Traditionally the end of the semester is seen as a time of a time of partying reflection.

Final tests are meant to force the students to review all of the major concepts learned throughout
the course, and final papers require the student to put into practice all the new skills learned. This
final portfolio is another example of reflection. In my opinion, I have improved my writing skills
tremendously this semester, and it was all thanks to my English 1311 course and my teacher Ms.
Frazier. At the start of the semester I wrote a Portrait of a Writer, in which I expressed that I
thought I was a poor and unexperienced writer, and now after just a few months I feel noticeably
more confident in my writing. That is just one of the ways I have improved this semester. In this
cover letter I will analyze the goals set by Ms. Frazier at the beginning of the class, and then I
will attempt to determine whether I met said goals. Finally I will discuss what grade I think I
deserved based on the evidence I will provide.
The goals for this course are divided into four main groups: Rhetorical knowledge, in
which the student must learn how to frame their arguments within the context of a discourse
community; Critical thinking, reading, and writing, in which students objective is to analyze
objectively another authors claims, and be able to respond to those claims; Processes, in which
the students must learn how to plan for major writing projects, including doing research and
rough drafts; And Conventions, in which the student learns to follow certain rules such as correct
citation and implementation of sources in their works. These four major groups of goals all have
smaller, more detailed subgoals. As I analyze this goals I will provide evidence from the papers I
have written throughout the semester to support whether I have met said goal or not.


First I will start by analyzing the subgoals related to Rhetorical Knowledge. The next two
goals are heavily linked:
Be aware of the components of argument and create their own arguments in
conversation with other members of their discourse communities.
Synthesize and analyze multiple points of view
The strongest evidence for the fulfillment of these goals is my Entering the Discourse
assignment. In that assignment I was asked to choose a controversial topic within a discourse
community of my choice. Then I had to pick a side, and use rhetorical analysis and writing to
convince the audience that my ideas were right. In order to enter the discourse I had to analyze
both sides of the argument, and then create my own argument within the discourse community.
Thus, in this assignment I believe I fulfilled both goals. Next is a goal I believe I was not able to
achieve:
Use a variety of argumentative strategies to write for a variety of audiences.
Because I chose topics only within scientific discourse communities for all of my papers, I do
not think I was able to write for a variety of audiences. Finally, I believe I achieved the next four
goals with my Rhetorical Analysis paper:
Express a working knowledge of key rhetorical features, such as audience,
situation, and the use of appropriate argument strategies.
Adopt appropriate voice, tone, and level of formality.
Use conventions of format, structure, and language appropriate to the purpose
of the written texts.
Be able to focus on a specific rhetorical purpose.
In my Rhetorical Analysis I was tasked with analyzing a text within a discourse community of
my choice. The type of analysis necessary involved examination of the rhetorical situation, as
well as ethos, pathos, and logos. In my paper I had to demonstrate knowledge of all four
constituents of the rhetorical situation. Furthermore, although not exclusive to this paper, I had to
also use an appropriate voice, and lexis corresponding to my chosen discourse community. For
example, since I had chosen a scientific discourse community I had to use a formal tone, and a
specific lexis, such as Nanoparticles, Transition metals, Transmission Electron Microscopy
(TEM), and many others. Finally, since I demonstrated the rhetorical constituents in my
Rhetorical Analysis, I believe I have shown to be capable of focusing on a specific rhetorical
purpose.
The next set of goals I will discuss are those related to Critical thinking, Reading, and
Writing. Due to laziness length restrictions, I will not be able to go over every single subgoal, so
I have chosen those that are, in my opinion, the most important ones. The next three subgoals are
closely related:
Work with demanding, nonfiction readings and learn to interpret,
incorporate, and evaluate these readings.
Engage in a variety of research methods to study and explore the topics,
including fieldwork as well as library and Internet research.
Develop and support an argument that is convincing to a particular
audience.
The best evidence for the fulfillment of these goals is my Entering the Discourse assignment.
For this particular assignment I read over several dense and complicated scientific sources in
order to understand the context of the debate surrounding the cause of Global Warming. In order
to find those sources I had to do plenty of research, which fulfills the second subgoal. In the
same assignment, I had to write a compelling argument in order to convince a scientific audience
that my ideas were correct. The next two goals I do not think I was able to achieve:
Explore the multiple facets (ideological, social, cultural, political, economic,
historical) of issues and to use writing to construct informed, critical positions
about these topics.
Write empirical, historical, and cultural analyses of issues of social
relevance.
In my obsession for scientific articles I ignored the different facets of the articles I read. I think
its because I am constantly surrounded by science courses and research and because biology and
chemistry are my favorite subjects that I ignored all of the other aspects of the material I read.
The next set of subgoals I will analyze are those relating to Planning. All of these three
goals are inherently related to each other:
Respond to their classmates' work and learn how to supply effective peer
editing feedback. Peer response techniques include group workshops, class
discussion, and examination of content, organization, syntax, and mechanics.
Write and revise drafts and integrate feedback into their writing.
Better respond to audiences by revising work based upon feedback (peer
response, teacher conferences) from others.
I remember that at the start of the semester a lot of emphasis was placed on teaching students
how to peer review papers correctly. For example, we learned not to correct grammar, and
instead focus on content, and we learned to never state corrections, but instead ask the author
questions that will lead to those corrections. Sadly, most students in this course never took peer
reviewing seriously. For the last assignment, only seven students submitted peer review
comments, out of which 2 were late. For a class with over 20 students that is a very low number.
Yet, I am proud to say that I submitted peer review comments for every single paper of every
peer I was assigned to. Furthermore, although I am not entirely sure, I would like to think that
the comments I submitted were helpful. The next two goals involve taking into account the
comments I received from my peers. I believe the clearest example of this can be found in my
Portrait of a Writer. I think that since it was the very first time we had peer review most of the
students took it seriously so I received a lot of helpful comments, which I implemented into my
second draft. I have also always taken into account Ms. Fraziers comments in all of the papers I
have written throughout the semester. The last subgoal I want to talk about for the Planning goals
is this:
Actively participate in class discussions about readings and writings.
I am normally not the kind of student that answers questions. I imagine everyone in my class
would probably doubt that, because I would always raise my hand whenever we would discuss
the readings in class. The reason for that was that I thought most of the readings were very
interesting, despite the fact that I am normally only interested in science readings. There is no
concrete evidence I can show for the fulfillment of this goal, but I think the knowledge of all the
different concepts we have learned from readings, such as rhetorical situation, ethos, pathos, and
logos, serves to show that I did read all of the course readings.
The last of the four groups of goals is Conventions. These subgoals are focused on the
structural aspect of a paper more than on the content itself. For instance, this first goal focuses on
whether the student learned how to cite properly, not whether the student chooses the sources
correctly:
Learn and use at least one system of documentation responsibly.
I believe my last two papers show a strong grasp of APA citation rules, especially for common
references such as books or journals. For my last paper I had no idea how to reference a source
from a presentation, but Ms. Frazier helped me with that, so now (I think) I know. The final two
subgoals I want to discuss are also related to sources:
Learn how to deploy supporting evidence.
Effectively integrate a variety of sources into their writings.
I think I best achieved these goals in my Entering the Discourse. For this project I used over five
different sources, some of which completely disagreed with each other, in order to support my
argument. Not only does it show that I can effectively integrate a variety of sources into my
writing, but because I use those sources as evidence to support my claims, it shows I am able to
deploy supporting evidence as well.
By now it is possible the readers of this cover letter might be wondering where my actual
evidence is. I decided not to include any pieces of my actual papers in the cover letter for two
reasons. First, it would make the cover letter too long, and second, it would be very repetitive
because the same papers are available right here on this website. The readers might also be
wondering what grade I think I deserve. I honestly believe I deserve an A in this course. From
the very first day I have been working hard, and I think the papers in this portfolio speak for
themselves. While none of them might be perfect, I think it is impossible to say I did not meet
the majority of the goals set for this course. Because of that, I think my expectation of an A is
justified.