Cover Letter

Dear Dr. Bruce,

This semester has been challenging but I have noticed that my writing skills
have improved with each passing assignment. There were multiple assignments
that targeted different aspects of each students writing skills and helped identify
their faults and improve upon them. To guide us in the correct path, each
assignment had a set of the Student Learning Objectives (SLO) that targeted the
assignments goal. This cover letter will demonstrate that I have improved my
writing skills, using the Student Learning Outcomes as a rubric or guide for certain
assignments. I chose to use my review article, group summary and this cover letter
to effectively show the gradual improvement in my writing skills. These assignments
in my portfolio fulfill the SLOs and express my understanding of each one.
The review article was one of the bigger assignments that I worked on
independently, and it showed that I was able to fulfill the SLOs; Ethical Citation,
Organization, and Language and Design. The proper citations that were included in
my research review show my effective understanding of the Ethical Citation SLO
because anytime I talked about GATA3 or obtained the information from any source
other than myself, I made sure to include in-text citations and then made sure it
was included in the citations page. I was able to identify the issues I had with citing
my sources in my review paper and then fix them in order to make sure I do not
make the same mistakes in the future. The organization in the review article was
clear and easy to follow. I organized my thoughts similarly to that of a real research
paper by creating sub-headings for each section such as the Introduction, Results
and Conclusion (IMRAD). This structure was effective because it was intended for
an audience that reads scientific journals, meaning that they already had
experience with the layout and organization I provided. The review article also
demonstrated my improvement and understanding of Language and Design,
because I used language that was appropriate to the audience I targeted and was
sensitive to the cultural and gender differences. I did not include any of my own
opinions in the paper, instead I researched GATA3 and stated information that had
been found amongst scientists. With the language and designs I used, I was able to
inform the audience effectively and express my ideas.
I also chose this cover letter to demonstrate my understanding of the SLOs;
Rhetorical Focus and Persuasion. The cover letter showed my improved
understanding of Rhetorical Focus because it is a formal piece of writing that is
appropriate since you are my intended audience. The formality of this cover letter
makes it more professional and effective in arguing my points as I attempt to
persuade, and it shows that I am able to conform to a formal audience. This relates
to my understanding of Persuasion, because the entire purpose of this cover letter
is to persuade, which comes hand in hand with the formality of this paper. This
cover letter has a clear understanding of persuasion because I am comparing and
contrasting my writing skills from the beginning of the semester to the end of the
semester in order to make a persuasive argument that I have improved my writing

skills. I also had to analyze my claims and create evidence to support those claims
and add credibility to my works.
The final piece of work I selected was the peer review I received from my
peer and the one I completed for their work. These peer reviews relate to my
understanding of Rhetorical Focus and Collaboration. The peer reviews are informal
and have a nonprofessional audience, myself. The peer reviews are able to show
that I can shape my writing skills according to my audience and what the purpose of
the writing is. The purpose of the review is to help each other improve upon our
writing skills, which demonstrates an understanding of Collaboration, because we
are working together to critique our works and understand how to improve on them.
With the help of not only the assignments listed, but the entire class as a
whole, I was able to improve my writing skills and better identify my weaknesses
when writing. These assignments were provided as evidence to demonstrate that I
have become a better writer and was able to understand the effectiveness of having
the Student Learning Objectives throughout the course.
Sincerely,
Cristian Gonzalez