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.