Imitation Activities

Imitation Activity #5

Yesterday, we created a mind map in class to determine what it is we offer our chosen field. Who are we as writers, psychologists, accountants, finance officers, consultants, etc? What makes you good at what you do?

Now, we're going to combine that map with a few imitation exercises. Start by looking up the portfolios of people in your field. For example, here is mine: https://erincheslow.com/teaching-portfolio/. Unless you plan to become a university instructor or professor though, that one probably won't work for you. The good news is, many people you admire, and most of your professors, will have online portfolios. Find a few of them, and post the links to two of them below. 

Now, explore and map out what you find in one of those portfolios. Start with the first page: It will usually be some sort of overview or reflection on who the person is. Write the person's name in the middle of a sheet of paper and then make a branch with the first thing you notice about this first page. Then the next thing you notice.

When you get to a link, click on it and make a new branch. Where does this link take you? What do you notice about what the person includes on this new page? Why was this the first link? What do you notice about the page? What do you learn about that person?

Continue mapping until you have moved through most of the portfolio. Save or take a picture of your map and insert is an image below.

Use that last step to figure out for you activity on Thursday. We'll also come back to it next Tuesday. In the meantime, lets do some imitation. You can use our example from yesterday (right) as a model for your own analysis.

Look back at the first page of one of your example portfolios. What reflection do you notice? Identify at least one sentence or paragraph that you think is reflective, copy and paste it below, then tell me why you think it is reflective.

Now, compare that sentence to Le Guin's first sentence. What do they do that is the same? What is different? Which do you think does the best work of documenting the person's experiences in order to share them with you, the reader? Identify which one you chose, then write an imitative sentence reflecting on your own experiences in your field. Consider this the first sentence of either the reflective portion of your portfolio or of your Revised Strengths and Goals Memo.