Cover Letter

Dear Valentina,

Over the course of my time in Writing 2, I have learned to accept the fact that

writing is an eternal process, in which we all start from rock bottom, with “shitty first

drafts,” to more drafts that continue to expand and improve as we continue to gain

feedback. Whether it is feedback from our teachers, friends, or family, any feedback is

useful, which is something that I have definitely become more accustomed to over the

course of taking this class. My mindset when it comes to writing has definitely

broadened, and I have learned to not be embarrassed by my first drafts, and to accept

feedback with an open mind.

Throughout the course, I enjoyed the majority of the readings, feeling like I

gained some knowledge while simultaneously feeling like I could relate to many of the

readings. These readings definitely heightened my interest in writing, because as good

of a writer as I thought I was in high school, I definitely had space for improvement, and

these readings really shed light to small errors that were recurring when it came to my

writing. Applying the tips and warnings in these readings to my writing, I definitely saw

improvement when it came to my writing, and for once, I was content with having my

writing being read by my classmates, and I found myself eager to have my friends give

me constructive criticism.

Another aspect of this course that was new to me was the many class

discussions that occurred. Compared to High School, where my primary focus tended to

be writing itself, It was definitely a change incorporating conversations in the class.

However, I really did enjoy hearing feedback from my classmates, because I often found
myself intrigued by the ideas that many would come up with, and I often found myself

learning a lot from these class discussions.

I would like to know more about the writing projects. Looking back, I think writing

these really helped me become a better writer because it is not something I am

accustomed to. Taking into consideration the feedback I received, I was able to point out

mistakes I had been continuously making that I had never noticed before. I would have

definitely enjoyed working on more writing projects, and seeing my writing continue to

improve. If I were given the opportunity to do more writing projects, I would have,

knowing it would expand my writing skills.

In my WP’s I revised repetition, word choice, length, as well as syntax. Using the

feedback from my classmates, as well as your feedback, I was able to analyze my

essay and realize that both of my WP’s had various repetition, my syntax was off, my

paragraph structure was too long, and I was vague in some aspects of my papers.

Receiving the feedback that I did, I was able to re-evaluate my paper, and fix my

mistakes, while keeping the parts that I thought were strong.

Being able to choose my own topics in both my WP’s gave me the freedom to

write about topics that I found intriguing, topics that I knew I would enjoy writing about.

Having this freedom, I really enjoyed incorporating my own thoughts and ideas into my

WP’s, which is also what I think is the best part of my projects. Having the ability to input

my thoughts in my projects was definitely a struggle, and one that I needed to work on.

Being continuously told to never input my own opinions, and being allowed to do this in

my project, hard at first, which is why it is an aspect of my projects that I put in a lot of

time and effort into fixing once I realized my mistakes in my rough drafts.
 I would definitely still like to improve on my syntax as well as the way I arrange

my paragraphs. I had never taken into consideration that writing long and complex

sentences and paragraphs was not always a good thing. Once again, compared to high

school where this kind of thing was encouraged, I learned that this does not work with

every single piece of writing. Because I was writing a narrative and an opinionated

article in my WP’s I had to take into consideration that I did not want to bore my readers

by writing overly long and complex sentences, and I had never taken it into

consideration until I received feedback. Re-reading my projects, and taking into

consideration the type of paper I was writing, I learned to evaluate what I am writing

before automatically jumping into writing it. Having to arrange the format of my projects,

because they were very long, repetitive, and complex, is something that I would still like

to improve.

The work from my portfolio reflects my ability to take constructive criticism, and

realize my mistakes. Looking at my portfolio, I translated genres, as well as wrote a

narrative as part of a conversation, which reflects what I learned from this course. Going

from focusing on timed essays with prescribed prompts my whole academic life, to

being able to write my projects, I am content looking at my WP’s knowing that I still have

room for improvement, but that I used as much knowledge as I gained from this course

to help guide me throughout my writing process with my projects.

I will definitely use revision workshops to guide me throughout any other writing

projects I encounter in the future. With friends or classmates, I plan on using my

knowledge from this course to have revision workshops, either as a google doc or

through Eli Review. I will also use compile and the UC library, websites that I found very
useful during my time in this course, and that I will definitely use for future writing

projects. I had no knowledge of these websites, but learning about them throughout this

course is something I found incredibly useful. I will also continue to use track changes in

order to see my progress when it comes to revising my paper. As I tracked my progress

in both WP’s, I was able to identify my errors easily, and it made the whole editing

process easier for me. Overall, there's a lot I can take from this course to guide me

through other writing projects, ranging from helpful websites, to learning to receive

feedback, which is why I am very grateful I took this course, especially knowing that I

have evolved into a better writer.

Sincerely, Erandy