Taylor Haran

Portfolio Cover Letter

Over the course of this semester enrolled in English 5, my process and progress as a
writer, reader and researcher have evolved as a result of the activities and assignments I
completed. I have met all six course goals listed in the syllabus, and developed new and
improved reading, writing and research processes.
The first goal in the syllabus aims to help students understand the ways that readers read
and writers write in and beyond the university. In other words, this goal was put in place to
teach me how different and diverse reading and writing is between people. To meet this goal, we
participated in many peer workshops. These workshops exposed me to many different kinds of
writing within my peers. Another activity we did was class discussions, which revealed many
different takes and opinions on readings we were assigned. This achievement of the goal opened
me up to the idea that there are different ways to engage in these processes, not just one correct
way.
The second goal achieved this for me as well, stating to help students understand
processes of reading, writing and research. This goal was also aimed to familiarize ourselves
with different ways to read, write and research. The peer review workshop for our writers
narratives exposed me to different ways people wrote about their negative past essays; what part
of their writing process was flawed and how they could have prevented the bad grade they
received. Our class discussions about DJs were also factors that helped me achieve the second
goal, because they created dialogue and opened the class to share diverse opinions about their
take on the readings. My reading process has evolved throughout the semester. I will now read
the piece carefully and take notes while I read it the first time. I then use those notes to respond
to questions or complete the assigned task.

My writing process has significantly changed since the beginning of the semester. I was
still writing papers in the five paragraph essay format I was taught in middle school. Now, I start
by dissecting the prompt and deciding how I want to answer the question. Then, I research my
topic and find reliable sources to create an outline for the paper. Then I start drafting my body
paragraphs. After I write the body paragraphs, then I create a thesis and an introduction, then a
conclusion. After I have completed a draft, I work on revising it and getting peer feedback. Next
I write a works cited page, and finalize my draft. Lastly, I submit my essay and hope for the
grade I want.
The third goal aims to help students develop a metacognitive understanding of processes
of reading, writing and thinking, meaning being aware of how I personally write, read and
research. Writing cover letters has really made me aware of the process I go through when
crafting an essay. Also, writing the writers narrative essay forced me to identify my writing
process in a failed paper, and how I could have improved. Lasty, the DJs helped me achieve this
goal, because I worked what some of the authors advised us to do into my own writing process.
Since the start of the semester, I have developed a clear understanding of what works for me
when crafting an essay. My research process has not drastically evolved since the start of the
semester, but I have just become aware of exactly what works for me. When researching I first
finalize my topic. Then, a skill I picked up was to use the library portal to find scholarly sources.
If I need any other type of source I will use Google to search for them. After I have collected all
of my sources, I create a works cited page.
To help students understand textual conventions (that is, genre conventions and citation
style conventions ) is the fourth goal. This goal aims for students to be able to know the
diverse characteristics of each genre and be able to identify them. Completing the three major

essays achieved this goal for me, because they were each unique genres I had never encountered,
so they broadened the handful of genres I already knew. Editing and revising these essays after
the due date helped me truly connect and understand these genres as well.
The fifth goal states, help students understand and engage in reading and writing as
communal processes (other than peer workshops ). In other words, this goal aims to create an
understanding that reading and writing are more rewarding in groups. I am an independent
person, but for this class we were frequently forced to work in groups and get connected with
people outside of class, which eventually was rewarding and lead to success in the class for me.
The assignment that really forced me out of my comfort zone to meet this goal was our DJ
presentation, because my group and I really had to work together to craft a presentation. My
group and I ended up becoming friends, which allowed us to work together on future
assignments, also contributing to my success.
The sixth goals aims "to help students think critically about discourse communities as
contact zones where different cultures both connect and come into conflict". This means that we
were meant to be exposed to diversity in this course, and view it as a good thing. Attending this
class full of all different kinds of people fulfills this goal, because it forced me to work with
people I would not normally work with. Hearing diverse point of views during class discussions
also contributed to the fulfillment of the sixth goal. Reading the piece that talked about discourse
communities that we had to write a DJ on opened my eyes to their existence; putting a name to
them helped me pay attention to them and be able to identify them.
The first essay I included in the portfolio is my writers narrative that explores what I
learned from a bad essay I wrote last year. I began my revisions by considering the feedback on
my rubric; the first thing being to expand my introduction and conclusion. To do that, I created a

more specific thesis that I stated in my introduction and summarized in my conclusion. I also
initially forgot to create a works cited page, so I added that to my portfolio.
The second essay I chose to include is my rhetorical analysis. I started by completely
scraping my introduction and started my paper with a detailed summary of the 2009 Video Music
Awards to give a more clear understanding of the incident. To better support my claim that
Kanye West used logos in his interruption, I also added a quote and some details to be more
clear. I was also unhappy with my conclusion, so I completely rewrote it.
Lastly, I included my annotated bibliography in my portfolio. The biggest changes I made
in this paper were in my citations, which needed more information and to be cited correctly. I
also restructured each of my annotations to be three paragraphs, following the example format,
adding more information to each paragraph.
Some writing strengths I have are being able to summarize texts in my own words and
creating a strong thesis. Summarizing was not a skill I needed too much in this course, because
the prompts assigned asked for more analysis than summary. This class helped me learn that
writing clear and specific theses are the best for assignments. I have also found it easier to create
a thesis after writing body paragraphs. Some weaknesses I have are fully citing sources; I
struggle usually with finding all of the necessary pieces of information to cite a source and leave
my citations missing information. This is the first class that I have faced negative consequences
from leaving information out in citations, so this is the first time I have had to be accountable for
having complete citations. I know now if I take time to look for the information, it will be there.
Developing this skill is crucial in my continuation as a college student.
I am a journalism major, so writing is a large majority of what I will be doing after I
graduate. Although I would be open to working for a newspaper, it is not my ideal job. My dream

is to work for a big magazine company, such as Vogue or Marie Claire, as a writer. Specifically, I
would love to have a focus on celebrities, because that is where my passion is. I imagine
interning for a company initially, and working my way up in the company. Nevertheless, writing
will be a crucial part of my potential career.
This course has taught me many new things and strengthened many skills I already had.
Some new skills and mindsets I have acquired are realizing there are many different ways to
read, write and research, such as in groups. I have also learned the norms of many genres, and
the benefit of discourse communities. These skills were met by activities, assignments and
interactions in this course, ultimately making me a stronger writer, preparing me for my career to
come.