More Than Just Writing

I expected the worst from taking AP Language and Composition. I had heard from last year’s students about the amount of stress and work they acquired from this class. What also worried me was the fact that there would be large amounts of writing assignments since writing was my Achilles heel. In the first quarter, I did struggle. I had difficulties in trying to express my ideas when writing and I found myself rushing to finish the in-class essays. As time went by, I saw major improvements in my writing and growth of my character.

            With respect to writing, I found that I struggled most with rhetorical analysis. Whenever an essay prompt asked to me to analyze rhetorical strategies used in a passage, I was lost. I occasionally was unable to identify them and if I did find any, I could not see their importance. As a result, I received low grades. As I learned of more rhetorical strategies and how to identify them, I was able to overcome this challenge. I was able to see their purpose in texts and how they were used by the authors to convey their ideas to the reader. One example of this was an in-class essay about the description of Holcomb in In Cold Blood. Being able to identify and analyze the rhetorical strategies in the passage helped me to plan out and write a coherent essay about Capote’s description of Holcomb. Though it was not an eight, I was highly satisfied with the seven I received, since it symbolized my growth as a writer throughout the year.

            Throughout the year, I learned of the importance of time management. In the beginning of the year, I did assignments at the last minute. This left me to rushing to complete them, making careless errors in grammar and losing sleep. This loss of sleep affected me in and out of class. I found my mind, drifting and tuning out the lessons being taught and sleeping in class. When I had to go to my job, I found myself dozing off and being unable to focus and pay attention. This almost led to me losing my job. When writing the in-class essays, I spent most of my time planning out what I want to write in my essays, leaving little room to actually write them. As a result, I handed in incomplete essays or essays that were sloppily written. Later in the year, I became better in managing my time; I found myself, being able to complete my assignments in a timely fashion, giving me extra time to tackle other tasks that needed to be done as well as having time to catch up on my sleep. In class, managing my time was essential for completing my classwork. I was able to balance out the time between writing and planning my essays. 

            Along with time management, I learned of the importance of asking for help. Usually, I like to figure out things on my own, rather than ask for help. Whenever a difficult topic or assignment is presented in class, I labored in trying to make any sort of meaning from them. Unsuccessful, I quickly became frustrated with the class. Ultimately and reluctantly, I decided to seek help from Ms. Fogarty. From her help, I was able to better learn concepts I struggled to understand. 

            Overall, taking AP Language and Composition was a good choice. From this class, I learned more than just ways to improve my writing. I was able to break bad study habits and became more confident in terms of communicating with others. I also realized the importance of trying new things. By doing so, I will be able to form my own opinion, instead of forming one based off of what others have to say. I can use what I learned from taking this course to better prepare me for college, with respect to studying and communicating with others.