Dear Alanna,

I wanted to take this opportunity in the cover letter to reflect the sort of personal
progression I made during this academic quarter. Unfortunately due to the strike taking place I
am unable to express this in person, which is why this letter is being written.
When looking back to the beginning of the class one of the earliest class discussions was
on the ideas of a writer. Through that discussion we came to speak out about all of the common
stereotypes associated with writers, the fact that they are artistic introverts with little value on
social interaction. It is more than understood now that writing, like many things in life, is a skill
that anyone can use to their full potential. Writing is a form of expression that holds the ability to
bring one's creative potential to surface. While I’ve definitely learned new ways of expression,
analyzing text, revising text, and interpreting text, one of the remaining questions I have is how
do you know when you've lost your point in a long piece of writing? It's easy when writing
(especially passionately) to sort of ramble or simply draw away from whatever original point that
was being made.
The projects were absolutely the most memorable part of the class, while there were
memorable moments from discussing the research and work that was made I personally feel is
very valuable.
For this project I understand that it was a requirement to revise and rework both projects
before creating the entire portfolio. For the first writing project I felt that very little was needed
on the actual translation of my article, however my structure of the ode needed slight adjustments
to create better flow. Two lines at the beginning part of the poem were added to elaborate on an
image of the town and its communities' shared ideas. The next and only other major change that
was made was in the reflection. The change was that I chose to include the revision paragraph
that was written in class. When peer revisions took place for that project, the advice I was given
was rather helpful and as a result I felt it needed a place in the reflection essay. To be more
specific the problem was more elaboration on particular lines in the ode, which were the other
changes I made in the first project. I would also like to include how fun the first writing project
was, it was a fresh and new way to a writing project that I had never done before. Prior to the
first project I had never really known how to properly research anything, especially when not
being on any particular subject. Although intimidating, when going to lecture and being taught
properly I was able to utilize the school's online resources to find a unique article that in turn
helped with the project as it gave me genuine passion and interest in what I was writing about.
For the second writing project I personally felt that due to the constraints of the eight
page limit, I was able to portray the ideas of my article and the question of “Does technology
have any effect on learning grammar in the classroom?” quite thoroughly. Even when having
peer revisions in class I received more positives than negatives about my writing. Although
surprised, when looking back over the project after a substantial amount of time my thoughts
about the piece remain relatively the same.
 Speaking on the topic of revisions, I would have to say that would probably be the most
helpful tool I improved through this class. Before this class I saw revising as an activity done for
the writer and writer only. It wasn’t until giving other classmates my work to critique and
revising their work that I came to understand the power of helping. Regardless if my work has an
issue or if the person you are helping has an issue in their writing, you are able to use a form of
critical thinking that in turn makes you reflect on your own writing. Whether it takes another
classmate to point out the obvious run on sentences, highlighting an entire paragraph because it
doesn't make sense, or even simple grammatical errors. After even having one other person look
over my writing I realized that consequently my writing can only improve.
Another memorable moment, while not planned, was when the strike occurred about
halfway through the quarter. As a result of the strike we had to finish the rest of the class online.
While this can easily be labeled as another problem, I simply saw it as a sort of trial to see if we
were able to implement the skills we learned earlier in the quarter.
Although being just a freshman in college, this English class taught me how to use an
online library for research, how to analyze and interpret given information, and how to create a
piece of writing that is truly unique and expressive. When approaching new writing projects in
the future, whether it is next quarter or years from now there will always be a callback to this
class when it comes to writing.
Again Miss, I would just like to express my gratitude for having you as a teacher and
teaching me what it means to be a writer, produce quality writing, and to embrace help from
other writers. Although the school brought unforeseen obstacles, the lessons that are going to be
taken from the class will last a lifetime.

Best Regards,
Aidan Manzano