Writers Inventory Letter It is common for students in composition courses at the college level to complete a Writers Inventory Letter assignment, sometimes called a self-reflective letter which is described below. Goals & Grading Criteria Your instructor will be grading this assignment based on the expectation that you will produce a polished, organized, convincing letter that discusses both your strengths and your weaknesses. Your audience is your instructor and the letter should be addressed to her/him (using her/his first and last name). Your instructor will explain the format you should use, and s/he may decide to show you sample letters and workshop your drafts. * Letters should be block format, no shorter than one full page, no longer than two. See attached examples Evaluate your progress honestly and thoroughly. Your instructor does not expect that you have learned all there is to know about writing in 2030, or that you have mastered every single concept in the course many of them will reappear in other classes. And so, rather than trying to convince your instructor that you are the ultimate writing rock star, it is more important to demonstrate that you have a clear understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. To demonstrate that you have a clear understanding of your strengths and weaknesses, you will make specific claims about your writing, supported with specific examples. You will also need to address a balance of higher-level (argument, topic development, thesis, organization) and lower level (citation, grammar, punctuation) issues. Also, remember that you are evaluating yourself as a writer and reader you will have a chance to evaluate the course and the instructor in a formal course evaluation provided by the university. Tips on Writing the Letter Here are some steps to producing to a successful Writers Inventory Letter: 1. To begin, make a detailed list of all the various writing abilities and skills you feel you: (1) have mastered or made good progress on; (2) have improved upon but still need some work; and (3) will need more/significant work in the future. 1. Expand each concept give specific details to make your point clearer. Remember to address both big concepts and small concepts. good example: I am struggling with making my sentences clearer, as I often place too many ideas in one sentence. {specific claim about writing} I noticed that in the genre analysis and in the argument analysis I struggled when I had to concisely summarize the genre or the argument. {specific example related to claim} I believe it was challenging because of my sentence structure. I now know to cut as many words as possible when I revise. Its okay if my sentences get too short. Id also like to make it so my sentences are not all similarly structured {specific claim}, but Im not quite sure how. Once I shorten my sentences, and improve clarity, they often sound the same {specific example}. My plan is to give myself more time in the future to revise solely for this issue. inadequate example: My sentence structure needs work. 1. Decide how to best order your letter. Then, transform your list into a polished, organized, convincing letter that highlights your strengths and weaknesses. Things to consider in your Reflective Letter: 1) My comments on all papers. 2) Assignment Sheets, look at the requirements and grading criteria for each. 3) Peer comments on all papers. 4) All drafts of every assignment. 5) Syllabus 6) Free-writes, notes, handouts, etc. Things that should be included: 1) Honest evaluation of your own strengths without attempting to prove you are the worlds best writer, and honest evaluation of your own weaknesses without bashing yourself. 2) Specific claims about your writing supporting by specific examples. 3) A mixture of discussion about higher level and lower level writing issues. Things to avoid: 1) Do not argue for a grade, this is not the point. 2) Do not just summarize what you did this semester. I want analysis not summary.