Dear Matt,

Thank you for your enlightening lectures about genres. It was fantastic to discuss writing
skills with my classmates. From lectures, writing practices and other activities, I have learned
how to choose a proper genre and have it work for my writing. In this letter, I will reflect on
the knowledge Ive learned, the rewriting of WP1 and WP3, and what I can take from the
course for my future writing.

I have learned genre analysis, comparison and translation skills. Initially, writers
prioritized communicative goals, but later there were more detailed requirements on structure.
Authors need to emphasize both communicative objectives and proper structure. I have
learned the conventions of many genres, such as papers, reports, personal statements,
websites and online posts. Each genre has some rules to follow. For instance, an academic
paper uses the third-person perspective, formal language and sufficient evidences, while a
post is personalized, using the first-person perspective and informal language. In addition, I
have learned how to compare how authors from different fields approach the same topic. For
example, both sociologists and legal scholars can discuss the same-sex marriage, but the
former takes it as a social problem, while the latter explores the necessity to release related
laws. Even under the same genre, authors choose diverse perspectives. Correspondingly,
authors should cite evidences in their fields to prove their arguments. Whats more, I have
mastered genre translation skills. If I want to share academic research results with my friends
and they feel boring to read a professional paper, I can translate the results into a new genre.
In this process, I must analyze the features of my new audience, pick out the important
information from the paper, and interpret it in my own words.

After learning the skills, we were asked to do rewriting. I chose WP1 and WP3.

In WP1, I revised thesis statement, structure, way of expression and analysis. WP1
compared Amazon shopping website and Zombie survive guideline. It was written much
earlier, so I found a lot to improve after finishing the course. WP1 focused on Zombies. I
thought that starting with Zombies, WP1 would likely draw the younger students to read my
genre analysis. Above all, I changed thesis statement into This essay will analyze how
Amazon online shopping website presents key information to help viewers select books
quickly, and how Zombie survive guideline discusses detailed information to teach readers
useful survival skills. The new statement emphasizes how different genres work. Second, I
deleted two body paragraphs, and added a transitional paragraph when I moved from the
analysis of Amazon website to Zombie survive guideline. Third, I changed the way of
expression. Because my new audience are first-year students, they are possibly not interested
if I directly talk about genres. Therefore, I started by describing Zombies, and created a
problem how to pick out a Zombie book online or how will you fight back when you are
enveloped by such a group of terrible creature? This helps to arouse readers attention. When
making examples, I used you, just like I were talking with the readers. In Conclusion, I
advised the students to apply these theories by selecting a book or learning Zombie survive
skills online. Fourth, I used more evidences to support my analysis in the body. For each
genre convention, I used a citation to make my analysis more specific and more persuasive.
 In WP3, I improved the grammar and sentence structure in Part1, and revised
introduction, analysis and conclusion in Part 2. By questioning how to share academic
research results with others, I created a problem in introduction, so as to stimulate readers
interest. Additionally, I cited more examples from the original paper to show how I translated
the research paper. For example, I translated Over half of the respondents (55%) had used
Facebook to make new virtual friends prior to starting university (Clare et al. 144) in the
second paragraph to prove the positive impact of Facebook. For each body paragraph, I
started with a thesis sentence, so the readers can quickly catch my main ideas. In the end, I
added a paragraph to explain the genre translations skills I had learned through WP3, and
then added a concluding paragraph to emphasize the genre translation rules and encourage
younger students to practice.

In the rewriting process, the feedbacks about my introduction and analysis were most
helpful. From the professors feedbacks, I knew that a problem should be created in the
introduction, which can stimulate readers interest. Instead of listing the rules, I should cite
examples and data to support my analysis. In this portfolio, I like WP1 the most. It has a
shortened length, but more informative analysis. The structure is very clear, and the writing
style well targets at the first-year students. However, I think Part 2 of WP3 should be further
improved. Especially, I hope to have feedbacks about how to integrate course reading
theories into my writing. Generally, this work portfolio has demonstrated the genre analysis
and writing skills I have learned in the course. It shows I can choose target audience and have
a genre work for my purpose. This course has updated my understanding of writing, and I am
more skilled in organizing my writing based on communicative objectives.

I will take three things from this course in my future writing. First, I will apply the skills
in creating a problem in introduction to arouse readers interest. Second, I will select a proper
genre and apply its conventions to serve my writing goals. Third, I will use the techniques in
improving my papers. After writing a paper, I will examine it based on the feedbacks from
this course and revise it further.

Again I would thank Dear Matt and my classmates for their thoughtful help. I am
confident I will soon become a more skilled writer who shows concern to target readers.

Yours sincerely,

Jialing Zhou