"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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