My Cover Letter is the first thing the readers will see when they click on WRT 102.72. Below is my cover letter; and the link is right before it.

https://stonybrook.digication.com/benjamin_donofrio/WRT_102.72/

Dear Portfolio Readers,

While writing my papers, I encountered many struggles and influences. First, my Rhetorical Analysis was influenced by my own life and my love for music. A band known as Bastille has always had a special place in my heart, for their music has gotten me through a lot of tough times. So, I felt that their song teaching their audience about learning from their mistakes was a great song to choose from because I have made many mistakes. In writing this essay, I had some struggles with defining their specific message, for the song goes back and forth several times. However, with the help of my peers and professor, I was able to conclude their specific message into my thesis and further explain that message throughout the essay.

Second, my argument paper was influenced by the people around me. Every time the clock “sprung ahead” or “fell back” someone in my life complained or jumped for joy. So, I decided to write my argument about how beneficial Daylight Savings Time is. In writing this essay, I struggled with organization. Since Daylight Savings Time has an unbelievable amount of effects I got a little overwhelmed with information and struggled to organize it in a logical and coherent matter. However, I edited it several times and finally organized it into an easy-to-follow way.

Last, I wrote my research paper. I have always been interested in the medical side of life, so I started with an idea in the medical world. Then I thought about how my parents divorced, so I thought how that could have played a role in my development. Finally, I came to the conclusion of how divorce affects child’s performance in school since I am curious if there is any, and if I would have performed better (or worse) had my parents stayed together. This paper is where I struggled the most. It took a lot of time to find some concrete research on this topic and then it took me even longer to figure out how to incorporate that research without getting too scientific or statistical. Thankfully I managed to organize it in a way that had some statistical and scientific evidence but didn’t make it too complicated to understand by using direct quotes and paraphrased quotes to vary the sharing of information.

Overall, I enjoyed writing these papers. I learned many things about writing, like with grammar, punctuation, citing, etc; and many things about myself, like my writing style, how the best way to write for me is, etc;

I hope you enjoy!

Benjamin Donofrio