90 Reflections and Cover Letters

Most simply, reflection is the process of seeing something from a new perspective, like stepping back and looking in a mirror. Reflections on writing, in particular, are metacognitive processes in which you look back in order to look forward, as if the mirror were a time machine and you were a time traveler. Metacognition is, most simply, thinking about thinking. Written reflections, therefore, present an opportunity for writing about writing. Writers’ reflections can be styled as essays, posted as videos or podcasts, submitted to discussion boards, or included in the body of a cover letter that introduces or contextualizes your project.

Think of it this way: Someone picking up a basketball for the first time might make a 3-point shot without thinking about it or having any technique whatsoever; but someone aiming to play for the WNBA or NBA is going to analyze their form, study successful players, practice a lot, and look at video of themselves shooting baskets in order to reflect on  their technique. In short, they’re going to go “meta” or metacognitive as they improve to make more than a single lucky shot.

Cover letters (also referred to as reflection letters) are often written as short essays or letters to the reader to contextualize the writer’s work and their process (that is, they approached or understand  their most recent writing process in relation to previous and possibly future ones; they also show what steps were taken to produce the project).

For writing reflections or cover letters, your instructor might ask you to answer questions, such as:

• When you started this project, what did you do? Describe how or why you picked this topic, approach, or argument.
• What challenged you along the way? How did you respond to or overcome these challenges?
• On the other hand, what about your writing process felt easy for you and why?
• What rhetorical choices did you make and why? Perhaps you chose an informal style; why? What examples or elements from the artifact, narrative, or research did you choose to include and what did you leave out? Who was your audience? What did you assume they knew or did not know?
• What strategies worked best in your writing process and/or in the final version of the project? Consider how your drafts, notes, outlines, or other steps fit together as a whole.
• What would you do differently for future projects and why?

Such questions can be helpful at almost any stage of your writing process. Reflections, in short, help you become a better writer. For example, when many writers feel stuck at any point in the process, they ask themselves questions, such as: “What am I missing? Did I get my main point across? Are there any phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or sections that work well? Are there any parts that need further development?” Some of these reflective questions point toward revision (another stage in the writing process). When the project is finished or nearly complete, however, a new set of questions may be useful, especially in helping you do better next time, such as: “What part of my writing process was most effective or least effective, and why do I think that was so? What aspect of my writing process might be useful to other composing situations?”

Okay, that’s a lot to think about (but reflection is about thinking). Here are a few ideas for synthesizing your answers into a shareable form:

• Style your reflection as a letter. That is, begin with a salutation to an anonymous reader (To whom it may concern . . . Dear instructor . . . Dear committee members . . . or Dear me). Many writers feel most comfortable with this approach, which is one reason why instructors often blend reflection with cover letters.
• Introduce and contextualize your work. In other words, try to answer as many of the above questions as you can.
• Analyze your composition processes. That is, critically reflect on the steps and strategies you used in planning, drafting, composing, and revising. As you engaged in this process, for example, how did you incorporate feedback? If so, how? If not, why not?
• Reflect on your overall development as a writer. Can you describe any moments of insight or breakthroughs that occurred for you this semester as you composed this text and later ones?
• Articulate your learning. That is, be specific. Spell it out. What exactly did you learn in this class that you can use in future courses, in your career, in other writing situations, and in your day-to-day life?
• Discuss the challenges you faced during the writing process. How did you address those challenges, and how you might apply these skills and knowledge in the future? Project forward. For your next writing project, how can you use what you’ve learned? Can you transfer this knowledge to other composing situations, in or out of the classroom?

Before we finish this section, consider cover letters again. We’ve noted that writer reflections can be styled in a variety of ways, including as a letter. This approach often makes reflections easier to do because you’re working through the questions above and explaining them to someone else. (Remember Yancey’s comment about how useful this exercise is.) Here’s an excerpt from such a letter:

In this example, it’s clear how the writer pondered reflective questions, such as describing how she got started with the project and how she addressed challenges. In written reflections, says teacher-scholar Kathleen B. Yancey, “we learn to understand ourselves through explaining ourselves to others.” That’s metacognition in action, and it can help you become a better writer at any stage of your process.