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11 December 2012 Dr.

Leslie Bruce Department of English, Comparative Literature, and Linguistics California State University, Fullerton P.O. Box 34080 Fullerton, CA 92834-9480 Dear Dr. Bruce, I have written this letter in order to display documents in my portfolio that shows how I have fulfilled the student learning outcomes (SLOs) mentioned in the course syllabus. The included texts are: a persuasive essay, a journal entry from when I had free time to review in a library what exactly I learned from class on that particular day, a peer review in which I reviewed a peers work, and a peer review in which I received criticism from a peer. Ive placed these documents in the order of the SLOs listed in the course syllabus to portray how I have gradually improved throughout the course and how much more enlightened I feel in regards to writing as an undergraduate student. The persuasive essay successfully fulfills the first portion of the SLO which requires a formal documentation. My persuasive essay is a formal document because it is intended for an audience that includes you, my English professor, and my peers from my English 301 class. My journal entry is an informal document because it was written outside of class and is a document I wrote for myself to help me with collecting creative ideas for my blog. My journal entry is only intended for my use and is written without any professional structure. Informal documents dont need structure and dont need to satisfy any specific audience which is why my journal entry works perfectly in this situation. The original draft of my persuasive essay had many citation errors. The next SLO that I satisfied involves how to cite correctly. In my original draft of my persuasive essay, I failed to introduce the authors correctly in the beginning of certain paragraphs in my essay. Without introducing the authors correctly, you are not building enough credibility with the audience which can harm your goal in persuading your audience. In my revised persuasive essay, I make sure to introduce the author that I am citing to allow the audience to know that I am using valuable information from a reliable source which can then ensure that I have provided credible information for my audience to read. My persuasive essay also has a counterargument included; however, to strengthen my paper I believe that I should include more counterarguments. My persuasive essay does satisfy the SLO requirement of comparing and contrasting my argumentative standpoint by forming a strong counterargument. In my original draft I felt as though I was lacking counter argumentative evidence due to the lack of how many opposing points I provided. In my revised essay, I made sure to include at least three counterarguments. The fourth SLO requires my paper to be organized and persuasive. I received positive feedback on the original draft of my persuasive essay indicating that I did indeed have a strong and qualified position. However, I was advised to check certain sentences within my paragraph that seemed repetitive. I went back and revised my persuasive essay to make sure that no information

was repeated in any portion of my essay. Making sure that no repetition occurs within my essay is a strong indication that organization is essential in a well-written paper. I made sure to keep my paper away from stating any kind of racial, sexist, or discriminatory remarks. I refrained from using improper or inappropriate language so that no reader can possibly become offended. Due to my cautious writing, I have fulfilled the fifth SLO which requires the writer to be sensitive towards gender and cultural differences. I received a peer review on my persuasive essay from Chris McLaren in my English 301 class. The peer review was very helpful in regards to helping me form more evidence on my argument and his criticism helped me notice certain features about my introduction. Chris suggested that I shorten my introduction and put some of that great information into one of my other paragraphs. I proceeded to then go into my persuasive essay and remove some of the sentences into the first body paragraph of my persuasive essay. Chris also informed me that my paper was very informative and persuasive. I personally reviewed Mechelle Haines profile and notified her that she needed to have a stronger thesis so that her paper can connect throughout more effectively. I hope you truly enjoy reviewing my portfolio that I have worked diligently on. I am looking forward to continue writing in my future classes and career as a better writer. Sincerely, Dana Malhas

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