December 12, 2013 Dr. Leslie Bruce Department of English, UH-435 California State University, Fullerton P.O.

Box 34080 Fullerton, CA 92834-9480 Dear Dr. Bruce, The purpose of this letter is to demonstrate that the documents within this portfolio showcase that I have excelled in all of the student learning outcomes (SLOs). The document I choose to focus on was a group memo, the included documents of the memo are: a pre-write draft, original memo, peer reviews, and the final revision. The documents are presented in the order in which they were produced and submitted. They are organized in such way so the revisions and organization are clear and concise. The first document is a pre-write draft of basic research done on all three magazines discussed in the memo. This document was written out of class using informal language. The informal writing is found in the bullet points and casual language. In this document certain aspects of SLO 1 and 6 are being presented in the prewrite draft, and supported with the informal writing. In the next document you will notice that the improvements and revisions to my prewrite draft were made while satisfying other SLOs The second document is the original memo that was submitted by my group. In it we fulfilled the requirements and aspects of SLOs 2, 3, and 4. We found, evaluated, and selected certain information to include into our memo to support our recommendation of the TIMES Magazine. Such information included that TIMES magazine provides a wide variety of topics and the price is $30 a year for 53 issues. The memo has appropriate citations as wells as sources to support this SLO. The citations included a phone interview we conducted on Yvett Garcia who works in the Deans Office of Student Life. A magazine recommendation was needed for a waiting room on campus, thus we organized our memo clearly and persuasively to address that situation. We included all the necessary information on each magazine then made a verdict on which was the best choice by including supporting facts. A supporting fact was that the brief articles in the TMES Magazine were ideal for the brief waiting times in the office. In our memo we ensured that we addressed the situation in a manner that demonstrated sensitivity to gender and cultural differences by not mentioning who the main readers of the magazine were. One of my strengths is gathering information, which was evident in this memo. The improvements that needed to be made were to include more examples and wordiness. Wordiness is one of my weaknesses which I strive to improve on every day. The next two documents are peer reviews on our memo, as well as a review we conducted on a groups memo. Both reviews were done in-class and follow the aspects of SLO 5. The peer review on our memo truly helped us asses certain problems our document had. Some improvements we made from the advice of the peer review were fixing grammatical errors and

including more evidence in the arguments against the Atlantic and National Geographic Magazine. The critique we conducted on a memo gave us better training on peer reviewing as well as helped the other groups memo. I find it extremely helpful when I get reviews on my work and often become aware of something I overlooked. I hope that after reading this letter you will understand how I have been consistently improving and following the SLOs. I believe that my portfolio reflects my growth as a writer. I am able to recognize my weaknesses as well as my strengths. Technical writing has been difficult for me at times, however it has taught a lot and made me a better writer.

Sincerely,

Karina Escobedo