Dear Malcolm, I am writing you this letter to let you know about my extended inquiry project and what

it consists of. I will also include other things about the EIP assignment as well and also I will cover in much detail my progress throughout the class, the types of activities I participated in, and a description of each assignment and my overall experience with being in English 1102. My portfolio contains several items including my research presentation, visuals, my first introductory letter to you, informal writings and also drafts and peer revisions and reviews. Overall, I hope you understand the concept of my letter as a way of educating yourself about how it felt to be in my shoes while enrolled in this class. The Different Assignments In your class, we have had multiple assignments from reading essays to writing essays, and even blog postings. I want to elaborate a little on some assignments. The essays we have had in this class have been long, but all have improved, in my opinion, my critical and analytical thinking skills. We had essays about stories and also had essays where we would read and do a blog post sometimes. We would occasionally write free writes as well on the essays. There have even been some where I have improved with creativity, but it was sort of forced because without creativity, I would not have done as great in this class as I have thus far. Inquiry Process of E-Portfolio & Topic Proposal In our first essay, which would be considered the topic proposal (with an exception of the Dear Malcom letter), I had to think outside of the box and figure out which topic I was proposing and include what other topics I was interested in as well. In order for me to choose this topic, I had to think logically. I knew I wanted to include something that pertained to homosexuality because I had a personal connection with it. In the proposal itself, I included why I wanted to do the topic of nature versus nurture and also included sources from which I stated facts to explain

what evidence was provided for my standpoint. There was a section in this paper where I stated or asked questions, called the initial inquiry questions. This really helped me because I was able to ask questions that not only pertained to my topic proposal, but other initial questions. For example, in my topic proposal, I asked is it something like a gene or hormone that causes the child to become homosexual while they are still in the womb? and also does sexual abuse play a part in making individuals homosexual? Before these questions were stated though, I told the reader what my main question was. The main question I have is what causes people to become homosexual. All of those questions do not point out a specific stance that I would take in my final paper. As stated in the topic proposal as well, there were a lot of broad questions in there, which in the end turned out to be a good thing or my future research! At the end of my paper, I explained why I was so interested in the topic. I was interested because I wanted to help me understand myself and other people. As I stated, I came out at an earlier age and some thought I would not be as successful as I was, but I have proven them wrong because any gay individual with the right support system can live a normal life in my opinion. The next steps forward after the topic proposal was to do more research of course and find more sources for the topic. There was also a free write which included an inquiry process activity which I really enjoyed. This assignment was called the interest inventory assignment. What I had to do was make a three column list on three sheets of paper with around six or seven titles. The titles included people, things, trends, places, technologies, controversies, jobs, etc. Once I had all the titles written down, it was history from there. All I had to do was just write down what specific item or person it was that I thought was interesting. For example, under trends I included Iphone, twitter, Beyonc, the movie Frozen, Facebook and more. It was really all fun and made you think about things you probably do not think about all the time. I was really surprised at some of my answers

though. I would have never guessed that Beyonc, whom is a celebrity, would be under my trend section. Its amazing what you can come up with after completing these assignments. It opens your eyes up to new undiscovered things because you actually get to physically touch it and see it on paper. It is no longer a thought. I was able to make use of this assignment. If I had more time to work on my topic proposal, I would have taken more time to work on the research definitely. It seemed like time flew by and before I knew it, it was due. I really enjoyed the inquiry process because it made me realize what I really wanted to do and could possibly do more work for outside of class as well. I did think about other topics to do my topic proposal on as stated before but the most challenging part I had with the inquiry process had to be finding that time in between classes to do all that was needed to do to perfect my proposal. But the good thing about the proposal and inquiry process is that it is just the beginning of something amazing near the end. If I needed more time, it would be awarded in the long run and there was not a need for perfection as well. The proposal was just one minor, but necessary part for me to start thinking about my final product. Free Writes & Reflections The free writes that we had to create during class and outside of class were needed because they all had an element included within the title or topic of the free write itself. There were free writes for several assignments and also there were free writes for each major assignment. Usually at the beginning of class, we would start a free write. There were over ten free writes completed in this class which made it really easy near the end. The free writes did not have to be long or short but they sometimes did require us to think. In my e-portfolio, there are free writes of analytical, creative, questioning, and reading topics. We also get to choose our favorite free write of choice to include. I was able to easily choose which free write was which

because of the specific topic of the free writes. They can be any length and some free writes even included graphs or visuals of some sort to help the researcher/student. For example, we had the Questioner free write which was an entry that emphasized me being curious by asking important questions. I did not answer any of the questions in the free write, but I did make it known that I was always thinking about something. I started out thinking about my topic and then I went to more broad questions. It was simple, but essential because this helped me with my final product. The class also had a free write with the prompt stating Specific steps I need to take to finish my research presentation include: and of course from there, I was able to tell what was needed to conclude my research presentation which I will talk more about later. There was no specific limit of how much tom write or how to write so I decided to use bullet points for the steps I needed to take. The prompt made me think logically and also had me analyze my overall productivity in the middle of completing an assignment. This free write was indeed made me analytical free write with no questions asked. After each major assignment, we were supposed to do a reflection of what we thought about the assignment and also include other essential items like challenges and changes throughout the duration of completing the assignment. The reflection itself is a process of looking back on the experience you have had with completing he assignments. In my e-portfolio, I have incorporated several reflections for the major assignments which include the research presentation, the topic proposal, fast draft, and also the second draft of my Extended Inquiry Project. In each reflection, I was able to tell what challenged me the most, if at all any challenges, and also I was able to express my feelings and personal aesthetic towards the assignment as well. I felt like these were essentially like thee free writes except they were a summary of an evaluation of myself and how I worked during each assignment. In the reflection

of my fast draft, I wrote how my writing process was. It was the beginning stages of my EIP and the reading of Shitty First Drafts really helped with completing the assignment as well. In the reflection, I said there were no boundaries and everything I written had come from prior knowledge and a little extra research. This was put in the reflection because it was something I wanted my audience to know as well. It was important for them to read the reflection and actually see how my thinking and writing skills had gotten better progressively through each assignment. There was structure to the reflections on each assignment but there were no rules as to what we could not talk about such as how much we disliked the assignment or how we wanted to change the way we had written the assignment. All of that was acceptable, as long as you explained why you felt that way about the assignment. The Research Presentation After the topic of inquiry, there was an assignment that I was not particularly too excited about. I did not think that I was going to be able to complete the assignment because it was a very difficult to get a grasp on what the assignment was really about. The research presentation process chosen to complete this assignment was to gather all of my facts and the compile them into one presentation. This presentation in the end really captured the ongoing conversations as expected and showed the complexity of my topic as well. I have established why it matters to me and others through the completion of the assignment by stating the facts gathered from major key sources that I also used in my final product. I summarized the key points from these sources and also evaluated the sources used for the presentation. I introduced my topic in the introduction slide, and then continued with the source slide which told the reader the specific facts of what they needed to know about my topic, even if it did not make sense to them just yet. The main idea was to just get the facts down so that I would have a good reminder of where to go back and

break down the steps into what the reader would understand. This process helped because the reader would then understand the fact from this slide and also, once broken down to make it more comprehendible, they would then recognize it in the final product as a much simpler fact. I also provided a discussion of both sides of the topics arguments and elements as well so that the reader and even the writer would know the reason behind the claims or facts in this matter. Afterwards, the evaluation of the sources were provided as well for credibility, and reliability of the sources. This helped me in determining which sources I was going to keep and return to for future reference. As an extra, I did provide an additional questions raised slide to show what other topics or areas of interest were possible for intervention and reconsideration for my final product. Through figuring out what I wanted to do in the first stage and coming directly into the research presentation, it was difficult for me to get ahead in this assignment. I did not really enjoy the process of the research presentation because it required strenuous amounts of critical thinking and evaluation from the past assignment and also for the future assignment. For me, it was too early to start a research presentation primarily because I had to figure out how to do the research and also learn other concepts. Now looking back, I thank you Mr. Campbell for allowing the class to do this assignment. This shocked me in the end because I did it know that this assignment combined with my fast draft was going to give me my second draft for the eportfolio. I was able to learn about my topic while asking questions, and asking questions. Through completing the assignment, I was able to learn how to research academically using the library and other sources as well. I also improved on my critical thinking majorly while doing this assignment. After doing the presentation, I felt like I had automatically got an understanding of my topic and its sources. I am proud of myself though because I was able to persevere and

complete the most difficult assignment for me. This was indeed the most challenging assignment for me to complete but I was able to do so in one of the most diligent ways. The Extended Inquiry Project This assignment is a multi-stage project that I have worked on all semester about my topic of interest. This assignment is composed of everything from free writes, to revisions, peer review, reflections and essays as well. The n nn final form of my project was always ultimately

up to me. I have become an expert on my topic through research and exploration methods. There were sections that had different subsections and those subsections also had smaller segments that had to be filled in by the writer or researcher. The Inquiry process, including my purpose or explanation of the project, drafts and revisions as well as peer review, and the final product are all the main topics of the project. I will be able to explain each section along with the subsections of each topic. Inquiry Process (Purpose & Explanation) of EIP As stated already, the inquiry process is different stages of questioning, answering questions and researching while also reporting what I find during the process. The purpose of the assignment would be how I would want it to impact the audience. I had the choice of either doing an analytical, exploratory, or argumentative essay. I believe my final product was a mixture of the two when it comes to figuring out which essay I had written. The primary purpose of the project from the learning perspective, again, was to discover knowledge that I did not know. In my own point of view, the primary purpose of the assignment overall is to expose others to what homosexuality actually is and why it does matter. I wanted people to know the truth behind homosexual people on the scientific level along with understanding why we are the way we are. Also I wanted to include the personal aesthetic in my final product by including my

own thoughts and knowledge on the topic. Mr. Campbells To Argue or to Explore slide show really hits home when it comes to the beginning of my inquiry session. He states that he is looking for overall effort, increased usage of research, essay structure and interest in the topic. The definition of the argumentative essay is explained as persuading the audience to think differently and to accept my opinion based upon the research that I find and explain in the writing. The exploratory essay is the explanation of an intriguing question that was first introduced and following with other lines of inquiry. At first, I wanted to do the argumentative essay because it seems easier based upon all the facts provided. As stated in the slideshow, it is easier to wire but that did not persuade me from exploring other writing methods with my final product. I decided to just let the writing take me wherever it led me. The main point generally appears toward the beginning of the essay and first person is acceptable. Therefore it may come more natural to do the argumentative essay, the recommendation was to argue what I believe and I did just that, but I also argued effectively for both sides and provided an evaluation of my paper. The only way to not do well on the assignment, or on any assignment perhaps, was by not trying. The slide show definitely helped me throughout the inquiry process not only just for research and beginning processes, but also for words of wisdom when needed. I had been doing all of my work and trying my best so as stated in the slideshow, I am in good shape! In addition to the slideshow, we also did several other assignments to recognize our purpose for the project. We as a class watched a video on how school kills creativity with Ken Robinson on the TedTalks website. This video made me realize that we as society need to think of education as an outlet for outstanding talent to be found. Also this makes us think about educating future generations differently. My favorite quote form the video was that what we were good at was not stigmatized during school. This means that even if we are skilled at

something and know that we are, then we will not be able to harness it through going to school. It will not be hastened or hurried and we would have to find out after school if we are truly good at something or not. This method of divergent thinking needs to be applied when thinking about the inquiry process. Think outside of the box and you never know what will come about in the process of inquiring about your topic. Creativity is the key in this process. It is the process of having original ideas which have some sense of value to ones self. This is critical in the inquiry process. Originality can be a huge part when beginning a brand new assignment. There were also other free writes which helped me analyze what needed to be included into my final paper. I had a free write where I had to list all the stakeholders involved or impacted by my topic which made me think about all the people who are affected. As stated, everyone is impacted by some way with my topic because of civil rights opinions as far as marriage, healthcare, etc. The second free stated given what I know about my topic so far, prepare an initial rough outline for my fast draft. This was also helpful for the beginning stages of my final product. Lastly, the third free write stated: opposition to my claim includes and of course, I listed who all may oppose homosexuality and who may disagree with some points or claims in my argument. All of these were helpful in the inquiry process with giving me a head start on my final paper. The most challenging part of the inquiry process had to be preparing to write the fats draft because I was not too sure if I was doing the assignment the correct way. I was a little frustrated with it but overall, I figured out that we did not have to have any type of major structure associated with the first draft. The most enjoyable part of the inquiry sequence had to be completing the free writes and also watching the videos and writing about them in my day book entry. With all of this being said, I learned how to locate, evaluate, and incorporate research material into my paper. I also

achieved my purpose of my assignment to persuade or simply, just to inform others about my topic. Drafts/Revisions & Peer Review The draft and revisions process was a long though out process which began directly after the inquiry process for the whole e-portfolio. I had to compose three drafts and revise the first two to create the final draft. I saved all of my drafts and included them inside if my e-portfolio. The first draft, which is called the fast draft, is something that I composed very quickly to get my initial thoughts and research down. The structure of the fast draft was to make everything cohesive in which there were complete sentences and paragraphs that made sense logically, but did not include the usage of outlining. The fast draft was much easier than all of the other drafts because the structure was not as formal as the others. I really enjoyed the assignment. The advantage of doing this draft was that I was able to cut loose and let my writing go freely. The draft was much like another form of play. The goal of this assignment was to get all the information down and point to a direction of where I wanted to take the final paper. After the completion of this, I was able to review it and also reflect upon the fast draft. The second draft was not that simple. I started the second draft after completing the research presentation and the fast draft and combined the two to create the first second draft. There would be man changes that it would undergo but overall, it would become the final product. The second draft would essentially be the finished draft of my EIP. It was heavily composed and well thought out as to what would be included in my final paper. This draft was formatted to lay out whether my paper was argumentative or exploratory and also included my analysis on my topic. It had the engaging introduction that led into my composition that was built logically towards the satisfying conclusion on both parts. I established my authority as an expert

on my topic that matters to me and others and it does persuade the audience to think differently. This assignment of course was used to produce my final product as well. After the second draft, there was a peer review assignment and other assignments such as free writes, and a work cited work sheet that we also had to complete for the revisions section of the e-portfolio. The peer review assignment was where each I had to decide on who my partner was going to be and then from there, we exchanged our second draft through email. After each person has their partners first production of their second draft, we went through and discussed and wrote what worked well within the paper and also provided some peer criticism for what did not work well. As we revised our second draft, we had to keep track of all of our changes we made. Also, I used my daybook as a place to record my changes as well which was required in the e-portfolio. In addition to what we worked well, and criticism, we also shared what we liked about the composition, what confused or raised more questions in the draft, and also evaluated each source near the end. All of these were included in the peer review assignment. Not all the points needed to be addressed but we were expected to provide thoughtful reflection for our peer. The free writes that were included in the revisions process were assignments that asked what revisions I was underway on for the EIP. This free write states that I was revising the EIP by making changes and highlighting certain sections and going back and researching how to show the big changes I had made in my paper. It also states that I had to revise in text citations and actually start on creating the e-portfolio. I also had one other free write that asked questions I had about the e-portfolio as a whole. There are questions such as how any slides or page it has to be or can there be other forms of the e-portfolio? The work sheet that the class completed as well helped during the second draft phase because it had several different problems where it listed work cited

sources and there was something wrong with each entry. The class grouped together to try and find every single mistake in each entry. This would help with the works cited page. The final product is my most polished piece of work of the semester. My final product accomplished everything that I wanted it to and that includes all the goals listed on the EIP assignment sheet. My commitment to my final paper and project are both very evident in the eportfolio, the final paper, and also this assignment of course. Final Notes & Reflective Moments I am proud of my Extended Inquiry Project second and final draft because of several things. I am proud because of the length of my paper for starters. It has far exceeded my first thoughts of how long I wanted it to be, but after reviewing how much material I included in the paper, I do not think it could have been any shorter without leaving some important information out. The minimum length of the final paper was to be seven pages and my final came out to be eight pages. Another thing I am most proud of about my EIP final paper is the way that I used my own thoughts and personal aesthetic along with quotes to put together certain sections of my final. The part of my project that I am most proud of would be this letter. It incorporates all of my ideas and an explanation of each and every part of the whole class assignment list from beginning to end. I find that it came out to be longer than expected as well (as we all can see). This is a good thing in this case because it is compilation of all of the work we have done all semester and an explanation or purpose for each. A part of my project that could still be improved would have to be my Dear Malcolm letter that I had written in the beginning of the semester is because I felt a little rushed. I felt rushed because I had joined the class a little on the late side and everyone had already complete the assignment. So I hurried to get the assignment done and I had not put much thought into everything that I wanted to include.

If I had more time to work on the whole project, I would only do more research and also see if I could expand my final paper and include everything that needed to be encompassed as well. This final reflection assignment again, is my greatest work in my opinion, which therefore makes my final thoughts included in this letter about the class the most important. I can honestly say that I enjoyed the class and I would recommend the class and the professor to anyone else who wanted a more professional outlook on the world of academic writing and its challenges and its advantages.