Reflection on Open Letter Draft

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nf3lhUlSUB1eqBtiUhxWaSqTdg3QpeHEay17soabsWY/edit
Brittany Newland

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yBintIgT2yyZmEWEVSyBEGWTNh9R9wS7-A4gSq4edcQ/edit
Selena Carbajal

1. The letter will be read by the other students and by the instructor.

2. The audience will have an academic bias toward my work. They may also, purposely or not, compare and contrast the letter with their own. There may be mental or emotional biases, either favorable or unfavorable, depending on the experience of the audience during the course. Finally there may be a bias toward the subject of writing itself, depending on familiarity, willingness to learn, motivation to learn, and skill level.  

3. The values and expectations of the audience are reflective of their academic environment. The values they draw from in order to assess this kind of work, which include accuracy, honesty, enthusiasm and timeliness, are the standards to meet in the text. These standards, to the best of my knowledge, have been met in the draft and is apparent from the comments I received. As far as expectations go, the audience has higher ones than probably any other audience except media critics. The grammar and structure must be 100%. The reading value must be high and the subject interesting. With a few adjustments, taking the comments I received into consideration, I feel I can meet these expectations.

4. As long as the reading experience is an enjoyable/informative/enriching one, the appropriate level of information to give the audience has a wide range. Because of the nature of the text - a semi-formal letter about my own experience - I feel it would be best to give as much information as possible. After all, no one in the class knows me personally.  The content must be relevant to the subject, so there is a natural limit to what information I can give. I did mention a few things about my own life and how I feel about writing in general. I may add one or two others to add emphasis.

5.  I used language that at times was too informal, so I will replace certain phrases/words. A polite and open vocabulary shows the reading audience respect. I tried to use language that was friendly but not familiar.

6. The tone should be pleasant and down to earth, yet earnest enough to be genuine. In other words, not all good and not all bad, but honest. Using this same tone throughout in this instance is acceptable, I think. It ties in with language usage in the response to #5 above; tone and language very often compliment each other. My tone will not need revision.