May 12, 2016

Aseel Al Khafajy
123 Fake Street
Albuquerque, NM 87109
Elizabeth Benedict
The University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
Dear Ms. Benedict,
This semester has been difficult, but rewarding. After a small writing assignment, three major writing
assignments, and numerous Journal and Discussion Board posts I have learned a lot. The syllabus
introduced five writing concepts to master during this semester: analyze rhetorical situation, find and
evaluate information, compose documents, present documents, and compose in various modes. After
all my assignments I feel that I have a firm grasp of all these concepts. I can apply much of the
information learned in my future career as an engineer.
To analyze the rhetorical situation I have to understand my subject, audience, and constraints that will
determine what kind of document I will produce. The small writing assignment was a good start. I was
able to research the company I was writing about and writing to in order to understand my audience
and tone. With some online research I found the actual current manager of the local bike shop I was
asking to stock my bike line and wrote to her. With more research I found the Kestrel website and read
every word to understand their values and mission statement. Taking the tone of the Kestrel Company
was not hard once I understood where they were coming from. MWA #2 and #3 were a little more
difficult because Im more conditioned to writing research papers in an academic sense, but I was able
to mold my paper to a particular audience. The assignment instructions helped set constraints and
expectations. Understanding my limitations is always a good thing. I have a hard time writing without
first setting limitations.
This semester was full of finding and evaluating information. I performed a lot of research since the start
of the semester. The SWA had some research, but MWA #2 and #3 were very research heavy. I used a
variety of sources for MWA #2. There were plenty of books and online sources. All the information I
found was from a reliable source and the information was found in multiple sources. I felt comfortable
using all the information I found. MWA #3 was a bit trickier because of my subject. I wrote about social
media and a local Gallup event. Like I mentioned in my reflective letter for MWA #3 social media is a fast
changing environment and latest information would probably be best online. The problem is finding a
reliable source online. There are lots of social media websites, but only a handful are trustworthy.
Information about the event was hard to come by as well. The Ceremonial was started in 1922 and there
were numerous leadership changes so documentation is sketchy. I only found two written documents
that were written in the 60s and 70s. The information was solid because it was based on other research,
but it was dated. I made it work along with other recent information found online. The research
techniques I learned will come in handy. As an engineer I will have to do a lot of research. Being able to
find and evaluate information will be very important.
The most useful information I learned was about composing documents. I learned many document
types for this course. The book was very helpful in showing examples of various documents. Examples

were great, but the book went into detail about the various sections of a paper. This helped me
tremendously when I composed all my papers. This was especially helpful for MWA #2. It was hard to
organize my thoughts and keep the paper focused, so I kept referring back to the book for help. Chapter
8 was very helpful. I relied heavily on the bullet points that stated what specific moves should be made
in each section. The most helpful assignment for the semester was the unit concerning resumes and
cover letters. I enjoyed the Dracula cover letter assignment. This was very difficult, but helped me
understand what a cover letter should be. I learned that the cover letter should be in the you style and
emphasize what I can bring to the company. Ive been writing cover letters all wrong. I have been
focusing on me instead of the company. As I actually drafted a real cover letter for a job I referred back
to the Dracula assignment to format my letter. Chapter five will be very applicable to my future career. I
knew how to draft a letter, but I wasnt so familiar with memos or professional emails. This chapter
showed me how to format each and make it look professional. I refer back to this chapter often for
memos for my reflective assignments. This will definitely help with any future career. Understanding the
difference between a letter and memo will help me in my career.
Another objective Ive mastered is presenting documents. This was a new experience for me. Ive been
conditioned to a simple black and white academic format. Ive never used a different font or color in
final documents. MWA #3 contains the most different formatting. Im not used to using color, different
font, or including pictures. I have created charts and graphs before, but this was good practice. I played
with a lot of formatting on my infographics for MWA #2 and #3. I chose colors that would look
professional and fit the theme of the document. I stayed away from bright and unusual colors. My
infographics were concise and to the point. At first it was a little difficult to incorporate infographics into
my document naturally. I dont often use charts or graphs and I didnt want to force them into my paper
just to meet a requirement. I tried to keep the use of infographics natural and add to the paper. The
journal assignment concerning infographics was a great help. I was able to see what a good graphic is
composed of and how it can be best presented. Another good experience was my Power Point for MWA
#3. This was a great exercise in presentation. My Power Point was full of pictures and I had to choose a
background that didnt distract from the picture. My final background was a good compliment, but not
overpowering. This is somewhat useful for my future career. A well-crafted presentation will add to any
document I create during my engineering career, but it wont make or break me.
Finally, I learned how to compose in different modes. Again this was a new experience for me. Im so
used to academic papers that I no longer think about a multi-modal component. Like presenting this is
important, but not too important to a field in engineering. MWA #2 was my first experience with a
multi-modal component. I did two PSA posters that could be expanded to include many more posters. I
relied heavily on pictures and the information about creating a balanced document were very helpful. I
was pleased with my final posters. This information also helped my presentation for MWA #3. Again I
used many pictures to show the beauty of Ceremonial and I had to make sure my slides were balanced
with pictures and words. This isnt critical as an engineer, but it could give me a leg up. Not many
engineers know how to balance a document. Academic papers are the norm and a great looking
document will help me stand out from the crowd.
Overall this class was demanding with many assignments. I felt like there was something I had to write
every day during the semester, but it was rewarding. I learned a lot and many topics will help me in my
future. As an engineer I will have a lot of research, composing documents, and analyzing the rhetorical
situation. Presenting documents and composing in various modes will help, but are not as important. I
will be able to apply many of the techniques Ive learned in the future.