Daren

= = =Portfolio:=

**Cover letter:**

 * Dear Dr. Hartman,**
 * This letter took a while to write because i was trying to pick out what i was going to say and then i realized "holy crap this is what I've learned to do" it used to be when i would sit down to write something i would just scribble down some stuff and call it a final draft. now i carefully plan my writing so that it makes sense and flows well so that its easy to read. I have noticed a big change from the papers i wrote in high school and the papers i wrote in your English 103 class. Unfortunately due to some issues i was unable to complete the last assignment which was the multi genre one. i was really upset about this because i was really excited for that one, but I am sure that just like the rest of us you know that some things happen that are just out of our control. These experiences can work out in a positive way though. They can make me a stronger writer in that they give me new real world experiences to talk about in my writing. This course has taught me more than just how to be a better writer. It has helped me become more organized in general and that will help me all through life. Thank you for everything and being so understanding about my situations and problems that have arisen for me.**


 * Thanks,**
 * Daren**

Memoir
 * This was my favorite assignment. It allowed me to reminisce on past experiences and pick one out that i really thought would be good. This is when i first saw the improvement in my writing as i worked on the different drafts. Never before would I have thought about starting a paper with an action filled dialogue.**

Public letter:
 * This assignment was very impactful for me due to the subject i chose to write about. This also made me realize my writing was improving because I took a personal thing and wrote it in a sense that the public could read it and not see it as being too personal. In high school that wouldn't have been able to happen.**

Research paper
 * The research paper assignment was the most time consuming paper i had ever done up to that point. It required alot of time spent on the internet looking up scholarly journals and articles and websites to support and dispute the argument we were writing about. then we had to cite all of our sources. took alot of time but it was worth it in the end.**

**high school paper**
 * now that you've seen some of the work i did in this class let me show you one of my papers from my junior year of high school. prepare your cross because its not gonna be pretty.haha**


 * This is my online portfolio for English 103 with Dr. Hartman at Ball State University**

= = = = = = = = =Open letter Working Draft=

Dear Dad, You inspire me. You are the reason why I am the man I have become today. You have always taught me to be strong and to keep my head up when things aren’t going my way. You’ve always been there to help me when I was down or when I needed money or just to give some advise on things that I just didn’t understand. All those years you have helped mold me into the person I am today and now I think it’s time that I helped you. Two years ago the unthinkable happened. Grandpa passed away. When this happened I saw you in a way I have never seen you. You looked so broken and beaten down. I wish I could have said something then that would have helped you cope with it. If I knew that you were going to deal with it the way you ended up dealing with it then I would have done anything to help then. When you started drinking you turned into a totally different person. I don’t even know who you are anymore. You and mom are always fighting now and you guys never fight. You and Jacob have grown apart and you guys have always been close. Worst of all you’ve become unsupportive of my dreams and ambitions in college and that hurts more than anything else. I have always looked up to you for advice, inspiration, and comfort when things aren’t going right in my life and lately you have not shown any interest. When I call home you never want to talk and when I am at home I never see you because you are always over at your friends house drinking. I miss the days when I was younger you used to take me on long rides in the truck just to get away. I miss hunting and drinking coffee in the truck in the morning when we were trying to wake up to head out into the woods. I miss riding on your lap while you drove the lawn mower around cutting grass. I miss those days a lot now that you’ve started hitting the bottle.

= = = = = = =Statement of purpose 9/27/10= 1) I am a firm believer in the second amendment and the rights of gun owners in America. unfortunately there are many people in this country that do not support the rights of citizens to own and carry firearms because they are too "dangerous" these people make me mad and i want to express my beliefs in this letter.

2) In this letter i want to express my beliefs about guns and the rights of gun owners in America and try to hopefully help guide people who may not completely understand guns to understand them. i have been around guns since i was a young child and have been shooting them since i was 7 so i know quite a bit about them and i just want to share knowledge i have gained with other people.

3) I am writing this letter to the anti gun people in the country who believe that the gun is the bad guy. I want the readers to respond with a feeling of "oh wow i didn't know that" or "oh i see that makes a lot of sense" i just want them to feel like they have gained some knowledge on a subject they may have not had much with before.

MSH: Sounds good. Who will you be addressing in your letter? How will you make this timely? = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =Reflections on my writing= 1) The thing that called me to write about this topic is that it was the first time I had felt like I did something really special in my life and it was the first time where I had felt very successful. This event in a way paved my way to becoming the person I am today and that is why I chose to write about this particular event. 2) When I started drafting this story I began by just coming up with random ideas of events in my life that meant something to me and wrote them all down. Then I picked the one that I liked best and thought I could put more heart into writing about. After that I made like a web chart and had my main idea in the middle and had other mini events that happened during the major subject branched off from it. I then made an outline of my memoir and put the ideas in order in a bulleted list type of thing. I then made a working draft or rough draft of my paper and wrote the story. 3) After I did that I realized that I needed to revise my paper a little bit. One thing I needed to do was to make the story longer and write in more detail about what this one event meant and what it was an episode of. So I did that and then I came up with my final copy. 4) If I were to do this over again I would do the same thing as I did here. This is how ive been doing my writing for years and changing it would make it harder to do.

Im Daren Pryor. I am a sophomore here at bsu. I am a criminal justice major with a minor in psychology and possibly computer science. I am in Theta Chi Fraternity. if anyone in here that sees this is interested in greek life on campus just comment on here or face book me. I am originally from Indianapolis but moved to Shelbyville, Indiana when i was in 3rd grade and that's where i stayed until i came here. I love sports, watching and playing, and in the fall im usually glued to my TV during the day on Saturday and Sunday.lol
 * __About me:__**

Darren is the type of writer I think most people students are. He only writes in length when forced. He enjoys to participate in the usual Facebook activities, such as comments, posts, blogs, and chat. He of course writes when signing his signature. Scholarly, Darren dislikes writing about subjects he is not passionate about, but when he starts to get into the things he is passionate about, he starts to enjoy writing.---Jake

Daren L. Pryor- memoir zero draft I am a sophomore here at Ball State where i have been studying criminal justice and criminology. i hope to one day be in a federal agency such as the DEA or the FBI. I am in theta chi fraternity going on my second year and i love it. I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on November 23, 1990 and went to Lowell Elementry school up until 2nd grade then i moved to Shelbyville, Indiana where i finished up my grade school and highschool years at Triton Central High School.

random facts about me
 * i played football for 8 years during grade/ high school
 * I wrestled for 3 years too
 * I won my highschool class ring in a raffle for free. saved me 400 bucks
 * no vehicle i have ever owned has had air conditioning.. very sad :(

__//**Working draft: The first play.**//__

“ Pryor, you’re in!” coach said as I watched our senior star fullback being carried off of the field on a stretcher after his leg got broken during the previous play. “You’re in at fullback son you better knowing your playbook!”Coach said as I started to make my way to him. “Yes coach, I do coach” I said as I made my way on to the field. ** It was the 5th football game of the varsity regular season and I had never even played a down before and here I was about to try to replace a school legend on the field. I was so nervous. It was just at the end of the third quarter when I went in and it wasn’t much longer afterword that my first opportunity to run the ball and show everyone that I was a worthy replacement for our star. The play was called the 54 trap, it just meant that I run up the middle and bulldoze my way through as many people as I can. It seemed easy enough and before I knew it the quarterback broke the huddle and we got into our positions. We were playing our rival school for the lead in our conference because we were both undefeated, but only one team would walk out of here keeping that spotless record and I wasn’t going to let the injury be the reason why it wouldn’t be us. They had a very stout defense with a very big front line that basically snarled at the thought of a freshman starting during a very important varsity game for the first time. I wanted nothing more than to knock those smirks right of their faces. Ok now it’s time. ** The quarterback takes his place under center and gets ready to snap the ball. I get into a three point stance about 5 yards behind him. ** This was nerve racking I was just about to take my first carry of my high school career. **
 * Suddenly I hear the words coming from the quarter back “DOWN!, READY!,…GO!” the ball was snapped and I took off like a rocket and grabbed the ball. I had mixed feelings of excitement, worry, and uncertainty as I took the ball out of the quarterback’s hands and tucked it between my two arms like I was holding a baby. I went through the first hole which was about as wide as a football and boom first contact with the other team. I somehow found a way to shed that tackle and kept going. I ran as fast as I could wondering when I was going to be chased down and taken to the ground, I didn’t let that stop me though I just kept going and as soon as the play had started and I played my first down as a high school player I had scored the first touchdown of my career. A 20 yard run for the score. I was so excited and that’s when I and the rest of the team knew that our team would be just fine. **

Good work so far. I like the way you start right out with action, without a lot of introduction. Good use of dialogue and action. You obviously need to write about more than one play. What story is this episode a part of? --msh