Arguments

With the goals on the previous content page in mind, in order to create a cohesive portfolio, it helps to pick a main argument that you want your portfolio to make to me, your main audience. Regardless of which argument you pick, this should help you focus on making this argument in your outcomes-based cover letter.

There are different types of portfolios that can make different types of arguments. A progress portfolio would focus on how you grew to master each outcome. This is a strong argument to make if you feel like you showed a lot of growth this semester. A success portfolio would focus on how you met each outcome across the semester, which would be a good argument to make if you felt like you demonstrated strong writing and research skills consistently across the course.

Try to identify which of these two types of portfolios you feel that yours will fall under. Then focus your cover letter on making an argument towards that. This basically means arguing either that "This semester, I feel that I grew a lot as a writer" or saying "This semester, I feel that successfully met the goals of this class." Growth can mean a lot of things. Maybe you did not grow as much as you wanted. Or maybe you stumbled along the way. That's okay! Reflect on that and discuss it in your letter. An important component of growing is being able to identify where your weaknesses lie and/or where you can do better.

Progress:

Do you want to show progress (your process) by emphasizing how much you have learned and grown as a writer and researcher?

- This portfolio would require you to select artifacts that demonstrate both weaknesses and strengths to help your audience understand how you have grown across the semester. If you show, for example, an assignment from earlier in the semester with a weaker research question, you would need to compare it to a later assignment that shows how your research question(s) developed and grew stronger.
- This kind of portfolio is useful if you have seen your writing and research confidence grow this semester, with you developing new skills and writing strategies across the course. You would want to highlight where you started, where you ended up, and how that progress can allow you to now move into your major or profession.

Success:

Do you want to show success (your skills) by emphasizing your strengths as a writer and researcher that you know will be needed in your major or career?

- This portfolio would require you to select artifacts that demonstrate your main strengths this semester in both writing and research. Your artifacts would need to highlight both your capabilities as a writer in a college setting, as well as a researcher who can plan and execute a strong research study.
- Unlike a progress argument, this kind of portfolio would highlight where you were successful in the course and what specific writing and research skills you have demonstrated (like formatting, making claims, synthesizing sources, etc.) and why those skills will be needed in your major or profession. The emphasis is less on how you developed those skills, and more on what those skills are and where you demonstrated them.