Instructions

Portfolio Assignment Instructions
*Please wait until the Monday of Week 7 to submit your assignment.
If you have extenuating circumstances requiring you to submit early, please email me ahead of time to let me know.

*Once an assignment is graded, that grade is final. No revisions are allowed.

*Read the attached “Grammarly Announcement” before using sites like Grammarly to avoid being flagged for using AI.

Be sure to read the following instructions carefully. They are very detailed.
*Submit all three items in ONE Word document.

1. The portfolio that contains the two assignments you submitted earlier for grading:
*Tips for Communicating in My Field
*The Annotated Bibliography
2. The final paper (problem analysis) that you will include as part of the portfolio.

Let’s look at the BIG picture first, the final portfolio.
What is a portfolio?
A portfolio is a collection of items organized in a notebook, file, or a similar format. By collecting this information throughout a course, you can clearly see the connections among assignments as well as the progress you have made. In ENGL110, your portfolio will reflect the work you have done in a specific discipline or topic, ending with the analysis of a problem you have explored. Here are the required elements of the portfolio. The required sections are included in the template.
Title Page – Include the appropriate APA or MLA heading and Title of your final assignment
Table of Contents
Item 1 of the Portfolio – Tips for Communicating in Your Field

This is the reflections portion (part 3) of the initial post you made in the week 2 discussion. You are to submit a final version of the post, including any changes recommended to you in the instructor’s feedback or observations you’ve made since you made the post.

Item 2 of the Portfolio – Annotated Bibliography for your Final Paper

This is the assignment you submitted in week 4. You are to submit a final version of the annotated bibliography, including any changes recommended to you in the instructor’s feedback.

Item 3 of the Portfolio – Final Paper – Analysis of a Problem and Solution

This is the final problem/solution analysis paper that is the culmination of all the work you have done in the course. Please see the complete descriiption of the paper below.

Assignment Instructions
This problem/solution analysis project requires you to tackle a problem within your field of study by first exploring it, its causes, and its impacts. Then, recommend one or more practical solutions to solve the problem.
After deciding on the problem you wish to tackle, begin building questions about it. Your goal for the analysis is to answer the questions through your sources. Finding multiple angles and perspectives is ideal so that you explore those possibilities in the final paper before settling on your recommendation. Be sure to identify what is at stake.

Here are questions to help guide your analysis:
1. What is the problem being addressed (explain, describe, and “prove” that it exists)?
2. Who is affected by this problem?
3. Why does this problem exist? (Identify the root causes.)
4. Why does the problem persist? (Identify the major factors that contribute to the problem’s ongoing presence.)
5. What is at stake if the problem is not solved?

Then, include a solution, use these questions to guide you:
1. Who can take action?
2. What should they do, exactly?
3. Why would this help?
4. What are the positive and negative aspects of your solution(s)?

Paper Instructions:
Double-Space your final essay and include the appropriate heading using APA or MLA formatting.

• PURPOSE: To analyze a problem and to provide a solution.
*Be sure to state both the problem AND your proposed solution in a single sentence as your thesis statement, positioned at the end of your intro paragraph.

• AUDIENCE: Classmates, others interested in the field
• FORMAT: Submit an essay of at least 6 paragraphs:
-Intro/Thesis: stating the problem and proposed solution.
-2 paragraphs minimum – discussing the problem
-2 paragraphs minimum – discussing the proposed solution
– Conclusion – wrapping up your discussion.
-Works Cited/Reference Page – An alphabetized list of all cited sources.
*A WEB ADDRESS (URL) MUST BE INCLUDED WITH REFERENCES FOR ALL ELECTRONIC SOURCES. It must be a web address, not a doi.
• LENGTH: Your essay should be between 6 and 8 paragraphs long.
Do not go under or over this length requirement.
• DO NOT use sub-titles throughout your essay. Simply write a cohesive essay following the format in the attached document “How to Write an Essay.”
• THESIS: This should be the last sentence of your intro paragraph.
State your problem and specific solution in one unified sentence, positioned at the end of your intro paragraph. Be direct and clear:

The problem is _________, and the solution to this problem is _________.

*Papers that do not meet this thesis requirement will suffer steep penalties.

Avoid open-ended statements like “there are steps that can be taken to solve this problem” and instead state the specific solution you are proposing.
• EXAMPLE of A THESIS: The Great Pacific Garbage patch poses a problem to the environmental health of the planet and a solution is for the federal government to pass legislation to stop the use of disposable plastics and to use the Garbage Patch to create new products.
• *DO NOT make an announcement of your intentions, as in “In this paper I will” or “this paper intends to show…” Instead state the main point you’re making about the problem you’re identifying and the specific solution you’re proposing, as the example above shows.
• Write in third person, objective voice (No first person “I” or second person “you”).
• LENGTH: 750 – 900 words for your final essay (Times New Roman font).
Between 6 and 8 paragraphs total. Do not go under or over this length requirement.

• SOURCES: Cite information in the form of direct quotes from 4 (four) different sources, at least two of which must be from the APUS Library.
*YOU MUST INCLUDE THE NAME OF THE DATABASE WITH THE REFERENCES FOR THE LIBRARY SOURCES.
*Two sources for your problem
*Two sources for your solution
(You must cite information from a minimum of 4 sources and no more than 6 sources total in your paper).
• CITATIONS: Write your paper using your own words. Cite all borrowed words and ideas.
*Place all borrowed words in “quotation marks.”
• USE of AI: AI Checker software will detect use of AI-generated writing, and papers containing AI generated writing will be returned for revisions, with a penalty.
*See the AI Policy in the Announcements
*Read the attached “Grammarly Announcement” for a warning about using grammar checker software.
• NOTE: Papers submitted with fewer than the required number of sources will suffer steep penalties
*Papers submitted with no sources cited throughout will not earn a passing grade.

*Including references at the end of your paper without citing them in your paper is not the same as citing and will not earn a passing grade.
• FORMAT: Use ONLY APA or MLA formatting.
*Both styles name sources in citations and do not use a numbering system. *There will be penalties for ignoring this requirement.
• FILE: Save your document under your last name (Jones_Final Paper) and submit as an MS Word document.

Submit your assignment as a Word document attached to the assignment link so it can be automatically processed through Turnitin. Use either the MLA or APA template provided.

Turnitin.com
Because parts of the portfolio (items 1 and 2) have already been processed in Turnitin, they are now part of Turnitin’s database. That means that, when a portfolio is submitted, Turnitin will identify the phrasing it has previously “seen” (such as items 1 and 2 of the portfolio).
Turnitin scores are likely to be high for all portfolios. Don’t panic. Review the Turnitin report and you are likely to see that much of the matching phrasing is from work you previously submitted. Your instructor understands this and will focus on the Turnitin matches in the final paper.

 

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