Self Evaluation

Self Evaluation Letter Write a direct address to your writing professor in the upcoming semester(s).  Describe your writing to them, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses, and discuss the areas where you need the most improvement.  Explain your writing process so that they can get an understanding of how you have taken a paper from inception to completion.  Your future professor should have a clear understanding of your current state as a writer and your ideas for getting better.  You may draft this letter in any form (I’d suggest modeling a business or personal letter template).  Generally, students who do well on this assignment have at least 2 pages of double spaced writing.    Reading and Research: What do you need to do to better your critical reading skills?  Do you skim a work to assess its overall meaning and purpose?  Do you look up unknown vocabulary as you read?  Do you make notes with observations or questions about what you are reading?  Do you understand close reading as opposed to reading for general comprehension?  Do you understand various types or genres of writing and how this impacts your reading?   Do you have a process in place for finding and using outside source material in your own writing?   When researching, do you keep track of your sources that you might use for your own writing?   Writing Process: What are my greatest strengths and weaknesses as a writer?  (Be specific!) Describe your pre-writing strategies (before you start an actual draft).  Consider the following elements:               –understanding purpose, audience, stance, form of writing, and voice              –freewriting, looping, and/or generating ideas              –Developing that parts of a thesis               –using an outline and planning organization Describe your revision process.  Consider the following elements and what you utilize, don’t utilize, and how you can get stronger:             –Utilize the Writing Center/Tutoring/Find outside readers               –Read out loud             –Read Backwards (sentence by sentence)             –Cut passive/redundant language               –Check your topic sentences individually               –Find general language and make it more specific              –Do additional research to add important elements or clarification             –Edit on the computer and with paper copy             –Match your formatting (Review MLA format in book or on OWL Purdue MLA website)               –Review the assignment sheet/rubric to make sure you have the required elements             –Re-imagine your paper and examine overall purpose and audience for your work             –Review each paragraph as an individual unit