As explicitly stated, the purpose of this letter is to document my progress throughout the course by arguing for the grade I believe I deserve; to aptly describe my writing process and development as a writer; to effectively provide evidence to support my argument; and to set goals for my continued writing success. Therefore, I honestly believe that I deserve a grade of A+ for the reasons that I would present in the succeeding portions.
First and foremost, I truly acknowledged that I have learned a lot in terms of discerning the differences in styles, forms, contents and techniques of writing one type of essay over the others: from the narrative, persuasive, creative, and finally, research units. I was able to appreciate writing a narrative discourse through the letter addressed to my family; specifically in areas where I expressed my personal and professional goals and how pursuing a degree from Loyola Marymount University (LMU) would assist in fulfilling these objectives.
In addition, through the persuasive essay, I was able to make a stand and affirm that I am against euthanasia, a topic which has been controversial and highly debatable even in contemporary times. I was able to clearly present balanced arguments by disclosing assertions of supporters for euthanasia and those who advocate against it. I finally reached my decision to express my strong objection for favoring euthanasia based on my faith and steadfast belief in the value of life.
With regards to the creative essay, I truly enjoyed writing the discourse due to its immense opportunity to express myself and include different literary elements, including some dialogue and a more prolific use of descriptive details. For example, there were more descriptive details through the use of adjectives that vividly pictured the setting through all of the senses: Sunday morning, smelling the aroma of cookies, banging of the bedroom door, licking the thick chocolate butter from the cookies, just to name a few. The events that eventually transpired within the creative discourse turned out to be riveting and suspenseful as readers would anticipate the climax to the story. I was immensely enthusiastic while planning for the events to unfold in this essay.
Likewise, the research topic finally proved to be the most challenging given the extensive information that needed to be included, cited, and referenced in a more structured and formal manner. The citing and referencing were more tedious in the research unit due to the significantly greater number of secondary sources that were required to support and validate the arguments. The research essay contained as much as eight (8) references; as compared to only three (3) references which provided support to the persuasive essay. As such, the need to reference the sources that provided effective support to the arguments had to be in the correct writing style. Thus, citing, quoting, paraphrasing and referencing still needs to be adhered to greater accuracy and effectiveness. Likewise, in all of these discourses, I affirmed learning the need to proofread, edit, and revise, as required.
In addition, I contend that I became more efficient in writing the thesis statement which was the main idea of these discourses. From this main point, all subsequent paragraphs contained in the body of the essay should effectively provide the needed support using transition statements and providing arguments that are clearly validated through secondary research. This phase was most appreciated in the research essay. In contrast, the persuasive essay also followed a distinct structure to ensure that the arguments were balanced. I observed that I have to provide rationales for arguments supporting euthanasia; and counter-arguments from those who are against it, like me. Making a justifiable stand was also effectively developed; prior to writing the concluding remarks.
I was honest in my progress letter regarding asserting that there is still a need to further improve on the development of my metacognitive skills. From the time that letter was written until this final requirement of my progress, I am convinced that there have been significant improvements in this facet; but still, areas for further growth and honing of these skills are affirmed to be a continuing process through more practice in writing and through delving into advanced writing subjects and discourses.
Overall, my future goals for continued writing success at LMU would be to openly embrace and welcome new opportunities to write a wide array of essays, research works, academic projects, and rhetorical assessments or evaluations of various literary works. I strongly believe that by being exposed to different forms and styles of writing I will be able to appreciate and compare how my skills have evolved through the course and how I could still improve on my grammar, choice of vocabulary, structure, style, and catering to the needs of the audience. I look forward to writing more varied essays and discourses which would be helpful in my future career.
