"grA+de plus only"
Unit 15: Lecture Notes This letter should provide a sense of closure on the semester and a forum for you to think about the
course and your writing in the future.
As noted in the assignment portion, you have many options in terms of the focus of this letter. You may
discuss any of the options listed (under “Assignment”), or a combination of several of those options, in
your 2-3 page letter.
The following is a student example of the Letter to the Instructor:
Dear Prof. Land:
Over the course of the semester, we have studied a variety of styles of writing, from the
perspective paper to the
research paper, from the personal narrative to summary/strong response. Now is the culmination point
of all our hard work
over the last seven weeks. I believe my perspective paper, my research paper, and my personal
narrative were my three best
works of the semester. I hope that have given you a sense of who I am as a writer and a person,
because if there is no life, no
soul to my writing, then it is nothing but a bunch of words splashed on paper.
The first paper I will discuss is my perspective paper. Our assignment was to find a place on
campus and just take
twenty to thirty minutes to record observations about our place. I’m very happy with the way this piece
turned out. I tried to
use many action verbs, like in the phrases: “the graceful animal leaps high into the air” and “the brown,
parched grasses
helplessly reaches skyward.” I wanted action verbs in my descriptions so that readers could actually
hear the birds chirping
and feel the heat of this sun beating down on their necks. I also wanted to incorporate all the tools of the
Writer’s Toolbox,
especially figurative language. I used similes to make comparisons between what I was seeing and
other, finer aspects of life.
For instance, “Insects create beautiful music with their buzzes and chirps; it is like that are playing in an
orchestra.”
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The second part of the perspective paper was the rhetorical analysis. I found this part to be fairly
easy because I
understand my writing and am able to explain what I am doing. Basically, we were supposed to talk
about the specific
elements of the five rhetorical tools that we used in our descriptions. I have had a lot of practice in this
form of writing, in the
English classes I took during high school, so I think this turned out very well. The two descriptions of my
place incorporate
some of the exact same details, but give them in a completely different light and create the opposite
impressions, as outlined in
the assignment. I also think my rhetorical analysis is very concise in explaining the techniques I used in
my writing and how I
was able to create the intended feelings in the reader.
The next paper I am proud of is my research paper. Of all the assignments this semester, the
Explaining a Concept
Research Paper was the most inherently difficult to complete. I started off with the topic of Pez candy,
but I had to scrap that
topic almost immediately because of an utter lack of information regarding the topic. Next, I tried golf
balls, but again, there
was no information to be discovered. Thank goodness I heard a couple of guys at the video store talking
about the party they
were going to over the weekend, or I never would have decided on a topic. The thought of partying
college students prompted
me to settle on the topic of binge drinking. As can be imagined, there was a plethora of information on
this topic, so much so
that I had to narrow the focus of my paper and be very selective in choosing my sources.
Upon narrowing my focus to binge drinking on college campuses, I found information regarding
several studies done at
college campuses around the country, and a specific study done at Northern Illinois University. These
sources gave me the
usual percentages of student who binge drink and the effects of binge drinking on the college as a
whole. But the interesting
fact I found was that the actual percentages of binge drinking students are much less than perceived.
The study done at
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Northern Illinois distinctively determined the cause of this discrepancy comes from the idea that
“everyone is doing it” and
students get pressured into drinking from this outlook by “imaginary peers.” Overall, I think I did a nice
job of combining all
the information I gathered into one united piece of writing.
The last essay I’d like to discuss is my personal narrative, detailing a significant time in my life. I
chose basketball
tryouts my eighth grade year because that’s when I discovered my true love of the game. Of all my work
this semester, this
piece is my favorite. It’s my favorite because the specifications of the assignment were pretty general.
As long as the topic
somehow influence our lives, then it was acceptable. The rest of the paper was completely up to us as
writers, and I seized the
opportunity to allow my personality and unique writing style show through. I used dialogue between
characters a lot to help
move the story along, I give just enough background information to set up the scenario, and I reflect on
the situation without
giving the corny “From this experience, I learned . . . “ that we’ve all seen a million times. Overall, I really
liked out this piece
turned out.
To sum it up, this has really been a great class to take my first semester back in school. It got me
back into the flow of
writing after being idle for several years, and now I feel ready to tackle bigger and better things. I also
learned a lot about
myself as a writer, improved my transitions, and learned how to really “show” a reader in my writing
instead of just “telling”
them. I truly enjoyed this class and feel it was a great benefit to me. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Jason Smith
Page 3 of 3Unit 15: Lecture Notes: ENGL 1204 English Composition I Spring 2018 B3 29413 Land
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