Portfolio Cover Letter

Over the past few months of this semester in ENC 1101 I have learned more than in four years of high school english classes.  During high school the english classes are made up of reading Charles Dickens and writing what you think the symbolism means and hoping you are right.  The assignments were also very constrained and limiting.  I felt excited to write in ENC 1101 because we were allowed to write about topics that interest us and there were no templates that we had to follow.  I have learned how to write towards an audience, recognize that different communities have a specific lexis, and that no one has the same writing process.  Throughout the multiple papers written for this class it has allowed me to learn as I'm planning and writing then apply the knowledge immediately. In order to understand rhetorical situations finding the audience the piece is intended for is important.  When writing a text to a best friend it is very casual and usually consists of abbreviations and inside jokes.  Whereas, writing an email to a professor is formal and uses a larger vocabulary.  People write differently depending on the audience in order to convey various meanings.  The formal email conveys respect and knowledge to a professor and the quickly worded text reveals how close the friendship is.  Before anyone begins writing they inadvertently think of the audience, but after that every person has a different writing process.  Going through this class my writing process is still very "cookie cutter" from high school, but I have learned that not everyone writes like me.  I assumed the way I was taught in high school was the only way, but now I see everyone has their own style.  By completing the peer reviews I could see how other people prepare to write and by reading the feedback on my paper I learned how my style differed from others.  Overall, this class taught me many things on how to improve my writing without me even realizing it because I was interested in the topics.  What makes this class so great is that I also learned to enjoy writing again.