December 13, 2015

Octavia Cooper

500 Devonwood Rd.

Altadena, Ca 91001

Dear Ms Cooper:

I am writing you to inform you about my educational progress. I am currently enrolled in two courses at Pasadena City College for the Fall 2015 semester. I am taking English 1A online, taught by Professor Kirsten Ogden and History 1A taught by Professor Bradford Johnston. It is the final week of class and so far my progress has been good.

In English 1A, I have learned about the importance of authentic voice in the writing process. Authentic voice is the sum of my experiences, values, history, likes and dislikes which in totality comprise my identity. I am also attempting to meet the goals defined in the course Student Learning Objectives, SLO for short. Those goals are:

1. Write cogent, well developed arguments that clearly articulate a thesis supported by textual evidence:
2. Read critically by summarizing, analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating college-level texts:
3. Select evaluate, interpret and synthesize sources in service of an argument:
4. Document sources (print,electronic and other) in MLA style; and
5. Use effective strategies for prewriting, composing and revising essays.

Statement one means I must learn to write understandable arguments that support my ideas and those arguments should be backed by support from other sources. Statement two means that I shouldn’t read to read words. I should read to understand what the author is trying to tell. Upon completion of the author’s writings, I should be able to tell another person what the author was trying to say without referring to his text. I should be able to explain what the authors purpose or thesis was and should be able to say what the authors evidence was in support of his ideas and whether or not his evidence is valid. Finally I should be able to give my own ideas about what is written and support those ideas. Statement three means I should be able to support my ideas and arguments through my own research. I should be able to utilize sources available to me, Internet, libraries, articles and other sources to find and put together supporting evidence for my ideas. Statement four means I should give credit to those sources that supported my arguments in a formal, MLA style so that others may evaluate and critique my sources. Statement five means that I must understand and use techniques such as freewriting, logically organizing my ideas through outlines and drafts and reviewing what I’ve written through others and putting myself in my audience shoes. Freewriting is a technique of writing what thoughts as they occur without editing or stopping for at least ten minutes. Organizing your text gives the reader a roadmap to your thoughts. It allows the reader to anticipate what is coming and how it connects to what has been presented. Putting yourself in others shoes and getting other people’s opinions enables you to better be able to connect to your reader.

In History 1A, I first learned about the study of history. This focused on the techniques Historians used and the problems that confronted them. The we discussed the characteristics of different phase of western civilization history and the importance of those phases in the development of western civilization. My area of study started with the Bronze Age and ended with the age of Modern Science.

The reason why I am writing you this letter is to not only inform you of my progress but to encourage you to pursue education. Through my example, I hope you learn that it is never too late to pursue your goals and that learning is a lifelong process. I want you to realize that there is always something new and exciting to explore and that once you stop learning you begin dying. I maybe retired, but my mind isn’t. My mind needs constant exercise for excitement with the added benefit of preventing atrophy.

Sincerely,

Augustus Johnson

Your Uncle