Dear Josh,

As is the case for just about everyone I know, Writing 2 was just another G.E.
requirement I knew I had to fulfill to graduate. I’m very grateful that I had the opportunity to
take this class, though. This class taught me a lot about both my writing and writing in general. I
had never received much teaching on how to write papers well. In fact, based on what I learned
in this class, the writing instruction I had received prior to this class was not only unhelpful, but
detrimental to my evolution as a writer.
In fact, as I reflect on this class, it becomes clear to me just how necessary this class was
for me. Before this class, I would rarely write multiple drafts of a paper. We discussed this in
class before, so you’ve heard this from me already, but avoiding that step in the process was a
great hindrance to my writing. So when the idea was first suggested in class, I pretty much
scoffed. I had done pretty well in classes working with just one draft of a paper, with the
occasional paper getting two.
Then we wrote our first Project builder, and after finishing it, I read it over again and
realized it was awful. I knew that kind of writing would never fly in a college class, so I would
need to change my ways if I wanted to succeed. So I did. I rewrote Writing Project 1 and it
convinced me that this process was significantly better than rewriting my paper as I went. I still
do that to a certain extent as I write. If I know right away that a sentence or paragraph is terrible,
I’ll get rid of it and try again. I have, however, cut back on doing that, which I accredit to this
class.
Throughout this class, I’ve learned more and more every week about how to improve my
writing. I can only hope that what I’ve learned will be reflected in my writing. For this final
portfolio, I have revised Writing Projects 1 and 2.
In Writing Project 1, I decided to change my thesis, to change my whole argument,
because as both a better reader and a better writer, I felt that I could make the case for youth
sermon notes being distinct from traditional ones. I felt that with a better understanding of both
genre, genre conventions, and rhetorical situations, there was evidence that youth sermon notes
are their own genre. And while both sides could be argued, certainly, I felt this new direction for
my paper was better.
Originally, my Writing Project 1 contained almost exclusively conjecture. Now I’ve
included numerous examples of specific differences between youth sermon notes and traditional
ones. Luckily I was able to get access to a pastor’s sermon notes, a pastor whose sermons to both
youth and adults I have heard numerous times. Now having tangible evidence of those
differences, I’ve been able to show those differences better than I could before.
For writing project 2, I worked on shortening parts of the paper, to a certain extent. I did
lengthen one part, but I did more deleting than adding overall. In fact, I decided to delete an
entire section for two main reasons: it served little purpose in making my point, and it was a very
weak argument in the first anyway. Were the paper not supposed to reflect other papers in the
academic community of music, I would have shortened the paper significantly more. However,
since academic music papers tend to be dry and boring, I tried to reflect that in the paper, so to a
certain extent, it was necessary to keep the paper long.
 I also tried to incorporate more ideas that we picked up in the last few weeks, such as
concision (as I mentioned before) and coherence. Early on, both in my rough draft and my first
submission, I didn’t have a terrific thesis, and my evidence wasn’t great to back it up. In fact, the
last thing I wrote in my first submission draft of the paper was the thesis, because I wasn’t really
sure yet what I was doing. The idea of first-order thinking helped me quite a bit, though. I simply
wrote out everything I wanted to get down and then reviewed it to see what point I was making
in the paper. It was another idea I was introduced to in this class that helped improve my abilities
as a writer.
I hope as I go on from this class, I take what I learned and apply it to my future writing
assignments in other classes. Whether I’m writing a paper for a class I don’t particularly want to
take, a research paper in my chosen discipline (mathematics), writing a sermon as I serve more in
the church, or even working on my own creative writing outside of school, what I’ve learned in
this class will stay with me in all my future writing, and has made me a significantly better
writer.
I’m grateful to have taken this class, and thankful to have had you for an instructor, Josh.
I hope I make you proud with my writing. Best of luck in all your future endeavors.

Sincerely,
Carl Sloan