December 2, 2015

Dr. Leslie Bruce

English Department. Room: UH-435
800 N. State College Boulevard
Fullerton, CA 92831
Dear Dr. Bruce:
The purpose of this letter is to present and explain the documents that I have chosen to include in my student portfolio.
These documents help to show how I have successfully incorporated the student learning outcomes (SLOs) that have been listed
in the course syllabus into various aspects of my work throughout the semester. I have chosen six documents that show my initial
growth and overall accomplishments as a writer. The included documents are 1) writers notebook: working thesis machine, 2)
writers notebook: Blackfish group collaboration questions, 3) peer review editorial, 4) original editorial, 5) a revised editorial,
and 6) the cover letter itself. I have arranged these documents (excluding the cover letter) in order of weakest to most advance in
efforts to showcase how I have improved as a writer.
The first document that I have chosen to include is the writers notebook: Sheridan Baker Thesis Machine. The thesis
machine was designed to help form a credible working thesis for our editorials. This document satisfies SLO 1) Rhetorical Focus.
I believe this document helps show that I can write formally and informally. When I started this writers notebook I was unsure
which direction to take my editorial. With this working thesis machine I brainstormed different ideas to create a thesis that
displayed both insight and credibility. The initial idea presented in the writers notebook demonstrates my use of informal
writing. I used the five steps to brainstorm concepts that Baker recommended for creating a strong thesis. The first working thesis
that I created in this writers notebook was broad which allowed me to realize that I needed to narrow down my editorial
argument. As a result of this working thesis exercise I was able to create a formally written credible thesis that I used in my final
editorial.
Additionally, this writers notebook also shows I have met the standards for SLO 4): Organization and Focus when I
had first started my editorial I had a hard time choosing the direction to take my paper. I was passionate about the concepts of
conserving the ocean environment; however, I was unsure how to narrow down my editorial to one specific topic. The step by
step process included in the writers notebook: working thesis machine displays how I clearly organized an idea that could be
relevant to ocean conservation. It wasnt until I wrote out steps 1-5 in my writers notebook that I was able to ultimately form a
decision for a specific editorial argument. Ultimately, I formed a solid thesis that briefly explained the detrimental effects that
plastic has on ocean environments. More specifically, I discussed the recent ban that local grocery stores are putting on plastic
bags and why it is vital in the attempts to protect marine life. This writers notebook shows my abilities to organize and focus my
ideas in order to address a rhetorical situation.
The second document I have included is the writers notebook: Blackfish group collaboration questions which show I
have accomplished SLO 6): Collaboration. This writers notebook demonstrates the interaction that my profile group had with
our fellow classmates. This writers notebook demonstrates collaboration because we were able to combine groups and pose any
questions that we had in regards to each others profile topics. The opposing group voiced what they believed were important
topics to cover in our final profile. As a result of this, we were able to assemble a completed profile through the evaluations of
our classmates.
The fourth document in my portfolio is the peer review of my editorial. This document also achieves SLO 6):
collaboration because I was able to use the constructive criticism that my group member gave me to strengthen the original draft
of my editorial. My classmate had mentioned that I needed to expand on my counterarguments to support my research.
The third documents are my revised and original editorial which accomplishes SLO 5): Academic Language and
Design, SLO 2) Ethical Research, and SLO 3) Persuasive Arguments. My revised editorial meets the standards for SLO 5
because I changed the formatting of my editorial by adding topics above each paragraph to introduce what each section is
arguing. I also changed the placement of my pictures to make my editorial more aesthetically pleasing. It was also pointed out
that my original editorial was too wordy in some areas, as a result I eliminated any unnecessary content that took away from
the overall meaning of my paper. My original editorial also satisfies SLO 2 because this assignment allowed me to research a
topic that is currently subjected to debate. While researching this topic I gathered my content from credible sources which
allowed me to build reliable arguments. My original editorial additionally includes proper uses of APA citations which helped me
avoid areas of plagiary.
Lastly, I believe my revised editorial meets the standards for SLO 3) Persuasive Arguments. Specifically, the
concluding paragraph of my editorial is the strongest portion of my paper because it does an exceptional job of briefly covering
the important arguments and counterarguments that I presented throughout my paper in a persuasive manner. I hope you enjoy
my portfolio as a reflection of both my weaknesses and strengths as a writer.
Sincerely,
Temma Haywood