Andrew Nunez 

Brooke Lundgren 

Composition 160

12/2/22

              Cover Letter

To whom it may concern, 

My experience with my first college English class Composition one was nothing but spectacular as it dawned a new light for me on how English courses are done. Before taking this course, my previous English classes had all been the same. They all followed the same pattern of reading a book in class then having to write an essay about it whatever the topic of the essay may be. I found English class to be very boring and the same and because of this I felt like I couldn’t really improve on my current writing skills. I had felt like I learned all I was really ever going to need however after taking this course I now know that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Due to this course I realized how vital it is to thoroughly analyze information as it can bring light to aspects of things you didn’t see before. Not to mention how important it is making multiple rough drafts to be able to constantly revise and make new versions and pick out better things from which draft you may want to make the best final copy. I feel like a successful aspect of some of the assignments we did was the organization and structure of an essay. My teacher thoroughly explained step by step and described what a body paragraph should consist of and look like as well as an essay. She described the thinking process one should have when trying to get their ideas across when writing and how organization is key to having a nice sounding flowing essay. A big aspect I felt was very successful was the research process. Before this course I had never researched a paper as extensive and long as I did in this class. I learned how important it is to use keywords when trying to find information as well as finding sources for which there are databases to help find the specific sources you may need. Also being able to accurately identify what are truly considered academic sources and not was a very nice learning experience that has helped me with my research in countless things besides just this class. 

When talking about my revisions for my essays this year I would like to go back to make some for the first essay that being the analysis essay. I felt like my conventions, specifically my MLA citations, could use some work. I had done that essay on a video and when it came down to writing the essay I had never truly done citations for a video in an essay so I made some mistakes where there should not have been when it came to citing the video. The examples I was using to backup the information I was presenting were followed by incorrect citations. Another example of this would have to have been the second essay, the bibliography. I wasn’t used to the tone for which I was writing the essay. I felt like the essay sounded like I didn’t really know who my audience was since I had never done an essay that just wasn’t describing the book to the reader. My tone, instead of reflecting someone writing for readers who know the topic and how these different forms could benefit certain aspects of perhaps a research paper, it was wordered as if intended for someone unaware of the topic I was even writing about. Creating a public portfolio was actually very enjoyable for me. I loved the idea that all the classes work over the semester would be online for everyone to see. This way you can see how different people approach different topics and organize their essays differently which is a very good learning opportunity to improve on your own work. I will say that knowing my work was going up for everyone to see did motivate me to produce higher value and quality work than I have ever before by constantly revising and giving more time to the research portion and thinking process. Now with all this being said when tackling the question if I believe I am ready to move on to English 170 I think the answer is a resounding yes. I say this because my teacher did an amazing job of thoroughly teaching us how to do a detailed analysis of almost any material we may be looking at and be able to use resources to find information you may need. Not only just using certain resources but how important key words can be when searching for a source that you need. Not to mention my teacher was extremely helpful with any question you had, so anything I was confused about she would work with me till I understood it properly. Due to all this it has made me much more confident as a writer knowing these new methods and resources to be able to keep on improving my writing. 

My attitude toward English had always been the same throughout highschool that it was a very boring non engaging class where all you do is read a book then write an essay. I am glad to say that my outlook on English has changed because of this class. I not only had fun in an English class for the first time but I was engaged in learning material that would actually benefit my writing, not to mention I enjoyed writing essays that just wasn’t about a book I read. Due to everything we had covered over the semester as well as the way my professor decided to approach the teaching material I do feel like I am ready for college level writing. Like I had previously talked about the teachings involving the research paper and how to acquire academically sound evidence have translated not only to my English work but as well as my other classes. For instance, doing a history paper has become easier when I am trying to find sources by using the tips and tricks taught to me in this class. Not only that but I have now gotten into the practice of making outlines and rough drafts for all papers I do as well as making sure the information I am presenting is cohesive and organized. There are books where you can keep on developing the skills I talked about today that will constantly improve any writer who is willing to put in the effort. I don’t plan on stopping to learn new techniques that will keep on improving and helping me grow as a writer and with that being said the next best thing to help me grow will be English 170. 

-Sincerely Andrew Nunez