Kelly Rueda

English 363 MW 10:00 AM

2 December 2019

Cover Letter

My annotated bibliography that I had done for the CRISPR/Cas-9 system

effectively satisfied SLO #1 Rhetorical focus, SLO #2 Ethical research, SLO #3

Persuasive Arguments, SLO #4 Organization and focus, and SLO #6 Collaboration.

This paper allowed both scientific and non-scientific readers to understand the

processes and mechanisms behind the CRISPR/Cas-9 system. It was also very

persuasive as to why CRISPR/Cas-9 is so important to understand not only for the

future of cancer therapy, but also for the future of other medicinal and human genome

editing. The annotated bibliography was organized in such a way that it allows the

reader to first flow into the basic understandings of the CRISPR/Cas-9 system and how

the process works, then it slowly moves into the effects it has on cancer treatments and

why it is a better alternative to chemotherapy and radiation. Then finally the annotated

bibliography ends off with the reader thinking about how the CRISPR/Cas-9 system can

lead to more unresolved questions about the future germlines. Writing this annotated

bibliography allowed me to be able to not only improve my writing skills, but also that of

my two other partners who helped write the paper. Together, all three of us could

bounce ideas off each other and ask questions about grammar and how the flow of the

paper is easy to read, yet still has the academic language needed for the paper.

The Definition Prompt that I wrote about apoptosis also met the SLO #1

Rhetorical Focus, SLO #2 Ethical Research, SLO #4 Organization and Focus, and SLO
#5 Academic Language and Design. This prompt allowed readers of all types of be able

to fully understand the process and the benefits of apoptosis while giving them the

ethical research. The organization of this prompt is for the reader to first understand

how apoptosis was first discovered then it flows into how it works and how it is

necessary for everyday functions. Being able to read and internalize research and

translate it into academic language that is accessible for everyone was a challenge that

I struggled with. It was difficult to be concise with the information, but still having to try to

prove all necessary information needed for the reader to understand the prompt.

For future papers to be added to my portfolio, I think I need to keep working on

being able to be concise but not repetitive. It is hard for me to say some things more

than one way without it sounding repetitive, but this class helped me better myself

without overthinking it too much. For my future career, this portfolio made me

understand the benefits of being able to read many research papers and be able to

understand the main points.