Portfolio cover letter

Student’s Name

Professor’s Name

Course

Date

 

Dear UB Writing Program Facility,

I am writing in advance about an upcoming course, WRIT 300. Throughout the fall, I have been taking WRIT 200, with one lesson every week, for the past two to three months. Many issues and materials were covered in this course including analyzing various writing genres to developing in-depth citations, to meet the intended learning outcomes. This is a rather important course that most students should take to get critical skills in learning. Being an introductory course, WRIT 200 helps students, such as myself, develop certain skills, employ critical reading and thinking, and learn how to use different texts to acquire relevant knowledge for a specific subject. More importantly, we had several assignments to complete, each aiming to meet certain objectives and learning outcomes. 

The first assignment in the WRIT 200 course was about discourse community. Particularly, students analyzed and described the discourse community of their chosen professions to know about their professions and succeed. My discourse community is insurance. More precisely, my discourse community involves giving insurance policies to different people where they pay as individuals or businesses to receive financial protection or reimbursements during a crisis or disaster from an insurance company. In this assignment, students were asked to demonstrate extensive knowledge and understanding of their discourse community through continuous reading, writing, and thinking. The knowledge required in this case went beyond the definition but to the specific activities performed by the discourse community. Here, the assignment presented some questions that needed further explanations on how an individual can become an exclusive member of a particular discourse community, the values and attitudes needed to succeed, and how to associate with individuals in that particular discourse community. This assignment introduced the course and each student’s profession, similar to the foundation for the course and the final portfolio. For the first assignment, we were also asked to develop a training guide or handbook for new members in specific professions or careers to prepare individuals in the discourse community more efficiently. It helped me to familiarize with the course and improve my critical thinking and general writing styles. 

The second assignment in WRIT 200 involved writing a rhetorical analysis report. More precisely, it involved finding and rhetorically analyzing two different articles about a similar topic. This assignment was quite challenging. We had to look for two articles where one was intended to be read by the general public and the other by experts or professionals in a particular profession. In my experience, getting the article specifically intended for professionals in the insurance discourse community was rather difficult, but I was successful in the end. This task was challenging, but it showed me that determination and dedication are crucial factors that help individuals get what they want and succeed in their studies. In this assignment, we were to identify and analyze each of the selected articles using the rhetorical categories, which included the purpose, audience, tone, genre, and context. More importantly, we explored these categories and showed how writing to specific experts varies from writing to a general audience. Through this assignment, I achieved certain learning outcomes and learned how to read, write and analyze various texts written for different purposes, audiences and genres. Typically, this course’s second assignment was to help students identify, analyze, and compare the rhetorical features of different sources within and outside an individual’s profession. It helped students and readers know and understand the writing conventions used in different fields. More importantly, it furthered my understanding of multiple rhetorical situations and enhanced my writing and public speaking skills when addressing different audiences.

In my view, WRIT 200 is a challenging class but also an important course in the learning process. It has introduced us to critical ways of researching, thinking, analyzing, and reviewing different texts. Another difficult task in the course was creating an annotated bibliography and an executive summary. This assignment specifically was six pages, where I wrote four pages for the annotated bibliography and one single-spaced page or two double-spaced pages for the executive summary. Particularly, the assignment involved choosing any current issues or problems within our discourse community. My annotated bibliography focused on articles about the challenges facing the success of insurance services. I used five reliable articles from different sources, two of which gave an overall background about the topic. The rest gave specific details about the challenges facing the success of insurance services. I summarized and analyzed each article illustrating each source’s rhetorical situation, including the audience, purpose, and context. We also reflected on how the sources fit into the research purpose and the rhetorical situation context of an individual’s discourse community. This assignment was time-consuming and difficult since it required in-depth research and analysis. Nonetheless, it helped me to significantly prepare for the next course, WRIT 300, by enabling me to meet certain learning outcomes including writing, reading, and research and discovery. Through this assignment, I enhanced my skills and knowledge on how to cite different sources appropriately for different sources, and it improved my research skills, especially on the internet.

Fundamentally, WRIT 200 introduced students to different learning outcomes met by the end of the course. One of the learning outcomes that I acquired during this course was reading and writing, which are crucial in different social processes. I also learned how to give critical feedback to other students using various strategies for ethical incorporation. Students from the same discourse communities attended workshops. Feedback was also provided in the workshops and after every assignment—this improved communication between students and the instructors. Giving and receiving feedback helped me reflect on the skills that I have attained and those I need to improve. Working in groups improved student interactions and enhanced individuals’ understanding, knowledge, and learning outcomes. Consequently, this course has helped me improve my interaction and teamwork skills, and now I can work well with other students to achieve different learning outcomes.

My experiences and achievements in WRIT 200 make me an ideal candidate for the WRIT 200 course. In essence, my experiences at schools and learning outcomes achieved in different courses, mainly WRIT 200, gives me confidence that I am ready to start WRIT 300 as soon as possible. The skills and knowledge challenged and tested in this course have prepared me to be a suitable candidate for WRIT 300. Also, I believe that my current knowledge and skills will help me to participate accordingly and succeed in WRIT 300 as well as create a strong foundation for my career. With this in mind, I look forward to being in WRIT 300, where I will deal with various challenges encountered in the course using my current knowledge and skills.

In case you have any questions or want more information about my skills, experience and career achievements, you can contact me any time through (e-mail).

 

                                                                                                               Sincerely (Name)