Joseph Kemper

Professor Kane

English 115 F

14 December 2019

Cover Letter

This is my portfolio about my completed assignments throughout the English 115 course.

This portfolio contains four assignments; two versions of an essay, a blog post uploaded online,

and a progression exercise from outside of class. The essays, a draft and a final version, argue

about how a specific event in Walt Disney’s life was crucial in order for him to reach where his

company is today and why. The blog post claims and utilizes support from a study about how a

person’s moral compass is shaped both by their parents as well as the society around them.

Lastly the progression exercise dives into the difference between being an active American

citizen and being inactive to retain your traditions and cultures as an unchanging core set of

values.

My essays both have strong theses (yes, theses is the plural of thesis and I searched it up).

They are well thought out and structurally strong, therefore preventing confusion of the audience

by directly stating and supporting my claim. My paragraphs for the most part transition nicely

and the grammar and punctuation is usually correct. I include all the information necessary to

persuade the audience about how Walt Disney’s solitary experimentation is what pushed him

ahead of his competitors.

What I need to work on most in my essays is the way I organize what I’m trying to say.

Growing up I was always told to get to the point with my sentences so now that I am in college I
struggle to create multiple sentences that work together. While others can write a whole page of

one paragraph mine are usually shorter and repetitive because I run out of things to talk about too

quickly. Also, while my grammar is usually correct, when under pressure like time limits I forget

about where periods and commas properly belong. In order to combat this on essays completed

in the duration of this class I try to take my time to double check and make sure that why I wrote

is in the best shape it can be.

If I needed to give advice to myself for future writing is research on other people's essays.

Look at what makes them effective and pay attention to the way they phrase things to create

strong claims and support it as well. I need also need to stop thinking that I am writing for an

assignment and start getting mentally involved in what I write to form better critical thinking

skills. I figure if I can’t extend my sentences then I can at least create more support for my thesis

to write about. If anybody next semester is struggling like I have then my advice to you is to take

a step back to think about how you write and how you can improve. Instead of running headfirst

into an essay plan out everything you are going to say and if you need to restart then do it. If you

don't feel confident in what you write, you might find it easier to start from scratch than to try

and fix an overwhelming amount of mistakes. Always remember that you can do it!

Sincerely,

Joseph Kemper