inexpensive paper folder, preferably one with pockets inside. (No fancy plastic binders or other such do-dads, please. They're a pain in the neck.)

If you feel uncomfortable writing about yourself, you might try acting as a ghost writer for me, writing the assignment in the third person, as if I were writing about you.

One final word of advice: Remember that your self-assessment is to be about you and your writing, not about me and my teaching. (But why not write me a separate note (but don't put it in your collected works!) about my part of the course--about what worked well for you and what you didn't like about the course. I'll ask you to do that in our final class meeting, anyway.)
 

MY PART
I'll read your self-assessment and your grade recommendation, review the work contained in your collection, and arrive at a course grade for you. I'll write you a brief note telling you what it is and making any comments that seem appropriate.

Your collected works should be ready for you to pick up at my office any time after noon Tuesday, December 18th .
 

DOUBLE CHECKING
Please check to see if you think I've graded you fairly.   If you think I've made a mistake, let me know and we'll get together and look over your work again.