Reflective Cover Letter

Levi Hawes
English 2010
Carol Sieverts
11/12/2014

This letter is written to represent how the English 2010 course has helped me to improve my
abilities as a writer. During this class I have improved my writing in several ways, including a clearer
understanding of: effective rhetoric, writing to a specific audience, accepting criticism, and learning to
work with others in order to produce the best final draft of a written piece.
In this class we were asked to prepare a Community Writing Project which was a portfolio that
consists of a number of writing assignments that are each a different genre of writing. These
assignments were to address an issue that currently exists in our community, nation, or even on a
personal level. We were allowed to take on this project in a group of three or four. As a group we
decided on the topic of violence in the many forms of media and how this violence could lead to
aggressive or violent behavior in people.
During the course of the semester each of us took turns writing each of several different genre
types that included a report, a causal argument, a profile and a proposed solution. While writing the
causal argument I found it better to write the opposite perspective on the subject and argue that
violence in media does not in fact lead directly to violence in real life. This forced me to learn how to
change my perspective and also to write to a specific audience.

Although we didnt write every paper in this class, we contributed in large to each piece. We had
scheduled days in which we were to read and edit the draft before turning in a final draft. This helped us
as writers to receive other opinions on our papers so that we earn a better score as well as learning to
search for and find errors in others writing. This will help me in future classes to effectively proof read
my own papers.
This class will help me in future classes by taking the writing techniques that I have learned and
applying them to my future papers in other classes. I was able to practice and perfect my MLA technique
that is a crucial form of writing papers and learn effective research and citation. This reflection has
allowed me to look back and appreciate the important skills that I have learned in this course and how
they can help me as a college student. I hope to continue doing the same in all my classes over the
course of my college education.
I realize that learning these writing techniques will help me in my future career. Although I don't
know what I want to do for my career, it is apparent that most professions require some form of writing
and it will be beneficial in any field I go into.