Reflective Cover Letter
Draft 2
The past semester has been more than helpful in helping me to develop my writing. My portfolio for this semester will contain my Proposal Essay, News Story, Application Essay, and my “This I Believe” piece. All have developed from draft to draft. Although some started out better than others, they all now seem to have answered their individual prompts, and give good evidence to support it. Most of all I am choosing these papers because they all started out in different ways and they required different processes to revise each piece.
The Proposal essay asked you to write a piece on something you would like to change that is local. Then recommend a way to change it. For the Proposal I had small problems with the transitions, so after I had fixed the transitions I changed my conclusion to better some up the paper. I did the paper on an easy topic for me to talk about. It was on the Lines at the bookstore, and the cost of the books themselves. I was able to establish a reasonable solution to the problems, which I stated clearly in the paper. I then gave examples to show that my solution would work. Also at the beginning of the piece I gave a personal experience from when I went to get my books during my first week at BCC. This helped show a connection between me and the problem I was trying to fix.
The News Story asked you to write a news story for a local paper that explains about a local event. In the News Story I had to take away some of the information that made it seem like it had a personal feel, but overall it was on topic and had very solid transitions, and a good clear thesis. The topic was general enough that I did not have trouble finding the information, but rather finding the right information. The first draft was fairly random. I did the paper on The New England Patriots blowout of the Tennessee Titans this season. I feel that I left out important information that could have helped the flow of the paper. When I read my first draft I felt that I had given it a personal feel, and maybe even a biased perspective. After the second draft, all information that seemed personal I took away. Then I added information to help rid the paper of a biased feel.
For the application essay I needed to write an essay to a college or university of my choice, and answer their essay question for applying to their school. The Application essay was my best, or one of my best first drafts. I spent the most time on this paper because I plan on using it to apply to Massachusetts Maritime Academy this year, which is the school I did my paper on. This paper was very necessary to get feedback, especially in the peer review which helped me discover that it was actually off topic from the actual question. Also your comment on my blog pointed that out as well. So what I did was relate the example to the topic question so it would clearly answer the question. Also I added a stronger thesis; the previous one was a bit weak. The most important thing I did was change the story so it seemed that I was answering the question directly. Now the first paragraph about when I first meet Colonel Westcott talks about how he changed my decision of wanting a normal civilian career.
Finally the “This I Believe” piece asked you to explain a belief you have with details as to why you have that belief. This paper was my worst first draft. The transitions were awful, I chose some bad examples to support my belief, and the paper had no flow at all. The peer review helped me establish a flow in the paper and by the final draft I worked in some good transition, and better examples. Also I added key details to explain my new examples which would help the reader understand where I was going with the paper. Even though it started out as a mess and was definitely, a very weak paper, I think that it now has done its purpose in stating my belief, and then explaining why I believe in that.
As the semester is quickly coming to an end I notice that when look back at my old work and compare them to my recent papers, I tend to look for different things now; like flow, transitions, and ask questions about my work like; does it answer the question clearly? Or are my examples detailed enough? Before this class when I would look over a draft all I would look out for is grammar and punctuation mistakes. Now I have a much better idea on what to look for and how to fix the mistakes I find. Overall I think I have developed my writing ability, and hope to keep doing so.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Cover Letter
Reflective Cover Letter
Draft 1
The past semester has been more than helpful in helping me to develop my writing. My portfolio for this semester will contain my Proposal Essay, News Story, Application Essay, and my “This I Believe” piece. All have developed from draft to draft. Although some started out better than others, they all seem to have answered their individual prompts, and give good evidence to support it. Most of all I am choosing these papers because they all started out in different ways and they had different problems that needed to be fixed.
The proposal asked you to write a piece on something you would like to change that is local. Then recommend a way to change it. The News Story asked you to write a news story for a local paper that explains about a local event. For the application essay I needed to write an essay to a college or university of my choice, an answer their essay question for applying to their school. Finally the “This I Believe” piece asked you to explain a belief you have with details as to why you have that belief.
For the Proposal I had small problems with the transitions, so after I had fixed the transitions I changed my conclusion to better some up the paper. In the News Story I had to take away some of the information that made it seem like it had a personal feel, but overall it was on topic and had very solid transitions, and a good clear thesis. The Application essay was my best or one of my best first drafts. I spent the most time on this paper because I plan on using it to apply to that school this year. That paper was very necessary to get the feedback I did, especially in the peer review which helped me discover that it was actually off topic from the actual question. Also your comment on my blog pointed that out as well. However, my “This I Believe” paper was my worst first draft. The transitions were awful, I chose some bad examples to support my belief, and the paper had no flow at all. The peer review helped me establish a flow in the paper and by the final draft I worked in some good transition, and better examples.
As the semester is quickly coming to an end I notice that when I have written my more recent papers, I tend to look for things like flow, transitions, and things like does it answer the question? Before this class when I would look over a draft all I would find is grammar and punctuation mistakes. Overall I think I have developed my writing ability, and hope to keep doing so.
Draft 1
The past semester has been more than helpful in helping me to develop my writing. My portfolio for this semester will contain my Proposal Essay, News Story, Application Essay, and my “This I Believe” piece. All have developed from draft to draft. Although some started out better than others, they all seem to have answered their individual prompts, and give good evidence to support it. Most of all I am choosing these papers because they all started out in different ways and they had different problems that needed to be fixed.
The proposal asked you to write a piece on something you would like to change that is local. Then recommend a way to change it. The News Story asked you to write a news story for a local paper that explains about a local event. For the application essay I needed to write an essay to a college or university of my choice, an answer their essay question for applying to their school. Finally the “This I Believe” piece asked you to explain a belief you have with details as to why you have that belief.
For the Proposal I had small problems with the transitions, so after I had fixed the transitions I changed my conclusion to better some up the paper. In the News Story I had to take away some of the information that made it seem like it had a personal feel, but overall it was on topic and had very solid transitions, and a good clear thesis. The Application essay was my best or one of my best first drafts. I spent the most time on this paper because I plan on using it to apply to that school this year. That paper was very necessary to get the feedback I did, especially in the peer review which helped me discover that it was actually off topic from the actual question. Also your comment on my blog pointed that out as well. However, my “This I Believe” paper was my worst first draft. The transitions were awful, I chose some bad examples to support my belief, and the paper had no flow at all. The peer review helped me establish a flow in the paper and by the final draft I worked in some good transition, and better examples.
As the semester is quickly coming to an end I notice that when I have written my more recent papers, I tend to look for things like flow, transitions, and things like does it answer the question? Before this class when I would look over a draft all I would find is grammar and punctuation mistakes. Overall I think I have developed my writing ability, and hope to keep doing so.
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