Dear Dr.

Bruce,
Over the semester I have done my best to refine my writing by incorporating the skills
outlined within the Student Learning Outcomes. While we wrote a variety of assignments
throughout the course, I feel that I can make the case for my proficiency based on three of them.
The first and most important is my scientific review article on the Zika virus, as it satisfies SLOs
1,2,3,4 and 5. The second is a scholars notebook entry on establishing criteria for a book review,
which reflects collaboration between myself, the class and you (SLO6). The third is this cover
letter in which I attempt to convince you of my proficiency by providing a map through which
you can analyze my work in the context of the SLOs (SLO3). All of these articles are compiled
within my online portfolio, for your ease and viewing pleasure.
My scientific review article, A Rapidly Evolving Threat The Zika Virus in Review
satisfies part of SLO1 by writing in a formal tone for a scientifically literate audience, evidenced
by the fact that I use scientific terminology throughout and write in a passive voice. As it is a
scientific review article that synthesizes a large volume of scholarly information, it is filled with
citations in APA format in accordance with the Elsevier Journal of Virology, satisfying SLO2. It
is organized according to a numbered system of headers with specific titles outlining what
content will be contained within the section, a rigid form of organization characteristic of many
other scientific review (SLO4). Lastly, within my review article I utilized the various techniques
we learned within class to improve our writing through use of language, such as careful verb
choice, the elimination of unnecessary prepositions and parallelism, while also being conscious
to avoid repetitive usage of improper pronouns (SLO5). While satisfying multiple SLOs, this
document doesnt show any sort of collaboration and thus does not satisfy SLO 6.
I chose the scholars notebook entry on establishing criteria within a book review as my
second piece as it reflects my ability to collaborate and incorporate information from both the
class as well as from you. While the first four small paragraphs are my ideas, the rest were taken
from suggestions made by my fellow classmates, which I greedily copied down as I was
somewhat confused during the assignment. The last part however, consisting of three sentences
outlining the criteria chosen for my book review, were determined with your help during
conferences, and then added to the scholars notebook entry later on (SLO6). This scholars
notebook entry is written informally, in some parts sounding more like an internal dialogue with
myself as opposed to a rigidly structured article intended for scientists, satisfying the writing
informally component of SLO1.
The strategies I learned throughout the semester have improved my writing on
both the macro and micro scale. On the macro scale, I have learned to utilize new forms of
prewriting and editing that improve the overall structure and flow of my writing, while on the
micro scale I have improved sentences word by word, taking out unnecessary prepositions,
choosing more specific verbs and watching for parallelism. I hope that this cover letter has
adequately explained the areas of my chosen pieces which most readily satisfy the SLOs, and
you are able to see them with ease. Only then will SLO3 be satisfied. Thank you for the great
semester, your class was a pleasure to be in.
Sincerely,
Nathan Weber