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. 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 thin