Dear Dr.

Bruce,

Over the course of this semester, I have improved as a writer by engaging with this class’
six Student Learning Objectives (SLOs). This portfolio includes documents that demonstrate this
engagement. It contains three documents, organized from fewest to most SLOs covered: this
cover letter, the group charter from the research review project, and my revised definition.

The first document in my portfolio is this cover letter. This cover letter fulfills SLO #3,
persuasion, because it demonstrates my ability to make claims and then back up those claims
with evidence. It claims that the documents in my portfolio fulfill the six SLOs, then quotes
specific instances in the text of those documents to demonstrate how they fulfill the SLOs. For
example, it claims that my revised definition fulfills the rhetorical awareness SLO, then indicates
how my definition uses parenthetical definition to do so using an example from the text.

The next document in my portfolio is the group charter from the research review project.
This document fulfills SLO #6, collaboration, in two ways. First, it includes ideas and text from
my entire review article team. For example, each person was responsible for drafting a specific
section of the charter. After drafting the individual portions, we all proofread and improved the
compiled document. Second, it incorporates feedback from other review article groups. For
example, during the peer review, other groups informed us that our in-text citations were
inconsistent. We then fixed this issue for the final submission.

The last document in my portfolio is my revised definition. This document fulfills four
SLOs: rhetorical awareness, ethical research, organization, and language and design. It
demonstrates rhetorical awareness by using language suited to a scientific encyclopedia for an
everyday user, i.e. it uses clear language that defines its jargon. For example, when it uses
linguistic terminology like “inflect,” it includes a parenthetical definition that explains the term
in just a few words, which lets the reader know what the term means without digressing. My
revised definition also demonstrates ethical research. It uses several credible sources to back up
its information and correctly uses APA-style citations both in and after the text. For organization,
I separated my definition into sections like “Bases,” “Affixes,” and “Allomorphs.” These
sections each contain several paragraphs, each of which contains its own controlling idea and is
ordered in a logical way. For example, the paragraphs that describe the two types of base
morphemes come after the paragraph that introduces bases. Finally, my revised definition fulfills
the language and design SLO by using everyday words and grammar and by including bolded,
colored section headings that allow readers to find sections quickly.

Paying attention to the six SLOs in these assignments has allowed me to create and revise
effective scientific documents. Keeping these foundations in mind will allow me to communicate
successfully in my writing in the future.
Sincerely,
Kiyan Mullen