Chassidie Liu

(909)263-6129 | chassidieliu@ucsb.edu

6/14/2020

Writing 2
Student & Classmate

Dear Joshua Smith,

As I sit here writing this cover letter, I begin to reflect on all the writing assignments I have
completed, all the rewrites I have made, all the reading responses I have done, all the weekly
journals I have written, and all the (somewhat) personal things I have told you. It is quite funny
all the things I write in my weekly journals that let you know more about me as a person, yet, I
know so little about you. Any who, it has been such a pleasure being in your class this past
quarter! You have done a great job adapting to the current circumstances that have plagued our
world, and with that I give you a huge thank you. Although, I never got to see you or any other
classmates in person, I did love seeing only you and Sam in Zoom sessions.

One of the most powerful and influential things I have learned in this class and have fully put
into practice, is the amount of rewrites and drafts I have made over the course of just one paper. I
have truly realized the importance of having “shitty first drafts” in order to create a more
cohesive piece by the end. If drafts were not written, I would not have been able to find all the
mistakes I could have made, and I believe finding these mistakes, make you a better writer.
These mistakes provide the writer with the opportunity to practice new writing styles, whether it
be by explaining something differently, or completely scratching a portion out. As you will soon
see in my track changes for Writing Project 1 and Writing Project 2. Throughout this process, I
have also learned that writing ahead of time, instead of last minute is the most beneficial. It
allows for a full formulation of thoughts.

Yet, this class has also made me realize how terrible I am at eloquating my thoughts properly on
paper. I have come to realize that my personal writing style is somewhat colloquial and talkative.
What I mean by talkative is that, I tend to write short blunt sentences, instead of making one long
sentence that combines the thoughts. I also realize that I need to add a lot more textual analysis
in my writing. Although I am good at fluffing up my writing to make pages longer, I am not
good at fluffing up the necessary parts that explain to the reader what I have done to compare
genres or how psychological research papers provide a foundation for other researchers to
transfer their work. When rewriting my papers, I made the conscious choice to elaborate more on
my thoughts and explain more about the “why.”

Your feedback was great Josh! I do not think I have ever had an instructor, provide me clear
feedback on what to change, improve, and add on a paper before. For both Writing Project 1 and
Writing Project 2, your feedback was extremely similar; explain more about the “why” and “give
more textual evidence.” Taking these both into consideration, I added more explanation behind
why I added a specific point. For example, in Writing Project 1, I added more analysis on why
APA style citation can be used to showcase the importance of psychological research papers,
instead of what I had before: a definition of what APA is. After revising this paper, I fully
realized how much explanation I was missing. Another important revision to note is in Writing
Project 2. You stated you wanted more cohesive and coherent paragraphs and syntax structure. In
Writing Project 2, I combine more of my sentences together to make it seem less choppy and to
add more variety within the paragraphs. I scratched out sentences that were repetitive and non
useful to the overall paper. Within Writing 2, I also added more analysis and explanation for my
writerly choices in order for you to get a better understanding of my self-reflective portion.

What I enjoyed most about my work throughout creating this portfolio, was seeing a change and
transformation of what I used to have and what I currently have. The track changes are extremely
encouraging and allows me to be proud of all the changes I have made. Although, I wish I was
able to add more to these writing projects. A part of me still feels as though I am missing
something. Nevertheless, as you read my portfolio, I hope you see the progress I have made
throughout the duration of this quarter. I know I have! From writing things cohesively by striking
out unnecessary sentences to giving the reader textual analysis, I have learned and will continue
to use these skills in future courses.

Sincerely,
Chassidie Liu