02 December 2015

Dear Ms. Davis,

I know the letter that Im writing to you and all of the writing assignments given to me in
the past are just the beginning of what lies ahead for me. As I move up this educational ladder
towards my career goal, I expect that Ill be writing numerous papers that are more than six
pages long. I knew it when I started this journey and I can only hope that Im fully prepared. I
can tell you that I have made progress as a writer thanks to my composition classes. Prior to
these classes, my writing skills were stagnant due to my lack of writing much of anything after
high school. I have four essays that I will share with you showing how my writing has
progressed this year alone. Before I share this collection of works with you, I would like to point
out their meaning and how they reflect me as a writer. I chose the items for this collection
carefully. I decided to make it a timeline of my writing so I could adequately express how I have
grown as a writer this year. Progress is what I see when I look at my collection and that is what
it means to me as a whole. I can see my personality come out of my writing and that is how my
collection reflects me. My hope is that when you read my essays you can see how I have grown
as a writer this year.
Now I will share with you the essays I chose for my collection and why they were
chosen. I will also discuss the process of my writing and how it has evolved this past year, and
what I were to use in my writing toolbox. The first essay I chose was the first one I wrote as a
returning college student. Its called Wal-Mart: Where I Went Wrong. I chose this essay first
because its like an introduction to me as a writer. I feel that this essay shows my humorous side
when it comes to personal writing assignments, and when I look back on it now I can see that, I
have grown as a writer. The second writing example I chose was America: Land of the Free?
This was the first essay I had to write that was a persuasive argument and required sources. I
was also proud of this essay because I successfully compared the lack of equal rights and
discrimination of the LGBT community to the lack of rights and discrimination of African
Americans in the 1960s. Then, I chose my Standardized Testing: Harming the Lower-Class
Since 2002 essay because it was my least favorite writing example, and I felt that I should
include it because it showed progress from my previous works. This essay was not a favorite of
mine because even though I was passionate about the subject I had a hard time forming my
argument. For my final essay example, I chose my final essay of the year called You Gotta
Fight For Your Right..To Go To College? I chose this piece because even though I couldnt
meet the length requirement it was still my favorite essay, and I was arguing about something
that I am passionate about. I was proud of the way I was able to state my opinion on the topic of
free public college education professionally while also being objective to the opposing argument.
I can see from these essays that my growth and literacy has developed as a writer. For instance,
when I compare essay one with essay four I can see that my vocabulary has progressed along
with my thesis statement and my transitions. Next, I would like to inform you of the process of
my writing and how it has evolved in certain aspects. A process of mine that hasnt changed is
writing outlines before I write my papers. However, throughout this year my outlines have
become more detailed and therefore more helpful to me when its time to write my essay. My
last essay contained the most detailed outline I have written so far, and I feel that is part of why
Im proud of that essay. If I had a writing toolbox, it would change with each essay. For
example, my first essay was a personal narrative. My toolbox for that essay would contain

words that I would avoid like you and your. My writing toolbox would include other words
I shouldnt use in my essays like got, very, and lots.
Next, I would like to share with you how I have progressed as a writer by providing my
strengths and weaknesses when it comes to writing. Since I would rather end this topic on a
positive note, Ill start with my weaknesses. The biggest issue that I experience when it comes to
writing is comma usage. Each time I would get a graded essay back most of the marks would be
because I didnt use a comma when needed or, I used a comma when it wasnt needed. This is
frustrating to me because, Ill look over the rules for commas to help me with the next writing
assignment but Ill still have some mistakes. However, I feel that I have made some
improvements with my comma issues. For example, with my last essay sample I looked it over a
few times before turning it in and fixed any comma errors I found. I found that if I continue to
do this process with future papers I could finally overcome this war on commas. Another
weakness I experience with writing is making the required page length. When it comes to my
essays, I tend to make my strongest argument at the beginning of my paper rather than at the end.
With my last essay example, I tried to avoid making that same mistake but unfortunately still
failed to make the length requirement. This is an issue that Im still trying to figure out how to
overcome. Now I will tell you my strengths when it comes to writing. A couple of strengths that
my essay samples have in common are that they stay on topic and are easy to follow. I have
always been told that I am a good writer. My essays are also well organized due to writing an
outline beforehand. My thesis statements are strong with the exception of essay sample one
when I failed to inform the reader of where I was going with my topic. Its exciting for me to
look back on these samples and be able to see where I have improved.
Now that I have presented my writing samples and discussed how I have developed as a
writer, you may be wondering whats next. I foresee more essays in my future for other classes.
I feel that they will mostly be argumentative essays requiring source work. There is a great
possibility that I will be writing a huge paper when it comes time to graduate. Now that I have a
better understanding of how my writing has developed and what still needs improving I know
what needs to be addressed to help me become a better writer. I need to address my writing
weaknesses and take further action on improving them. Examples of these actions include more
detailed proofreading and writing extra rough drafts. Overall, I feel that the composition classes
I was required to take have successfully prepared me for future writing assignments.
To conclude this letter I would just like to thank you for your time and commitment to
helping me improve my writing. Your class has helped me find ways to improve my weaknesses
and has shown me the strengths I already have. Examples of these are writing a detailed outline,
lengthening my paragraphs, and proofreading my writing more than a few times. I understand
that there is still work that needs to be done but I now have the confidence to move forward.
Thank you again for your time and attention, and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas break
and a merry Christmas.

Sincerely,

Amanda Cox