50559 Good Oak Loop RD

Frazee, MN 56544

August 1, 2010

Portfolio Assessment Readers

Dear Readers:

Good day to you. I am excited to have you review my electronic portfolio because I believe it offers solid
examples of reader-centered professional writing at various stages of my learning in association with
ENG 320 Business and Professional Writing. Throughout the course the primary goal has been to learn to
create documents, projects, and files that focus on the reader’s point of view. I have always known that a
writer must keep the reader, audience, and context in mind when writing, but the task is compounded in
business or professional writing by the need to inform and persuade while maintaining one’s ethics and
credibility. The files I offer as proofs of my learning include the following: an application cover letter,
three versions of my resume, an Employment Recommendation Report, the Individual Project Proposal,
the Individual Project Progress Report, and the Individual Project, which is a language arts class website.
Though the files are different genres of writing for various reasons and contexts, they offer proofs of the
progress of my understanding and use of diction, tone, persuasion, and visual elements that target the
readers’ points of view. The portfolio also serves as an opportunity for me to reflect on what I have
learned. Reflection on my performance is necessary in my future career to make adjustments to content,
methodology, and assessment practices to offer future students every opportunity for success. The same
importance of reflection applies to my work on reader-centered professional writing to improve a skill
that I will use in seeking employment and throughout my career as a teacher. As a teacher, I will need to
communicate with readers who vary in their purpose from my students to parents and administrators. The
writings contained in this portfolio reflect my understanding and ability to focus on the reader.

As you review the files in this portfolio, you may note that the progress throughout the writing is not
necessarily blatantly obvious. For instance, the intent for reader-centered writing in the application cover
letter is more subdued than the employment recommendation report. I consciously chose subtlety in the
cover letter so that the persuasion was not overtly obvious and did not offend the reader by concentrating
too heavily on the culturally diverse nature of the school, whereas the client-reader of the
recommendation report expected the sales pitch approach. The necessity of various levels of subtlety in
professional writing became more apparent through group work and peer review processes. My
participation in these processes gave me an opportunity to see the perspectives of other writers and their
approaches to targeting the reader’s point of view. Though not formal research, such as that used during
the recommendation report, the opportunity to review the work of my peers was research that offered me
the opportunity to revise my own assumptions and writing based on what I felt worked from a reader’s
point of view.

All of the files in the portfolio represent reader-centered writing, but I feel that the writing throughout the
website project remains the best example of what I have learned. This project required that I interview
other students and educators to discover what they found desirable in a class-related website. The task of
building a class-related website included numerous elements associated with reader-centered writing
ranging from writing and using visual elements with the reader culture in mind to maintaining a credible
and ethical foundation. The project tested my abilities in these areas with each web page I created and
forced me to be more conscious of the numerous possible audiences of the writing. The website offers
tone, vocabulary, general diction, and persuasive arguments that focus on the readers’ points of view, but
interestingly, the writing must appeal to three very different audiences in students, parents, and
administrators – four, if one considers the general public. I focused on the student reader first when
researching and writing the website materials and then modified or revised the writing to raise it up to the
expectations of parent, administrator, and general public. I found this to be a difficult task without losing
the friendly informal tone directed at the students, a tone I believe is essential when communicating with
students. The first page of the site uses a friendly, but professional tone and diction that sets the
foundation of my credibility and ethics, whereas every other page (with the exception of the parent page)
contains a less formal, friendly, humorous, and first person tone directed at the student reader. I tried to
make the writing that which other students and I like to read as students viewing a teacher or professor’s
class site, while maintaining the professionalism that parents and administrators will seek and expect. My
research and interviews show that students and educators alike want a site that is consistent and concise
while offering information about the teacher and course that users need and want. I originally intended the
site to contain only eight or nine pages, but my research and writing expanded original assumptions into
the site you see now. Writing is a process of reflection and revision and this is no less true in professional
writing such as that found in the website.

The website may reflect what I consider to be my best work, but that does not mean that I believe that
there is no room for improving the reader-centered approach in my professional writing. For instance, I
know that there are sections within the recommendation report where I can improve the reader-centered
approach. In future revisions I can and should expound further on my interpretations in each community
section of the report and more openly connect the facts presented to the needs perceived and vocalized
during client interviews and communications. I believe I can improve my professional writing further
through continued reflection and practice. By the time I am creating final drafts of documents for my
employment search next year, I anticipate producing very solid reader-centered documents. Through
continued reflection and practice my professional writing will improve throughout my future career as a
teacher.

It is my hope that, as you review the files in this electronic portfolio, you are able to recognize the efforts
made to improve my reader-centered professional writing throughout the various genres and contexts of
the files. My prior knowledge about keeping the audience and context in mind while writing has expanded
to include the various genres of professional writing from the simplest cover letter to research based
reports and projects. This knowledge and associated skills will prove useful throughout future writing,
most especially during my career as a teacher who must communicate to diverse readers of the same
writing.

Should you have any problems in viewing any of the documents or files provided in this electronic
portfolio, do not hesitate to contact me via email at Michael.Bashford@ndsu.edu or, if the need is urgent,
feel free to call or text me at (701) 412 – 4771. I know your time is valuable and I am more than willing to
assist in your review of my electronic portfolio.

Thank you for your time, consideration, and efforts in this matter.

Sincerely,

Michael Bashford