Dr.

Leslie Bruce
California State University, Fullerton
800 N. State College Boulevard
Fullerton, CA 92831

Dear Dr. Bruce,

I truly do enjoy writing, but I knew that this class was going to have a completely

different approach to not only writing, but also the English language in general. I think that I was

slightly right, but also wrong at the same time. I can confidently say that I am a better writer than

I was before I took this course. The course was not easy by any degree; however, I think that it

was worth it so I could truly mature as a writer.

The core elements of this course were the six student learning objectives: rhetorical

focus, ethical research, persuasive arguments, organization and focus, academic language and

design, and collaboration. My mastery of these six learning objectives would serve as a

testament to my growth as a writer.

Writing the extended definition was no simple task, and I found myself at a roadblock

before I had typed one character. I overcame this hurdle, mainly by studying encyclopedias and

learning the format and rhetorical focus that most achieve. Writing my own extended definition

allowed me to master a more formal rhetorical focus, while writing the peer review sheet for one

of my classmates helped me master more of an informal rhetorical setting. I had to be completely

factual and concise in every single statement in the extended definition, while also explaining

key terms that an average person would not know. On the other side, for my peer review, I had a

much friendlier sense of tone and was giving more opinions and less facts.

My mastery of ethical research was achieved with ease from completing the extended

definition assignment. I had to learn to cite things exactly how Wikipedia would have, using
mainly the numerical citation which was very different from the strict MLA citations I have been

taught. My extended definition paper ended up having the most sources I have ever used for a

paper. I had to do in depth research, reading countless peer-reviewed journal articles, which I

know will help me in my future profession and in medical school. The learning objective of

persuasive arguments was also mastered through the extended definition paper as it forced me to

write a persuasive definition where I had to consider opposing arguments and how my definition

of the word disease effected other cultures.

My mastery of organization and focus can be shown through both my extended

definition, and my peer review paper. I had to form the structure of the extended definition to

tailor to an encyclopedia which would fit the rhetorical focus. The same applied for my peer

review paper as I had to communicate my thoughts about my peers paper thoroughly. Academic

language and design was a tougher objective to master because of how consistent it needed to

be. I had to make sure I did not have any type of bias in my extended definition paper, and that I

was very careful that I was only stating factual things and nothing that would offend another

culture.

Lastly, was how I achieved mastery of the collaboration learning objective. It truly came

with my peer review paper, as I was collaborating with another peer to not only improve their

writing, but also to read and learn from my peers paper and further develop my own.

Sincerely,

Nofil Nizamuddin
December 9, 2017