The Final Reflective Cover Letter, addressed to readers of your Portfolio, is a piece of process writing in which you explain the ways in which your writing and thinking about writing have progressed, changed, or remained the same over the course of the semester. It introduces your project to the portfolios readers, and it gives them a "behind-the-scenes" glimpse of your work. It is, as the name implies, "reflective"--that is, it steps back and makes meaning out of your work. You should make liberal use of clear and specific information to illustrate and support what you say by referring to specific elements and passages from your essays.

The final reflective cover letter should include some references to and an evaluation of course activities and resources (peer group work, writing center visits, various components of the online syllabus and course material), especially to those directly related to the development of the final argumentative essay. It might also include references to your textbook. This is your opportunity to evaluate the course. Tell me what is an isn't helpful. What would help you learn more in future semesters?

Discuss how you got from the blank page to the essay that comprises your portfolio, how you went about dong research, and ultimately how you entered a conversation with your sources and developed that conversation into a lucid, well-crafted argumentative essay.

Your reflective letter should also address what your portfolio says about you as a thinker and writer and what it says or does not say about your writing and thinking development (or lack of development) over the course of the semester. In addition, you should consider where you plan to take your writing in the future. How do you plan to continue to develop as a writer and thinker?

Length: Two pages, typed, double spaced.