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Cover Letter

Introduction

I learned a lot by taking UWP 1 Y this quarter. I completed three projects: Living Picture

Narrative, Wikipedia Entry, and Podcast Project. In this cover letter, I will introduce how I

advanced my writing skills by analyzing the writing process and the revision process. Moreover,

I will introduce how I strengthened two skill sets found within the list of course goals, and how I

will continue to improve as a writer using these skills. Through this letter, I will also talk about

how I felt about writing before and after taking this course.

Writing process

The Living Picture Narrative

Before I wrote the living picture narrative, I was not really familiar with the definition of

narrative. Fortunately, we discussed literacy narrative in class. Our teacher also gave us many

good instructions of writing the Living Picture Narrative. For example, a literacy narrative

should include a conflict and a new insight. We also need to add pictures in the literacy narrative.
After I read The power of Captions: Words Added to Picture in class, I recognized the

significance of captions which were added in the picture. Readers will be easily attracted by

interesting pictures and proses before they read the whole essay. Through this project, I learned

more about the approaches of finishing a good literacy narrative.

The Wikipedia Entry

After I finished my Living Picture Narrative, I started to focus on the Wikipedia Entry. This was

my first time learning the approaches of writing an article for Wikipedia although I always use it.

There are a lot of requested limitations of writing Wikipedia articles. For example, the writing

should not include my personal information and experiences. Moreover, I should use reliable

published sources for my Wikipedia Entry. After I read the article, Randall McClures

Googlepedia: Turing Information Behaviors into Research Skills, I learned the methods of

finding reliable research foundations. I spent a lot of time analyzing and reading plenty of

sources. Through this process, it is undeniable that I strengthened my research skills.

The podcast Project

The podcast project was the last project for UWP 1Y. Michelle showed us the sample of the

podcast project. Unlike an argument article, the podcast project should be written descriptively. I

was wondering what I was interested in when I tried to find a place for observing. Suddenly, I

found a fantastic place to observe-- Silo station. I researched some basic information about

Unitrans. Also, I prepared some questions and citations before I went to the bus station. Those

processes helped me to organize the writing content. I also paid more attention to the observation

due to the questions and citations that I had written down before.
Revision Process

The Living Picture Narrative

After I finished my Living Picture Narrative, I got reviews from my peers. I know how valuable

peer review time truly is. My peers told me what parts of my paper needed more support and

detail. Great resources from Straub and Stewart taught us what we should do during the peer

review and how to do peer review. Referencing my peers articles can also help me to gain a new

perspective. By doing this revision process, I was able to improve my writing skills and to be a

better reviewer.

The Wikipedia Entry

Revising the Wikipedia Entry was extremely hard for me. After I received comments given by

Michelle, I realized that many contents in my article need to be modified. I wrote about business

competition for my Wikipedia Entry. However, I did not explain the definition of business

competition clearly at the beginning of the introduction. Moreover, I did not cite at each

paragraphs end. The most serious problem was that I made arguments in my Wikipedia article.
Therefore, I worked on clarity, citations, and adhering to the rules of Wikipedia discourse

community. Although the process of revision is hard, I was better informed about the ways of

writing Wikipedia Entries.

The podcast Project

After turning in my second draft of the Podcast Project, I felt confused. I was uncertain whether

the thesis of my podcast project was right or wrong. Therefore, I asked help from Michelle. She

told me the thesis that I wrote was great, and she guided me to revise my first paragraph. After

her office hours, I reviewed her comments again and revised my podcast project by myself. I

added two citations and some details in my podcast project. As you can see, consulting is

particularly important when we met difficulty.

Skills I strengthened by taking UWP 1 Y

Two skills I strengthened the most through UWP 1 Y are research skills and process skills. I

needed to find sources for three writing projects. For example, I spent almost six hours collecting
and analyzing sources for my Wikipedia article. I judged sources credibility base on the

knowledge the I learned from this class. Additionally, through the process of doing my podcast

project, I recorded various information when I observed people at the Silo station. After I got that

information, I sorted out and analyzed it. On the other hand, completing my three projects is a

step-by-step process. I improved my process skill through revising, editing and adjusting

writings.

Improvement in future

The new skills that Ive learned from this class will help me in future classes and job field. As a

Man Economics major at UC Davis, I believe that I will be writing a lot of papers for my majors

classes. I am able to use processes skill to improve my papers when I get feedback from my

instructors. Otherwise, Research skill not only can be used for writing, but also for different

projects, such as statistical analysis and economic research. It is undisputed that I will use

research skill to collect and evaluate data during the study period.

Before and After

UWP 1Y has offered me a lot of insights during this quarter. First of all, I learned different kinds

of writing types. I was familiar with argument articles because I always wrote this type of articles

before UWP 1 Y. I felt stressful before I started my first writing assignment in this class. Our

teacher required us to write living picture narrative. I spent a long time to read the instruction of

narrative. I still felt that I could not start my writing after Ive understood the instruction of

narrative. Fortunately, I adapted to learn new types of writing gradually. I felt so glad that I

enjoyed the process of completing those projects. By writing the Wikipedia entry, I understood
approaches of citation. Moreover, I learned that authors cannot write their own experiences in

Wikipedia articles. By doing podcast project, I realized that we should open our eyes and look

around us when we feel stressful.

Secondly, I became a better writer through the reviewing process. I learned ways that my peers

express themselves when I did peer reviews. Additionally, Michelle reviewed our writing drafts

carefully and patiently. She put many detail comments in my article every single time.

Conferences were also opportunities for me to improve my writing skills. Taking UWP 1 is the

greatest and most precious experience for me.

Sincerely

Junyan Cao

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