My
Journey began in the summer when I first received my summer work.
When I first glanced at the summer work for the class I thought it
was a lot, but as I started doing the work I gained more confidence
in myself. AP English Language and Composition has helped me
developed my reading and writing skills as well as comprehension
skills.
My
experience in the first quarter of AP English was difficult at first
because I had to learn how to write rhetorical precis and manage my
time on essays. Whenever we had to write an in class essay I would
never finish the essay because I would usually run out of time, yet
throughout the year I improved and was able to finish an essay in
time and even have a few minutes left to go over the essay. The first
in class essay I wrote was the Didion and Swift Compare and Contrast
essay however I did not get a good grade. I received a three on this
essay and it was because I did not understand the essay and what the
essayist was trying to convey. Although, my first essay did not
receive a good score I did not lose faith in myself and improve
throughout the year and I was able to obtain one of my goals which
was to get a six on an essay.
Then
soon the first quarter had ended and the second quarter approached.
During the second quarter I got to read different genres of
literature such as In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and The
Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. I really enjoyed reading these
two pieces of literature they were both so different and yet alike.
Although I enjoyed this quarter I did have some difficulties in the
Incentives for Charity essay because I could not write a good claim
or rewrite my claim in my conclusion paragraph. As the year
progressed I improved and I learned how to write a well developed
claim and it not only helped me in this class, but in other classes
as well; just like that the second quarter ended and the third
quarter was here.
Third
quarter came and it had brought a new challenge that I had to
overcome. Writing the research paper and managing my time to hand it
in on time. The research paper was fun to do yet it required a lot of
time to research one's topic and if one procrastinated they would not
finish on time. While doing the research paper I learned a lot of
facts that I had never known about nature (my topic). In the third
quarter we also read The Scarlet Letter by
Nathaniel Hawthorne which had been a book I've wanted to read for a
long time. I had a bit of trouble coming up with good socratic
seminar questions that connected with the world, but I got better at
making up the questions.
The year is almost
over and this is the last quarter. This quarter I had to prepare for
the AP exam which was tiring and long, but over all I think I did a
good job and in my essays it reflected all that I have done
throughout the year. It has been a lot of fun this year in AP English
Language and Composition and throughout the year I have become a
better writer and reader.
The
skills that I have acquired this year will be put to good use in
classes that I will next year. Ms. Fogarty has been a great
instructor and thanks to her I was able to fix my mistakes on my
essays and improve. As I recollect this year in AP English Language
and Composition I can see how much I have improved and I know that
this experience will help me in the future.
Jessica, you did well explaining how you have improve in AP Language and Composition. I agree that the first essays that we did in class were difficult because we were not used to the kind of writing style that was expected in AP classes. You did well explaining what you did each quarter and this shows that AP Language and Composition had a lot of work that needed to be done. It is true that in beginning it was hard to write a good essay in a short amount of time, but as we got used to writing essays, we were able to finish the essays and had enough time to read the essays over. The essays were challenging because if a student did not read the prompt and other information carefully, then it was going to be hard to write a good essay not understanding the prompt and other background information. The essay, “A Modest Proposal,” by Jonathan Swift was hard to interpret if one did not read the introduction and know that Swift write essays on satire and he did not seriously mean exactly what he wrote. It was nice that Ms. Fogarty wrote comments on our essays because it helped us know how to improve for the next essays and not make the same mistakes. Great job, Jessica.
ReplyDeleteDear Jessica,
ReplyDeleteIt was great that you were able progress throughout the s year and move past the feeling of being overwhelmed by the course. It was interesting how you organized your reflection. I was able to see your thoughts about each quarter and how you progressed throughout the year. In the first quarter, the timing for in class essays was definitely a problem for me too. I found writing essays much easier as we read more and encountered different genres of writing. I too have found focusing on the essay the entire class period difficult, making it hard to finish the essay in the allotted time. The Didion and Swift was confusing for me at first too. The first time I read the Swift essay, I was unprepared for his suggestion of eating children, so I had to read it a few times. I had a feeling that he was joking, but in my first draft I wrote about his proposal as a serious one because I second guessed myself. This led to me getting a lower grade on my essay. Learning literary techniques throughout the year, however, had definitely helped me to identify them faster. This class has for sure shown the dangers of procrastination. It can be hard to get into the mindset required for writing an essay, but I feel that this course has helped me on my focusing skills. I'm glad that you were able to become more confident in your work and everyone should be proud of their progress throughout the year. Good job!