The War With AP English Is Finally Over!

             As the end of the school year and AP Language and Composition approaches, I understand the progress that I have made through all of the writing assignments that I have completed this year. Looking back at the writing assignments from the first quarter (such as the two page reflections I did on various essays) I can see that my reading comprehension skills have greatly improved from the end of English 10H and the beginning of AP language and Composition. I have learned how to read college level pieces of writing while picking out the main points and rhetoric used within the writing. In addition, I have learned that every writer has a purpose when they are writing. The progress that I have made also shows me that I have learned a lot about creating a good thesis statement and the different parts that make up an exceptional argument. For example, a good thesis is a direct statement, summarizes the topic being argued, and briefly states the pieces of evidence that support what is being argued. Also, an argument becomes much stronger when background information is given on the topic, supporting evidence is given and explained, a counterclaim is provided to illustrate both sides of the argument, a rebuttal is given to prove the counterclaim incorrect, and a conclusion that restates the thesis statement and re-explains the evidence is written. The progress that I have made this year will definitely help me once I begin taking more college level classes.

            Throughout the year my strengths and weaknesses as a writer have been constant. One strength that I have had since the beginning of September is time management. I have been able to quickly plan out the amount of time that it would take me to complete the assignments that we have done this year and actually finish them on time, which usually eased the stress that the writing assignments provided.  Another strength that I have had was the ability to find specific quotes from a passage and make connections between them and my argument. This is a crucial step in creating an argument and will help me in the years to come as I complete more college assignments. On the other hand, one weakness that I have had for most of the year is being repetitive in my writing. It is difficult for me to write in a way that fits with the subject that I am writing about without repeating certain words or phrases. I noticed this the most while writing the argument research paper. Within the essay I used the words, “professional athletes” and “young sports fans” many times mainly because that was the topic that I chose to write about and it was difficult for me to find alternate words to use that would still fit with the sentence structure that I used. Hopefully over time I will be able to improve on this weakness.

            This year, what worked for me the most were the different essays that we read during the beginning of the school year and the responses we wrote on them. This greatly helped my reading comprehension skills and some of the essays made interesting claims about certain topics such as ethical values and the difference between right and wrong. I also benefited from the columnist assignments we did because it provided me with practice in identifying various rhetorical strategies in a piece of writing that interested me. On the contrary, what did not work for me was the vocabulary quizzes. In many cases, I knew what the vocabulary words meant; I just could not find a way to write a direct definition for them.

            Looking back at all of the work that I have completed this year and all of the new topics that I have learned, I do believe this course has helped prepare me for other college level courses that I will be taking in the future. My comprehension skills and my work ethic that I have developed this year are great characteristics that will help me succeed in college. One piece of advice that I would give to a student struggling with the class would be to focus more on understanding what is being taught instead of just worrying about getting the assignments done.