Judging is something that we all do everyday whether we know it or not. Every time we eat, we judge the food. Every time we listen to the radio, we judge whether or not we liked that song. It is a constant in our lives. School is no exception. Our professors, T.A's, even fellow students all become our judges. I think the more passion and desire you have for something, the harder it is to take someone's critiques. It's difficult to hear someone point out your flaws, however it's one of the best things you can do because really, the only way to grow is from your mistakes.

When judging our portfolio's I would use a few simple criteria: Hook, how is the writer catching my attention and more importantly how are they keeping it? Grammar, are there little to no spelling and punctuation mistakes? Flow, does the paper sound like a bunch of random sentences copy and pasted together, or is there structure and everything flows smoothly? Word choice, is the writer using the same words over and over again, or mixing in new synonyms? Lastly, and most importantly, did the writer do what was asked of them? No matter how many of these criteria the writer hits in their paper if it has nothing to do with what was asked it's going to fail. The portfolio must follow the guidelines given to it.