Writing 2 Portfolio Cover Letter

Dear Molly,

Throughout the process of writing and revising the Writing Projects I have strengthened

my knowledge of genre identification and conventions. Previously, I knew how to identify genre

conventions but had a harder time identifying purpose and intended audience. I enjoyed that this

class was structured around genres and didnt try and cram multiple larger areas of focus into one

quarter. The course was very interactive and in class discussions and assignments were the most

helpful way to put the concepts we were learning from the course reader and PowerPoints to use.

Some of the readings that stuck out to me were Mike Bunns How to Read Like a Writer and

Kerry Dirks Navigating Genres. What stuck with me from Bunns article were the generic

questions about what the purpose is and who the audience is.

Although we had the freedom to choose the genre and topic of our sources, I want to

know more about identifying purpose and audience of more abstract genres. The last writing

project forced us to think outside of the box, but I still dont feel as confident identifying the

intended audience and purpose of genres that go beyond a piece of writing. I dont do a lot of

reading nowadays but Im very interested in music, photography and art. I would have liked to

explore those genres a little more even if it were just during class and didnt have an associated

project.

I chose to revise Writing Projects 1 and 3 because those are the two that I got the lowest

grades on. On Writing Project 1 I revised only a few things. I corrected my works cited page,

added page numbers, explanations of my sources and references from class materials. On

Writing Project 3 I revised several things. I added page numbers, a title, a conclusion and
concrete evidence from my original and translated texts. In my submission draft I had not quoted

anything directly from either of my texts. When revising both WP1 and WP3, I also eliminated

meaningless words and auxiliary verbs (as highlighted in my submission draft for WP1).

When revising my Writing Projects, your feedback was most helpful. I dont think peer

editing is very helpful because the reader tends to individually analyze each paragraph rather

than the paper as a whole. Having multiple people read it once and give their feedback leads to

confusion for the writer when trying to because their opinions may clash. I think peer editing

could be more effective and helpful if one student went over their paper multiple times with the

same person. This would allow them to catch the minor errors and look at the paper as a whole to

ensure it effectively answers the prompt, and conveys the writers message to their intended

audience. The PowerPoint that displayed all the methods to revise sentences was also helpful. A

useful exercise for myself was going through the PowerPoint slide by slide and using a different

color for each slide to highlight words and phrases I needed to eliminate or change for my

revised draft.

My favorite part about this portfolio was designing a visually appealing website to

display my revised works. I realize it doesnt have much to do with the actual revision of my

papers, but presentation is important. Its the first thing someone notices. Using Weebly to

design my own website has made me consider that I might want to design my own fashion

related blog or a social media page that revolves around my outfits.

I would still like to work on my use of concrete evidence from my sources. I have a

difficult time analyzing how specific evidence contributes to the overall work. In both Writing

Projects that I revised, I was lacking either evidence from my primary sources or explanations of

the evidence I was using in my paper. Most of the papers I write in college will revolve around
the analysis of a text, but this revision made me focus on the parts of my papers that required

more analysis.

The work in this portfolio reflects on my strengths and weaknesses as a writer. From the

submission draft to the revised draft, you can see the things I did well and the things areas that

could use a little work. With a little guidance, I was able to transform both my Writing Projects

into more well-rounded papers. I noticed I had small mistakes I couldve avoided if I had looked

over my papers more carefully before I submitted them. This quarter has made me a more well-

rounded writer because it has taught me more about identifying and creating genres. One of the

first steps when writing anything is identifying what genre you want your piece to be. When you

give your writing project a genre, you give it a direction that the paper should flow.

This class reminded me that I enjoy writing and that it doesnt have to feel like a task. I

wrote a lot in my high school classes but I typically didnt have the freedom to choose the topic

of my papers so there were some assignments I resented and made me think I didnt like writing.

Whenever I would hit a wall when trying to finish a writing assignment I always jumped to the

conclusion that I was a bad writer. I felt confident when I was writing the papers for this course

and when I would get them back with a grade it reinforced my confidence in my writing abilities.

I am leaving this class with a desire to write for pleasure and now Im considering looking into a

career involving writing. Thank you for inspiring me and helping remove my self-doubt. I know

I am far from even a decent writer, but I now know I have the potential. I enjoyed your teaching

methods and getting to know you!

Sincerely,

Frannie Lazaro