Blog Post #55 - Reflection on Open Letter Draft

Wiertz, Sebastien. "Drafting a blog post on a saturday morning" 4/9/2011
via Flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic

For my peer reviews I looked at the following works:

• Brandon Goldenberg
• Mark Mellott

For the rest of this post, I will be answering some questions from my textbook explaining what I've learned about my draft from peer reviews.

• Who, specifically, is going to be reading this essay? Or who am I trying to reach with my argument? (My instructor, my classmates, members of my academic community, members of the local community, etc.)
• From out Project 4 assignment prompt we were told that our audience would be our peers in the writing class, as well as the instructor. We were instructed to talk directly to them in the letter, sharing our thoughts and feelings about this experience. My review comments suggest that I have succeeded in this aspect.
• What biases might my readers have? Am I respecting their opinions while also achieving my own purpose?
• As the letter is about me and my experiences, I would certainly hope there are no biases towards me. It is possible that my peers may have some bias due to them also going through the course if our experiences were to differ greatly. The potential for bias may also exist from the fact that they have been reading my writing in peer reviews so might expect a certain style/rhythm/tone, based on what I have previously produced. My review comments didn't specify any instances where I should a bias. I also did not get the impression that either of my reviewers had any bias.
• What are their values and expectations? Am I adequately meeting those expectations?
• We have certain things in common that bind us. We are all university students and we are all in the same class. Past experiences will certainly be different but the majority of us also come from the same culture and national heritage. So there will be some shared values and beliefs, but to fathom their individual preferences would be mind-boggling. As this letter is about myself, I would hope that their expectations are limited to how they perceive the assignment and the instructions that were given. After looking at the reviews I found that Brandon shared a respect for the military by thanking myself and others for our service. I received indications that my letter had met their expectations of how they understood the assignment.
• How much information do I need to give my audience? How much background information or context should I provide for them without insulting their expertise?
• Without restating the assignment prompt word for word, we were instructed to be open and honest about our personal experiences and visions of the future. I chose to relate my previous experiences to the difficulty I had in using the new methods and techniques we were taught. The story type feel of the letter was well-received and I got comments saying that. I also got the impression that I may have divulged more personal information than was expected but it flowed well and enhanced the overall tone of the writing. One suggestion I will be incorporating is ensuring I map out the lessons learned for better emphasis.
• What kind of language is suitable for this audience?
• We were instructed to be familiar but not informal. Due to the personal nature of the piece, I may have tended towards the more familiar side of this. According to the reviews though, this played well with audience. 
• What tone should I use with my audience? Do I use this tone consistently throughout my draft?
• Basically I retold a personal story and kept the tone consistent throughout. There may be a couple instances of "slides" outside the norm, but they played well with the audience so there was no confusion. By looking at my reviews, I would say that I've accomplished everything I was tasked to do.