Cover letter instructions:
Here you will prepare a one (1) page cover letter related to the main writing assignment in this course: the Extended Summary.
Cover letter format:
Your cover letter must contain four (4) paragraphs:
Paragraph 1: An explanation of the changes you made to the original document you submitted, summarizing the changes you indicated in the feedback reflection exercise and also the changes you are making now based on the feedback you received from your peers AND/OR from what you learned by reviewing your peers’ work (good things they did that you want to replicate; mistakes they made that you want to avoid).
Paragraph 2: Thinking About Audience and Genre
Your audience for this writing assignment are fellow biologist. How will you adapt your prose style and your content to this specific audience?
What is the genre in which you are being asked to write? Do you understand the conventions of this genre? If you do not, how do you go about finding out more about this genre and your professor’s or the discipline’s expectations?
Paragraph 3: Applying a Professional Attitude to Your Writing
How would you describe your persona (or ethos) that you will present in your writing? How will you sound confident to this audience and/or in this genre? How will you seem an authority on the subject? In what ways can your persona reflect the discipline’s expectations? (For example, in academic writing you show confidence and increase credibility when you provide legitimate sources for your facts and you clearly explain the studies that produced those facts.)
How did your attention to research (if required), revision, and editing ensure that you seem careful and professional?
Paragraph 4: Making Time for Feedback, Revision, and Self-Editing
Often unsuccessful or ineffective writing is the result of the writer neglecting revision and editing. Effective writing can take some time. For example, have you practiced drafting smaller pieces of a larger writing project? Have you made brainstorming notes or an outline to help gather your thoughts and ideas? Have you received feedback on your writing from outside readers? Have you looked at examples or models to help you understand this particular genre?
In what ways might you use the self-editing procedures that you learned about or will learn about in the previous module? Have you asked a peer or family member to read your draft to give you some feedback? Did you set the paper aside and then go back to reread it with fresh eyes? Did you practice reading your writing aloud? Did you apply feedback you have received on a previous writing project to this one?
