In this assignment, you will write a 1 ½-2 page letter to me in business/block l

In this assignment, you will write a 1 ½-2 page letter to me in business/block letter format (format attached) evaluating yourself against any three of the course outcomes (listed below). This letter should reference specific assignments you have done in this class as support.
For each of the three outcomes, explain how–and where–your writing for this class does (or does not) meet the course goals, quoting or referencing specific assignments. You are, in effect, making an argument about your writing, so an ethos characterized by honesty, thoroughness, and thoughtfulness will be valuable. In addition to discussing the strengths of your work, you might also discuss limitations of your writing.
You are most obviously writing to me in the reflective letter. But let me make the following suggestion: imagine yourself as writing to an instructor of rhetoric whom you don’t know. That way, you will include a greater level of detail in describing your writing samples. The resulting descriptions will help you to connect your samples to the course outcomes and to decide precisely which portions of your writing you need to reference.
Remember that the final argument you make for your course grade will occur in your final assignments, so in writing this letter (along with submitting your final argumentative research paper), you are also advocating for the grade you want and think you deserve in this course. Please do not interpret this as a need to tell me why you deserve an A; the idea is to show me your work warrants the grade you hope to achieve in this course.
Assignment Objectives
· You are trying to understand for yourself both what you have learned (vis-à-vis the course outcomes) and how you have learned it.
· You are trying to persuade me (using specific support from your assignments) that you have developed a particular competence in three of the course outcomes.
Course Outcomes (choose three to address in your letter)
Rhetorical Knowledge and Purposeful Writing. Student work demonstrates an understanding of the rhetorical nature of writing and language use and successfully addresses academic and non-academic audiences by adopting clear and consistent purposes, as well as appropriate organization, tone, and format, according to genre.
[I understand this one is tricky, so here’s some help. Think about the work we did on understanding the rhetorical situation (audience, purpose, situation, etc.) in the Argument Analysis paper, the differences in tone, organization, and format between the Exploratory Narrative Research Blog (non-academic audience) and the more formal assignments (academic audience), how different disciplines and genres require different styles, and how your work reflects your understanding (or lack of understanding) of the need to make the most effective choices for delivering your message in any given writing situation. Purposeful writing comes from possessing rhetorical knowledge; if you don’t feel you have a solid grasp of concepts such as audience and genre, how do you plan to address this in the future?]
Revision and the Writing Process. Students produce multiple drafts. Student writing demonstrates careful revision in response to commentary from peers (when relevant) and the instructor.
Argument and Analysis. Students write persuasively and analytically. Student writing contains convincing arguments and is supported with evidence.
Critical Reading. Students read to inquire, learn, think, and communicate. Student writing demonstrates understandings of assigned readings, and when requested, incorporates outside readings.
Research. Student writing evidences understandings of citation and website validity, and avoids plagiarism. At the intermediate level, student writing integrates credible academic research.
Technology and Multimodality. Students function in electronic writing spaces, and use technology to compose, revise, and present their writing. At the intermediate level, students analyze and/or produce visual, audio, and online texts, while working half-time in computer classrooms.
Evaluation
This assignment is worth 100 points. Please see the attached rubric for requirements and grading criteria.
Do your best work, as together the final argumentative research paper and reflective letter add up to over 25% of your grade for the course and have the potential to significantly impact your final grade either positively or negatively.
My address for the Reflective Letter is (this is only provided for the headings on the block letter format below; do not actually mail this to me):
Lisa M. Spears
University of Colorado Denver
Campus Box A005/175, P.O. Box 173364
Denver, CO 80217-3364
Block Letter Format
5 Hill Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53700
March 15, 2005
Ms. Helen Jones
President
Jones, Jones & Jones
123 International Lane
Boston, Massachusetts 01234
Dear Ms. Jones:
Ah, business letter format-there are block formats, and indented formats, and modified block formats . . . and who knows what others. To simplify matters, we’re demonstrating the block format on this page, one of the two most common formats. For authoritative advice about all the variations, we highly recommend The Gregg Reference Manual, 9th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001), a great reference tool for workplace communications.
When you use the block form to write a business letter, all the information is typed flush left, with one-inch margins all around. First provide your own address, then skip a line and provide the date, then skip one more line and provide the inside address of the party to whom the letter is addressed.
Skip another line before the salutation, which should be followed by a colon. Then write the body of your letter as illustrated here, with no indentation at the beginnings of paragraphs. Skip lines between paragraphs.
After writing the body of the letter, type the closing, followed by a comma, leave 3 blank lines, then type your name and title (if applicable), all flush left. Sign the letter in the blank space above your typed name. Now doesn’t that look professional?
Sincerely,
John Doe
Administrative Assistant
Reflective Letter Rubric
Letter is 1 ½-2 pages in length, single spaced, and is in proper block letter format.
Letter makes a persuasive argument for the level of the writer’s competence and progress in relation to any three of the course outcomes, referencing specific assignments completed for the class as support.
Letter is clearly written, well organized, audience appropriate, and follows the conventions of standard English language use.
A – Letter meets all of the above requirements, and does everything exceptionally well.
The assignment is not just met, but taken to a higher level. Argument is clear, persuasive,
well supported by evidence, and uses language appropriate for an academic audience. The
writer does not just make an argument for having mastered the three outcomes, but
reflects honestly, thoughtfully, and thoroughly on his/her progress regarding each outcome
discussed. Letter is well-written, well-organized, and contains few or no errors.
B – Letter meets all of the above requirements, and does everything well. The assignment
is not only met, but is better than adequately done in most areas. Argument is clear
and fairly persuasive, supported by evidence, and uses audience appropriate language.
The writer does not just make an argument for having mastered the three outcomes, but
reflects honestly, somewhat thoughtfully, and fairly thoroughly on his/her progress
regarding each outcome discussed. Letter has good organization, and errors are minimal and
do not interfere with readability.
C – Letter meets most, if not all, of the above requirements adequately. The assignment is
met in the major areas, but some minor requirements (such as correct format) might be
missing. The argument is fairly clear, and the letter generally uses language appropriate for
its audience. The writer may argue for mastery of the outcomes without honestly considering
weaknesses, address each outcome too briefly without evidence of thoughtfulness, or offer
little support. Letter is coherent and organized adequately, but may not always flow
smoothly. Some errors are present and may interfere with the letter’s readability.
D – Some of the above requirements are met, but one or more of the major elements are
missing (letter is too brief, fewer than three outcomes are addressed, etc.) The argument is
not clear and not adequately supported. Letter is disorganized and contains inadequate
transitions. Errors in grammar and/or spelling are present and may interfere with the letter’s
readability.
F – Few or none of the above requirements are met/letter does not make an argument for the
writer’s competence and progress in relation to the three course outcomes/specific
assignments are not referenced.