Dear Dr.

Bruce,
From the beginning of the semester the goal of the class was to improve our scientific
writing overall. With practice, we were to improve the smaller parts of writing which in turn
would help us write better. It is important to look at the smaller components, because they help
create a strong foundation. The Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) were a guide to how we
would advance our writing ability. By no means am I a professional in these different categories,
but I have definitely improved them. Over time with practice, I will learn to be incredibly
proficient in each category. I have assembled this portfolio to exhibit some of my work that
shows improvement following the SLO guide.
Firstly, I present my revised review article. Through this assignment, I was able to fulfill
five of the six SLO categories. The first being Rhetorical focus which encompasses the ability to
write correctly for the intended audience. In this assignment I wrote the article in a formal tone
due to the fact I was to hypothetically submit the article to a scholarly scientific journal. The
article required scholarly sources to strengthen the information conveyed in the article. The use
of others work requires acknowledgement, therefore requiring citation. I properly cited their
work in correct fashion which fulfills the Ethical Citation SLO. The article required a good deal
of information to fulfill the requests of the assignment. Due to the amount of information, it had
to be presented in an organized manner to avoid looking unprofessional. Through use of
headings to indicate subtopics of different information I have fulfilled the Organization SLO. As
for the last SLO, Language and Design, I fulfilled it by properly writing the article without bias
and as well as writing in a language equal to the scientific journal standards.
Secondly, I have included a peer review assignment and a Scholars Notebook
assignment. These assignments also show my skill in Rhetorical Focus. These assignments are

more casual so they dont require formal writing. In these, it shows I have the ability to write
informally when appropriate. Another SLO these assignments cover is the Collaboration
category. Through cooperation with other students, I have received constructive criticism in
which helped improve some areas of my written work. Along with receiving criticism, I have
also given constructive feedback to other students to help strengthen some written work or fix
small mistakes. Another way we cooperated together was through working together to complete
an assignment.
Lastly, this cover letter shows some of my writing skills. This letter fulfills the last SLO,
the Persuasion category. Throughout this letter I have discussed some written works I have
completed to show my improvement in them. I stated examples of how I fulfilled each SLO and
how I improved using that SLO.
Overall this class was incredibly insightful. It brought my weaknesses to the surface and
taught me how to improve them. I am certain the skills I have learned in this class will be used in
future classes, and possibly future jobs.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Bravo