Self-Evaluation for English I

General Procedures: In this particular area of English class, I think that I have done quite well in. I come to class everyday with my book, notebook, laptop, and pencil or pen. I very rarely use the restroom in the middle of class, and when I do ask, its because I realllyyy have to go! I usually email Dr. D my assignments that are due that day, but sometimes they are late because I forget or my email doesnt work.

Lecture, announcements, whole class discussion: Alright, so this section is kinda rough for me. I get distracted easily so I start talking about something else with my neighbor. Dr. D usually tries to put me by someone who I wouldn't talk to, but I usually end up saying something. Other than that, I feel like I take good notes and participate in a reasonable amount of whole class discussions.

Individual and Group Work: I try to stay on task individually and while working in a group. Most of the time, I prefer working with one person, or myself. It just seems like the experience that I have had in the past couple of months makes me feel like I cant depend on other group members anymore. But when I am in a group, I try hard to get a long with them and try to make everything fair between us.

Growth: I know for a fact that I have grown this year. I have learned more and more about my classmates and how they work, and focused on more important things in this class. I think that I have become quieter in class and stopped talking out of turn and hope that I can stay like that because it helped me pay attention in class.

Outside Reading This Year

This year, I have learned that I am a very picky reader. It's almost impossible for me to read a whole entire book unless its really good and I cant put it down. I think I read two full books this year without quitting. This surprises me because when I was little, my parents wouldn't let me quit books. 
I usually look at themes in my books that I read, and sometimes look for wordly wise words in the book too. The book I am currently reading is The Lucky One, by Nicholas Sparks. I think the next one on my list of books to read is going to be We Bought A Zoo. I am not sure who it is by Though there was a lot to learn, it is helpful and will be for the future years. , but I saw the movie and I LOVED it! 
I am so upset to see that the year has flown by so fast, but it just means that we only have three more years of high school left. I think that I have been prepared this year more than any other year in my years of English class.

Lady Macbeth's Perspective

I just want to be queen. Thinking about the fame. The riches. It's something that every girl wants, right? Just imagining myself sitting in that throne is a rush of joy. Is my husband lying to me? Has he gone crazy? Or is it true, that three witches told him this? I am so ready to kill this man, Duncan. He is the king as of right now, but not for long.

I dont even think my husband can handle this. He is a wimp and can't handle killing just a few men! I guess he is scared that he will get caught. But the thrill of being queen is just the thing that turns that part of my brain on to kill the king. I need to get it into his head that it is time to be a man, and fight for what we want. Risks are the most effective in this process. I just can't wait to be queen.

Common Errors Checklist!

1. Direct Quotations:

Periods and commas must go inside of the quotation marks or go after the parenthesis. 

Ex.) "The pencil broke!" (33).

2. Comma Splices: 

The use of a comma to join two independent clauses instead of a conjunction, semicolon, or period

Ex.) It rained all night, in the morning the roads were flooded--> It rained all night. In the morning the roads were flooded.

3. Sentence Fragments:

An incomplete sentence; a phrase or clause that is punctuated and capitalized as a sentence but does not constitute a complete grammatical sentence

Ex.) At the conclusion of the summer program, in which all the summer bands competed in from of professional artists and musical judges to determine the reigning top band

4. Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement:

A singular antecedent requires a singular pronoun. A plural antecedent must be referred to by a 

Ex.) I think about the scenarios the artist was writing about in their songs. 

5. Run-ons:

An ungrammatical sentence in which two or more independent clauses are conjoined without a conjuction

Ex.) I knew whatever mistakes I made, the music and my band would have my back. 

6. Misspelled Words:

-negatively 

-adultery

-disbelief

English Reflection!

Throughout the past year, I have pushed and prodded myself to face more challenges. I have used new styles and techniques that I previously could not have imagined myself using.  While attempting to improve all aspects of my writing, there were times that progression declined and my grades fell due to distractions. Having a busy schedule accounted primarily for my digressions from schoolwork.  I often consider writing to be one of my greatest accomplishments. Looking back through my papers and essays from this year, there are many issues I now see that I would change. This year, I have learned a variety of techniques of writing that will help me in the future. I have grown as a writer and as a student and feel that my writing may still be improved in many ways.

The first assignment this year was the literacy narrative. Initially, I found the assignment confusing because I did not understand what was being asked of me. I had not understood that the purpose of a literacy narrative is to tell the story of how a composition has been created. Ultimately, I wrote the paper twice. The first time, I wrote it incorrectly; it did not fit the defined criteria for a literacy narrative. The first draft was about my journey to music camp, whereas it should have been about my song writing process. The second attempt of the literacy narrative was an improvement. Although my final grade slightly disappointed me, it encouraged me to try harder on the next assignment.

A ‘profile’ essay about a closely related person or place was the next paper assigned. I chose to write about my father. Although I found this paper to be much easier than the literacy narrative, I had trouble in one category. My lack of organizational skills resulted in my grade dropping by three points. I had stated my ideas sporadically, as their placement made little sense. Aside from organization, every I did well in every other category. My final grade ended up being eight percent higher than that of the literacy narrative. I had progressed as a writer, but still needed much improvement.

After my improvement on the profile, it disheartened me to discover that my final grade for the following assignment, a literary analysis, was two percent lower than my previous grade. I faced a few problems while writing this essay on account of my inability to find a short story in time. Once I realized that “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” would work perfectly, I began the writing process. While reading back over the literary analysis, I realized that my writing skills had decreased over time. The beginning of the paper was organized, my voice was sophisticated, and my ideas made sense. However, towards the end of the paper, the writing was sloppier. I was not proud of the final grade, which again motivated me to do better on the next assignment.

The hardest paper assigned this year was the global issues project.  I remember sitting in my World History class, listening to my teacher explain to the class what we would be working on for the next few weeks. She said that each of us would focus on one current global issue. I wrote about water pollution in India. I chose this mainly because my great uncle is a political leader in a small town in India, and he is trying to bring clean water to the town. After two days of research, I found myself at a dead end. I could not find enough research to fill six pages of material, so I changed my topic.  My final topic was about the rights of women in Afghanistan. I researched for nearly a week before the assignment was transferred to Dr. deGravelles’ English class. I focused on punctuality throughout the writing process by finishing every step as it was due and by keeping myself organized.  In the end, I felt as though I had done my best and made a grade I could be proud of.

It feels weird looking back on all my papers from the past year. My grades climbed from bitterly disappointing to gratifyingly high. I am proud of myself for coming this far my freshman year. Challenging myself on every assignment filled me with satisfaction.

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

Monday: 30 minutes
Tuesday: 30 minutes
Wednesday: 20 minutes
Thursday: 20 minutes
Friday: 40 minutes
Saturday: 20 minutes
Sunday: 20 minutes

TOTAL: 180 minutes

Turning Tables by Adele

Everyone knows Adele. They know the songs, "Rolling in the Deep", "Someone Like You", and "Set Fire to the Rain." One song that is rather out in the public is called "Turning Tables." This is one of my favorite songs. She is trying to explain that she is tired of fighting because she is losing. It is about someone changing their mind over and over again and her trying to stay away from it. The main lyric in the chorus says, "It's time to say goodbye, to turning tables." 

This song gives many examples of metaphors and consonance. One example of a metaphor is when she sings "under your thumb, I can't breathe." This is a metaphor because someone can't really be under someone else's thumb. She is trying to tell us that something so small can make her stop breathing. An example of consonance is in the chorus. She sings "iT's Time To say goodbye To Turning Tables." There is a repetition of the consonant "T". 

Obvious changes are in chorus to verse and verse to bridge, but there are a few other changes as well. In most songs, there is a contradiction in a lot of songs, but it this one, there isn't one. I didn't really see many changes in this song, I just saw many things being referred to. For instance, she refers to storms and thunder throughout the song. 

Crucial moments in this song include the bridge. The lyrics state "Next time I'll be braver, I'll be my own savior, When the thunder calls for me, Next time I'll be braver, I'll be my own savior, Standing on my own two feet." In these couple of lines, she is saying that she is going to be exactly the opposite of how she was before. 

Adele uses rhyme and rhythm to express her feelings. Every line in the verse has a rhyming pattern (AAAA). This means that the last word of every line rhymes. The choruses have repeating techniques as well. The last word of each line is the word "me," then the last two words on the last to lines are "turning tables" (hence the name of the song.) 


http://www.directlyrics.com/adele-turning-tables-lyrics.html