Cover Letter Draft

Dear Portfolio Reader,

It has been a pleasure to take WRT 102 with Professor Lucenko, who helped me to get familiar with a second language and learn to be a writer. I did not take WRT 101, so this is technically the first writing class I have ever had in the U.S. Due to the difference between Chinese and English, learning to write effectively in English is not a easy thing for me. I am glad that I chose this class and such a nice Professor.

In the first essay, rhetorical analysis, I learned how to analyse a writer’s motives and it expanded my knowledge of the Aristotelian appeals. I have never written such detailed analysis before, and it helped me to build a language sense of English. I also learned to use examples and explanations properly in my own essay. In the second essay, comparative analysis, I got to know how to really look into two different essays and find out their differences and  things in common. I have developed the ability to target on certain audience and write purposive. In the third essay, researched argument, which is my favorite, I mastered the ability of performing research based on credible sources, integrate information and interpret them in my own perspectives. It is definitely a life-long benefit for me, which may help me over years after.

Draft Cover Letter

Dear Portfolio Reader,

At the beginning of the course this semester, I do not really like writing myself. One of my biggest weakness is that I cannot write the essay with several pages long. I will always find myself have nothing to write. Surprisingly, I found that I am no longer afraid of the length, I can also write ten pages essay without facing as much difficulties as I did before. I believe this is one of my biggest improvement by taking WRT102 this semester.

To be honest, I have never write rhetorical analysis before, I have never even read essay like that. So I feel totally lost in the progress of writing the first essay. After I read several examples of rhetorical analysis, things are becoming much easier. I also learned how the use of logos, ethos and pathos make essay persuasive, which also helps me in the writing of research argument. So far, my research argument is the longest essay I have ever written.

Everything I have learned in this course will help me a lot no matter in the further study of college or in the job finding. For example, it will help in writing of the upper division essay or personal statement, the skill I learned helps making my essay persuasive. No matter where my future will be, writing is always a good skill to have.

Cover Letter Progress

Dear Portfolio Reader,

Taking Writing 102 with Professor Lucenko this semester has allowed me to grow as a writer. Throughout this course, I learned how to analyze a text, interpret an author’s motives, perform research using credible sources, using evidence to support my claims, citing sources in papers, and write on a higher level. These skills have changed the way I look at a text and produce claims/arguments in a more effective and efficient way.

In the past, I would be able to identify the techniques that are used in a text, but I would have a hard time figuring out why that technique was used and how it was used to develop the argument. So, I mainly summarized and provided my own opinion of the text rather than use evidence from the text to come up with a strong interpretation. I was able to learn how to analyze a writer’s text through his/her use of specific techniques and tools in this course. For example, in my analysis of “106 Science Claims and a Truckful of Baloney” by William Weed

Cover Letter for ePortfolio

Dear portfolio reader

I am taking Professor Lucenko’s WRT 102 this semester, and I learned a lot from her lessons and reading material she provided for us students. I am a international student and just transferred from China last semester in which I took WRT 101 class. I got an A in that class, so I thought this semester I could do as well as I did in last semester.  Things did not go the same direction as I assumed. I faced a lot of difficulties such as many grammar errors, logic fallacies and work cited problems, all of which lowered my grade. However, I did not give in to these difficulties. Under the instruction of the professor, I gradually made progress.

When I was in China’s university, I have never been asked for writing a rhetorical analysis. It was a completely new kind of essay for me when I got to know it at WRT 101 class. Since the requirements of WRT 101 were lower in like the numbers of pages and tolerance for undeveloped argument, it is not so hard to finish a good rhetorical essay. However, the requirements in WRT102 reaches higher level, I cannot handle it easily. Besides trying to absorb everything the professor taught in class, I surf on Internet to find necessary examples of rhetorical techniques such as consideration for intended audience, language of article, attempt to fill interest gap, knowledge gap and etc. to help me understand them. After understanding these techniques, I did really detailed analysis for every reading material based on some simple rhetorical techniques that I learned from WRT 101 and these sophisticated techniques taught in WRT 102. Not until I had a full understanding about how these rhetorical techniques work in reading material, did I started to work on my essay. I am happy that through WRT 102 class, I learned a new thing.

Understanding what I am going to write is the first step. The second step is to integrate all my analysis together and form a complete essay. I will take my comparative paper as the example. Teacher provides us two ways of organizing the essay which are block style and point to point style. I chose the later one, because I thought it was better to make my argument clear. I organized every body paragraph in a same way. Firstly, I declared what the similarities or differences of the two articles. For example, I argued, “Both articles adopt comparison and contrast to arouse readers’ interests.” I explained how comparison and contrast help to stir readers’ interests and took out evidences from both articles to present readers my thinking process.

Trough all the semester, I can recognize my improvements: less grammar mistakes, less logical fallacies, and more solid argument. I will not just stop here. I am going to strive for better writing skills. Although my major is economics which does not require excellent skills, I love writing something to express myself even without a reader.

Sincerely

Nanjun Wang

cover letter draft

Dear Portfolio reader,
For the first essay, Rhetorical Analysis, I learned to analyze essays by rhetorical techniques at a college level, and support my claim with evidence from the essay. For example, in the second paragraph, I analyze the use of logos in the article. I suggest that the writer use statistics to appeal to people’s logic and convince the readers that America is behind in science education. I used in-text citation to provide evidences from the article. Then, I analyze how these evidence can persuade the readers. I also analyze pathos and writing self. I provide the evidence from the essay and further analyze its purpose.

cover draft

Dear portfolio reader,

i have learned many things in my writing and its not a lie. in my high school i did not do much writing which is why i think i have great difficulty to write long papers. i always have to struggle to get to five complete pages in all of my assignments in writing. but now especially after writing 102 i feel more confident with my writing and expressing my self on paper. i have also learned the basics of how a paragraph should be structured which makes things much more easier for the ideas to flow and have enough material to write about. i could defiantly use theses skill throughout my life such as arguing a point with a colleague at work. since i am aiming to go into the health care working area i have to do research in order to be more skilled and qualified for the job. research would require me to write about many things throughout the time we send on the research. besides being useful outside of school i could also use the knowledge i acquired on to other courses such as philosophy. i have taken philosophy before and required me to write a persuasive essay, the things i know now would have been very helpful and my grade would have been a big difference. looking back to how i used to write i think to myself what was i doing? I had never done a rhetorical analysis before coming to Stony Brook. I only did a few Rhetorical analysis in my previous writing courses maybe like one or two in order to prepare me for higher level writing.
for me rhetorical analysis is by far much more then just summary and opinion, its the writer understanding the meaning of the essay and proving evidence for his reason of his/her interpretation of the essay. An important part of the rhetorical analysis is the logical and organized way the essay is written to persuade the readers to view things as the reader does. I was horrible at that, again with the inexperience I had it was very noticeable in my first attempts of my essays. But with this course in my essay about “Why We Need to Understand Science” by Carl Sagan which I am very proud off or being my highest grade for an essay and also for the way it is structured along with its context.

Cover Letter So Far….

Dear Portfolio Reader,

I am a student in Professor Lucenko’s class. I am a freshman at Stony Brook University majoring in Athletic Training. My major focuses on many aspects of science, such as chemistry, biology, and anatomy. It involves diagnosing a patient and being able to record your findings in a clear, coherent manner. Also, my major requires a research paper focusing on something in the science field at the end of my senior year. Taking Writing 102 has made me able to communicate and organize thoughts coherently and concisely, as well as support the claims I make with evidence from a specific text. I am now able to transition from one idea to the next without losing the flow of my essay, something I had trouble with prior to the class.  I have also learned how to use correct citations and correct quotations from the text. By taking a college-level writing class, I was able to enhance my skills as a writer, and by doing so I fulfilled the requirements of the portfolio.

My essays displayed my ability to coherently analyze the text of another author and utilize evidence from the text to support my analysis. In my textual analysis of Carl Sagan’s “Why We Need to Understand Science,” I was able to analyze his work, pick out the rhetorical devices he used, and explain the meanings behind his messages. For example, in my second paragraph, I explained how Sagan’s use of diction was critical to establishing his ethos. The connecting factor that an author has to his or her audience is essential to his or her credibility. Sagan put himself on the same level as his audience to convey a stronger, more believable message. I utilized Carl Sagan’s article as a way to support the claims I made. My textual analysis taught me how to closely analyze a piece, using evidence from the work to support your own claims.

My essays also showed my ability to coherently organize my thoughts, especially when dealing when more than one work. In my comparative analysis, I juxtapose Michelle Nijhuis’ “Conservation Triage” and T. DeLene Beeland’s “Saving Ethiopia’s ‘Church Forests.’” The compared the two essays in a point by point format that illustrated the similarities, while showing why each respective essay utilized the methods they did. For example, in paragraphs seven and eight of my essay, I explain how both essays make biblical references, but do so for different reasons and have much different effects on their piece as a whole. My comparative analysis taught me how to bring two pieces together and find support for both of them, while still relating back to my thesis.

My final essay was one of the most interesting for me write. For my researched argument, I was able to choose a topic I had a strong interest in and find more information on it. This made the research process much less tedious. This essay displayed my ability to construct an argument with a specific point of view and support that argument with evidence from credible sources. In my researched argument about the effect of technology on body image, I utilized evidence from scholarly journals, like publications by national organizations focused on body image and eating disorders. I utilized evidence from these authoritative and credible sources to support all the claims I made. I also was able to see both sides of the spectrum and provide counterarguments that were backed by evidence. My researched argument taught me how to perform research and find credible sources to utilize. I also learned how to support claims I make while staying true to my viewpoint.

Draft E-Portfolio Cover Letter

Throughout the past semester, the tactics that have seemed most apparently used within each writing assignment have truly taught me what I as a writer can use to persuade an audience. Despite the difficulty that has been endured during each process, suggestions made by both my professor and my peers have also taught me to appreciate constructive criticism as it allows my point of view, no matter how in-denial it may be, to face the truth about how vague my writing can seem while embarking on the journey of pursuing a particular purpose through my writing.  Certain issues that I have managed to correct based on said criticism have included complex sentence structures and word choices that are made with the audience of writing professors in mind. For example, within the comparative analysis essay,  the introduction had managed to provide a scenario that relatively interacted with the readers, while implementing the ways in which both writers, who had provided evidence for the essay, had been relevant as a result of their own point of views on the respective topic that has to do with the preservation of ecosystems. The decision to pursue the assignment in such a manner had been made while being weary of the possibility that the reader would want to feel apart of the conversation- considering the article was meant to overall convince them of the point that their role in the conservation effort is as important as any philanthropist.

Cover Letter Draft

Dear Portfolio Reader,

When first entering the Writing 102 program here at Stony Brook University, I thought that it was a complete and utter waste of my time, resources as well as finances during my college career. Having aced both AP Language and AP Literature courses and exams in high school, I believed my writing style was more than adequate and that this course could do nothing for me. However, as the course progressed, I was pleasantly surprised.  Through exposure to various authors such as Carl Sagan, exploration of different writing styles and rhetorical strategies, along with the constant analysis and scrutiny of my own writing; I have improved my writing in a few major ways and have grown into a more sophisticated and efficient author. I have expanded my knowledge of the Aristotelian appeals and rhetorical strategies authors may use to accurately and efficiently articulate their arguments. Furthermore, I have developed the ability to identify and address a specific audience to which I write, allowing my thoughts and ideas to fall directly on the intended ears. Finally, I have expanded my understanding and knowledge of authoritative and scholarly resources that can be used to bolster my arguments and beliefs, allowing the arguments to carry more weight, rather than being simply opinion based.

The Rhetorical Analysis of William Weed’s, “106 Science Claims and a Truckful of Baloney” was the primary reason for my change in style and furthered understanding of Aristotelian appeals as well as specific rhetorical devices. Through analyzing the techniques and appeals implemented by Weed throughout his essay, I was able to effectively

Revision progress

The third assignment so far had seemed to fulfill all the requirement but recent comments have disagreed and therefore caused much more revision on my part over the last few days.  One of the major concerns was that each paragraph failed to relate back to the main topic of the thesis statement. Therefore, that will be the focus of my corrections over the next few hours till the essay is due for final submission. Another topic that was also a concern was the lack of citation within the actual essay. Although it is apparently considered troublesome to not include the in-text citations yet, I did not think it was incredibly necessary, considering each source utilized has been bookmarked on my laptop and is ready to be cited where it seems appropriate. Such things, I could add before the final submission, just as I could write the citation page as well consecutively.  As a result of lacking citations being such an issue, though, I shall try to remember to include them in future drafts of essays, before the final submission.