What is the Cover Letter?

The cover letter is a short (1.5-2-page) informal reflection. In this cover letter you will detail what you learned during each assignment. Each cover letter should be pasted at the top of the corresponding essay. I will read your cover letter prior to reading your essay, so use the cover letter as an opportunity to communicate what you want me to know and notice about your writing. 

Why reflect?

One of the best tools we have for learning is reflection, which helps us to reinforce our knowledge. And that’s because our awareness of what we know grows and fortifies when we consciously build a vocabulary for naming and discussing what we know. A major goal of this composition course, then, is for you to reflect on your learning and writing practices, naming and discussing what you’ve learned. These cover letters will again serve this purpose later since you will be referencing them in your final Self-Assessment essay due at the end of the semester.

What’s the format and style? Cover letters can be written in essay or letter format Language differences are most welcome. Informality is most welcome. The most important thing is that you are capturing your perspectives, experiences, and knowledge, roughly 200-400 words (I will not check this, just a suggestion.)

What to include? In each cover letter, you should reflect on these questions (in no particular order): 

1. Who is your audience and how did you tailor your language and rhetorical choices to appeal to them and/or meet their needs?
2. What are some of the most meaningful insights you’ve gained in this phase (and through writing this assignment) regarding language and literacy (as topics you’re learning about and as practices you’re developing)? 
3. What concepts/terms have most impacted your learning and your writing practices (e.g., rhetoric; rhetorical situation; context; exigence; purpose; author; audience; text; genre; argument; evidence; something else)? How so? 

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