Dear Malcolm,

I started out this semester very unsure about my writing skills. My advisor told me that I
would only be able to sign up for UWRT 1103 if I qualified based on a test score from high
school. I thought I would have to be taking 1101 and 1102, but it turns out that I met the
requirements. I thought it might be a mistake, but I went along with it because I didnt want to
have to take two classes. In high school, I did decently in English class. I wasnt the best at
analyzing books, but whenever there were papers to write, I received good grades. I was never
really sure if my teachers just liked me and graded easy, or if I was actually any good at writing.
I didnt have a lot of confidence in my writing at the start of the semester, but I didnt
necessarily feel intimidated by the writing required for this course. Ive learned a lot of things
about writing, not just about the structure, grammar, spelling, and punctuation, but how to make
your writing your own and interesting to your reader. Ive learned that even the most famous
writers put off starting something until their due date looms closer. Ive learned that its okay to
have a bad draft because something great can come out of it.
The thing I most enjoyed about this course is that all of the work was compiled together
to create one final project so the entire semester was a learning experience. We learned, step by
step, how to develop a research inquiry essay. Instead of just jumping right into writing an essay,
there were many parts before that that helped formulate our ideas.
The literacy narrative was the first piece of writing that we submitted. This assignment
was helpful because it opened my mind to a new kind of writing. Telling a story in my formal
writing is not something that I had done before that could have improved my past works. It
provides a personal connection between the writer and the reader and engages the reader. I know

I would rather read a paper where the writer provided some personal insight which heightens the
importance of whatever the writer is writing about. I think it gives the writing more purpose.
We took several steps to develop our Extended Inquiry Project starting with the topic
proposal. This involved some initial research that showed why we were interested in that topic
and also helped me plan for the next step. The topic proposal didnt seem like a very important
part of the process, perhaps I could have gone without it, but taking the process in small steps
prevented me from procrastinating. The next step was the Annotated Bibliography. I think this
was one of the most important steps, but also one of the most difficult. This is when most of the
research happened. This step was useful because I found many of the important sources that
contributed to my final product.
As a person who procrastinates way too much, keeping the daybook helped me prioritize
and remind me of what I needed to do. It was helpful to write about the next parts of our EIP, but
besides that, the daily reflection was intellectually stimulating as well. It is not very often
anymore that class material really requires any in-depth thinking. The daybook prompts and the
blog assignments were interesting and really made me think. I regret not keeping up with my
blog throughout the semester. I missed a couple and then a couple more and it suddenly became
hard to catch up. But as I did the blog assignments, I appreciated the content that we had to
reflect on because even if it didnt directly relate to writing, it conveyed other important
messages. I think that a good class will teach you more than what is in the required curriculum.
Following all these steps was the EIP First Draft. This was our final product, but it didnt
seem so intimidating since most of the research had been started and I had an idea of what I had
to write. In the future if I have to write a big essay like this one, I would like to take all the steps

we took to develop our EIP. Ive never done it this way and I think it is a very effective way to
truly measure a students writing skills.
The most important work in this course was the EIP. It seems like the most obvious
answer, but I feel that the most work was put into it and I produced my best work because of all
of the preceding steps. It was actually fun and easy to write and I felt pretty confident about my
writing which had never really happened for me. I think that the whole process is a great way to
make all students feel more confident about their writing. It was rewarding to see everything
come together into one final product.
I think one of my strengths in my writing is good flow and well-written sentences. Ive
spent a lot of time trying to make my work sound as eloquent and engaging to read as possible.
The first thing I notice when I read someone elses paper is the flow of their paper and how it
sounds. Its difficult to imagine how your paper sounds spoken out loud when youre writing it,
but I think that is the key to writing a well-written essay. One of my main weaknesses is that I
have trouble organizing my thoughts. Sometimes I think if I rearranged the order of paragraphs
in my essays, it might sound more whole. I have a lot of thoughts and I spew them onto paper as
I think of them instead of structuring my writing. This is something I want to work on in the
future. One tool that helped me with this was the margin outline assignment.
Another one of my weaknesses is effective research. Im not much of a questioner
which is the biggest flaw when it comes to research. I feel that if I invested more time, I could
find better, more relevant research that would benefit my work. Throughout the course of the
semester, I have done a lot more thinking than I normally would have. This course required more
thinking and analyzing than other classes. Being able to think, analyze, and then put your
thoughts into words is an important skill that I will use in my writing throughout college and in

my future career. Writing is a very important part of academics and I dont think enough stress is
put on it because so many students are unsure about their writing capabilities. I want my efforts
in my writing to be appreciated, but I also want critical feedback so I can improve because it is
so important in college and in the future. Of all of the general education classes, I think this is the
most important one. I might not have thought this at the beginning of the semester, but I
definitely think that this is the case now. I also think that a students experience with writing
heavily depends on the teacher. I have been fortunate enough to have teachers who were
passionate about their students and helping them develop good writing skills.
When I was signing up for this class I thought it was going to be a boring writing class
because of what Ive heard from other students, but this turned out to be the best class Ive taken
in college so far. I think this is largely due to your teaching methods. You made me want to come
to class because it was so enjoyable. I thoroughly enjoyed the class discussions we had. I feel
more closely acquainted to other students in the class because of the relaxed atmosphere in the
classroom and it has resulted in several new friendships. If you ever teach another class other
than UWRT 1103, I want to take it. Its hard to find classes that I really enjoy and feel passionate
about. It makes me want to do my best on all of the assignments.
I want to thank you for all of the help youve given me with my writing. I had started a
couple of fiction stories for fun in high school that I never finished because I ran out of
inspiration. I think I could go back to those and have some more fun with them now that I know
a couple more things about good writing. I feel a lot more confident about my writing, which is
rare for students because the fact is: writing is hard. I have acquired a plethora of new writing
skills that will be very useful for the future. Writing will always be hard and I still have a lot to
learn, but now I am even more eager to gain more of knowledge about good writing.

Sincerely,
Elora Dash