Leslie Bruce, Ph.D.

Department of English, University Hall 435 California State University, Fullerton Fullerton, CA 92834-6830 December 10, 2013 Dear Dr. Bruce, I am writing you this letter to demonstrate my capabilities as a technical writer based on the student learning outcomes (SLOs) outlined in the course syllabus. I chose two documents I feel showcase my best efforts in satisfying these SLOs which were the memo prewriting list and group memo. I chose to discuss the text in ascending order of my writing strengths from beginner to intermediate. The group memo was my first collaborative writing project I partook in this course. Before my group and I could begin writing the memo, we had to research and analyze our audience, figuring out who is likely to read TIME, National Geographic, or The Atlantic magazine. One of the documents I included was my memo prewrite list from memo lesson 2. I believe this text partially satisfies SLO#1 as I wrote most of the text in an informal tone. For example, most of my sentences were short and abrupt such as when I addressed Who reads it? Targets general audience with vast interests. The final memo itself was written formally, satisfying the rest of SLO#1. Coming into the core of the memo, our assignment was to hypothetically persuade the Dean of Student Life to subscribe to a magazine based on our written recommendation. Not only did we have to persuade the Dean of our recommendation, we also had to consider students who come into the waiting room as well. This allowed me to recognize and evaluate two different audiences while being considerate of gender and culture satisfying SLO#4. I was use to writing to one audience and by having two, enabled me to carefully choose the proper context and language without offending the reader or readers. This project also allowed me to use proper citations and ethically cite the document which satisfies SLO#2. In the works cited, I learned how to cite a PDF file in MLA format. I was able to utilize different in-text and work cited citations and references as I was always used to citing journal articles in MLA and APA in previous English classes. The memo allowed me to work with a team and get a feel of what each members writing style was. One way we actively collaborated was using Dropbox. We all shared a folder, allowing each member to upload and access each others documents. When it came to putting the memo together, we all uploaded our individual paragraphs and were able to critique and revise one anothers work, all the while allowing me to improve my own work as we continuously worked through the project, meeting SLO#5s requirement. Through this entire project, I was able to carry out a steady pace through the process of pre-writing, drafting, and revision, satisfying SLO#6. If it were not for the pre-writes, I would have not been able to start the memo in the right direction, and if it were not for the multiple drafts and revisions made, I would not have been able to identify my writing mistakes.

I conclude my understanding of SLO#3 by presenting you my completed portfolio. I hope that my letter is able to persuade you of my writing progress throughout the class and is able to showcase my understanding of the classes student learning outcomes. I feel I am able to take what was learned in this course and present them in future writing assignments as well in professional settings.

Sincerely, Hang Pham Class: T 4:00 6:45