Letter of Rec. Assignment

Your final assignment for Poetry for Physicists a letter of recommendation. [Submission link].

Main information

You will write a 1-2 page letter of recommendation for one of your peers. Your peer assignment is listed on our internal page.

• Audience: write to Prof. Tanedo

• Goal: convince Prof. Tanedo that your peer deserves an A in this course.

• Format: I suggest using a business letter format. You don't need the addresses, but you should have the date at the top. See the "strategy" section below for suggestions on formatting your content.

  • You may want to use the UCR Letterhead. 

  • Those in STEM fields may want to practice using LaTeX to typeset their letter; a good way to start is using Overleaf templates. This can be a little technical if you haven't used LaTeX before.

Criteria

• You should use a combination of rhetorical strategies: ethos (your authority), logos (logical argument), and pathos (audience values). Be convincing.

• Use evidence: draw on examples from class to make your point. You may want to review your peer's intro video and and assignments, see our internal page.

Strategy

• Start by stating your goal.

  • Example: I strongly recommend that Scotty The Bear earns an A in "H018: Poetry for Physics" for Fall 2021 at UC Riverside.

• State who you are and why you are qualified to recommend your peer

  • Example: I have been a student in "Poetry for Physicists" for ten weeks and have had the pleasure of working with Scotty The Bear in this seminar.

• State how you are evaluating your peer. Reflect a bit on the goals of the class.

  • Example: Our class focused on effective technical communication. In this letter, I evaluate Scotty The Bear's expertise in technical communication relative to the average freshman at UC Riverside.

  • You can choose whatever metrics you think are appropriate for evaluating your peer.

• Give specific examples. Having a few examples with specific details is more effective just making statements. For each example, explain what they did and why it supports your goal.

• End with a quick summary and a direct call to action. The call to action should be reminding the audience (Prof. Tanedo) that your peer has done fantastically well and deserves an A in the course. 

Notes

• Usually letters of recommendation are confidential. For this exercise, the letters will be shared with the class. 

• You can use our internal page to review the intro video and work of your peer. (But please also include your insights from interacting with your peer during class).

• There are no restrictions on interacting with your peer! When you request a letter of recommendation, you're encouraged to strategize with your letter writer. You may want to ask your peer if there's anything they think should be highlighted. You may want to offer suggestions to the person writing you a recommendation. You are a team in this effort.

• Do not go over the 2 page limit.  Effective recommendations are direct because the reader is usually sifting through hundreds of letters. 

Why are we doing this?

In your week-by-week life at UCR, there is a lot of pressure to focus on getting good grades. When you graduate and go off to do exciting things, your transcript will be a small part of how you are judged. One of the biggest ways to stand out compared to other applicants from every other university in the world is to have strong letters of recommendation from your faculty mentors at UCR. 

In this exercise you get a glimpse of what it's like to be on the writing side of a recommendation. This will help you when you are on the requesting side of a recommendation.As you write, reflect on how you can strategize in the future to work with your mentors to write you strong letters of recommendation. What sorts of materials can you provide your mentor to make the best case for you? (Examples of your work? Reminders of things you did well? A few bullet points that that person is uniquely qualified to highlight in your application?)