Dear Classmates

To my classmates,
Thank you for helping me when I'm struggling or need help. Whenever I have a question, you are usually more than happy to help. It's been a good year with you guys, and I hope to see some of you in my English class next year. I would say our English class was very fun and entertaining. Thank you for helping me to learn and to grow as a person. You guys welcomed me into the school knowing I was new.

There are a few things that I have learned this year. Most important: do not procrastinate. This class is a bit challenging, and the papers are going to take more than one night to write. I have learned from personal experience. I've also learned it's very important to take notes in class, and to thoroughly analyze and annotate the books we read in class.

You guys have taught me so much this year. Good luck with sophomore year! Good luck on exams!

Evalutation of the Fourth Quarter

I think for this quarter, I have done well in general procedures. I usually come to class prepared with the materials I need. I wait for the bell to dismiss me, and I use the time between classes wisely. I have been good about checking my email and the website daily. I turn in my assignments, and try to participate in class.

In class, I try to take as many notes as possible and to pay attention. I don't usually talk, but when I do my comments are relevant to the discussion we are having. I don't usually have side conversations with anyone in class.

I stay focused and try not to distract the people around me, so that they may get their work done. I try to do more than what is expected in order to improve myself in that class. This year in English, I have participated more and paid more attention in class because I find that if I do, it helps me to get better grade and a better understanding of English.

Outside Reading

This year, I think as a reader, I challenged myself to read books that I probably wouldn't have read before. Such as the book I'm reading now which is The Lightning Thief. The books that I am most interested in are realistic fiction.

I always have thought of myself as a good reader. I am able to read a large amount of pages in a short amount of time, and comprehend what is going on and what will probably happen. Although, this year, I didn't read as many books as I wanted to.

When we were talking about literary elements, and things like "Reading Like a Reader", I had connected it to how I read. It made me think about how I should analyze a story the next time I read one. It made me think deeper about my reading.

In the future, by next year, I want to read at least 7 books. That is one of my reading goals I will set for myself.

Book: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Reading Times:

5/3 - 50 minutes - 43 pages

5/4 - 50 minutes - 49 pages

5/5 - 50 minutes - 51 pages

Macbeth's Perspective

In our class, we have been reading Macbeth. From what we have been reading so far, Macbeth is trying to rush the fate of him becoming king. What the witches said has gotten to his head. Not only by him, but by Lady Macbeth as well. So far, it seems like Macbeth is on his way to becoming king.

From Macbeth's perspective, he does want to be king, but he's willing to be patient. He murder's Duncan from the pressure of Lady Macbeth. I feel like he wants to make her happy, and feels if he was king, he would accomplish that. He knows he feels bad about the murder, but has to act like nothing happens, just as any other normal person would do in that situation.

Writing Wrap Up

            Since the beginning of the year, I think my ideas in my writing have improved for the most part. Not only that, but my word choice and sentence structure has as well. With my word choice, I’m not repeating the same words, and I’m using more descriptive words in my writing. My ideas in my paper have improved. They have progressively become more developed with each paper I write.

At the same time, my ideas could use improvement by intertwining my ideas in my papers instead of stating it at the end of the essay.  I could work on improving my organization and support. My papers seem to have some of the information out of order, making it confusing to read, with little support along with it.

The feedback was mostly accurate for what I knew about my writing. I knew my papers hadn’t always strived when it came to organization. It seems when I want to add something, I don’t know exactly where to put it, and end up putting it where it makes the essay confusing. The feedback that I didn’t think was very accurate was about conventions. I had always thought that was what was strongest in my papers.

            In the literacy narrative essay, I thought the conventions would be the strongest, when it turns out it was one of the weakest, along with my organization. Dr. D commented, “This paper does not show a lot of attention to organization.” Looking back at my paper, I realize all the mistakes and how she was right. It made me think about improvements I needed to make in future papers.

            My poor organization skills had also seemed to come up in my Profile paper. In this paper, my ideas weren’t so strong.  She told me, “You went from not having meaning to having hidden meaning that is revealed at the end.” After this, my ideas had started to improve, but she pointed out that I needed to work on it a little bit.

            In my literary analysis, I noticed my organization still hadn’t changed, which did frustrate me for quite some time. My word choice had not improved here either. In this paper, I also got the tense of the paper wrong. I wrote it in past tense, instead of literary present tense. My voice in the paper had been very informal. I wasn’t supposed to use contractions, but did anyway.

            In my Global Issues Paper. My organization skills had improved very little. But it’s a step up. The order and transitions was stronger than my source integration. Like Dr. D said, “Work particularly on integrating sources.”

Common Errors list:

1.     Pronoun/antecedent agreement

o   Ex: As she was passing them out, she would say our name.

A pronoun and an antecedent must match in number. Instead of “name” it should say “names.”

2.     Improper semicolon use

o   Ex: I had already done the flip; it was too late.

Instead of the colon, I could’ve used a comma.

3.     Improper tense

o   In my literary analysis, the whole paper is in the wrong tense.

4.     Informal language

o   Ex: It’s the reason everything in the story happened.

Instead of using “it’s” use the more formal “it is”

5.     Weak paragraph transitions

o   Ex: In an empty lot, it’s easy to spot an object just laying there, especially a gun.

After a paragraph, it should have a stronger to introduce a new paragraph. 

Outside Reading

Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
150 minutes - 104 pages

Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging

This week, I decided to jump back into Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging. I like some of the ideas in this book. It shows how all people are insecure at some point in their life, and that you're not the only one who feels that way. It also shows how there is always someone out there who will like you for you. It shows how everyone is created differently, and that's what makes us come together. 

In this book, I've also noticed some of the language used. Since it is told from a teenage girls point of view, there is going to be a lot of slang. A lot of this is british slang; it's a good thing there is a dictionary in the back for these terms, or I'd be totally lost. For example, I would have never guessed that "nappy" meant a diaper.