Letter to Freshmen English

Dear Freshmen class,

         I cannot believe that the year is coming to a close already. I feel that I have grown closer to everyone of you, and gotten to know you all much better. It has been a fun year, and we have learned so much together. The best part of english was learning all new types of writing. I never knew many of those types of writing existed until this year. I have also enjoyed the books that we have read in class. They were entertaining and very informative at the same time.

We are all blessed to have a great school to go to, and get a good education. I feel that all of you have become much better English students, and I am glad that I was there to see you all improve. It has been great learning with you all.

Procedures for this year

       This year, honestly I wish I would have done better with my procedures. In general, I had all my supplies when I needed them. Also I rarely left the class room for water, or going to the restroom, so I did well in that subject. In class discussion, I had some trouble. Sometimes, I blurt out irrelevant things thats are unnecessary to the class discussion. I also lose focus often and talk to my neighbors, instead of Dr. deGravelles. I believe that I have grown much in my writing and reading this year. I am very proud of myself for the progress that I have made.
        

Reading This Year

         As I look back at this years writing, I am very surprised. Honestly, I thought that reading this year would be a pain. to my surprise, it was fun. I learned much about the styles of writing, and how to read like a reader. In learning this, I was able to read with a better understanding of the plot, theme, characterization, setting, and Point of view. By reading more, I could notice the things that we were discussing in the course as I was reading.
         I have learned many things about myself as a reader. I notice a drastic change in my reading understanding. By learning how to annotate in the books that we have read this year, I can focus on the more important things in the books. Also, I have learned how to read quicker, while still having a good understanding the material. I have grown much in my reading this year, and have enjoyed it as well.

150 mins Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 112 pages

Lady Macbeth's perspective

         It is very complicated to be Macbeth's wife. He is  kind husband. When I heard that he was going to be king, all I could think was "How will this happen?" and then I thought of something else. The power. I want the power, not just for my husband, but for me. I need to take action. I can easily manipulate Macbeth, by being harsh, yet seductive. I was right, he gave in just as I thought. Wait. What is this feeling that I am having. Could it be guilt? Maybe, I need to wash my hands.

Writing This Year

 

Cole Berggreen                                                                                         Block 4                       

Dr. deGravelles                                                                                        4-30-12

Writing This Year

This year, I have learned much from writing because we have written multiple papers in various categories. For example, we learned how to write a literacy narrative, a profile, a literary analysis, and a global issues paper. I feel that my writing has grown  through my experience in writing this year, however I still have much to learn. This year’s course has been much more demanding than last year’s, but it helped me improve my writing. Because it has been demanding, I have had help along the way.

One thing that helped me become a better writer is the feedback that I have received from Dr. deGravelles, as well as my fellow classmates. As I look at that feedback, I can see the improvements that have been made. My ideas are probably my strongest point in my papers because I have received either an A or a B in that grading category. If I were to develop my ideas, my writing would be much improved. On the contrary, my organization is my worst writing category, although it could be more effective if I were to organize my paragraphs in a way so the audience can easily understand the point I am trying to get across. This is my main problem with my organization, although I believe it has improved much as well because my grade in this category has improved.

Along with organization, I have developed my choice of transition words from a difficult aspect of writing to a much easier one, which has been reflected in my last two papers. Another category related to word choice is sentence fluency. As I look over my papers and the WRAP, I have noticed there is a little choppiness in my sentences and  transitional phrases. Sentence fluency is a key component to my success, so I hope to keep improving it.

The last category of writing that I will discuss is conventions. It has also given me trouble throughout my entire English career. I have noticed a few patterns in my convention mistakes. First of all, I tend to have trouble using possessive apostrophes. I especially have trouble with the word “it.” I do not know when to use the apostrophe when trying to express ownership, but also do not know when “it’s” means “it is.” I also have trouble with comma usage. I am not sure where and when it is appropriate to use a comma. Still, my use of conventions, just like all of the categories of writing, have greatly improved throughout the course of the year. My feedback has been very helpful in improving my writing.

I agree fully with all of the feedback that I have received. The way that I evaluate my papers has also changed. I look more closely at the sentences by themselves, rather than looking at the paragraphs as a whole, which has made my sentences more clear. 

I have a very obtainable, reasonable goal in mind. Now that I have read and responded to my feedback, my goal for my English career in the future is to write high quality, easy to understand, successful papers. I also want to write more emotionally, and connect to my writing topics more closely. Furthermore, I want to improve my conventions and word choice. This goal will help me become a better, more successful writer.

Common Errors List

1.) Comma splice - Literacy narrative. “But Hitler did not stop at the persecution of the Jews, he also killed many handicapped people, Gypsies, and Homosexuals.”

2.) Underlining titles - Literacy narrative “I read the book Night by Elie Wiesel.”

3.) apostrophe use - Profile “i can hear the tone of his patients.” Profile

4.) Quotations - Profile quotations not attached to sentence correctly

5.) Pronouns - Profile pronouns used to much, t got confusing

6.) Capitalization - Literacy analysis “Truman” Need to capitalize proper nouns

Outside reading

Catching Fire Suzanne Collins 150 mins

Catching Fire

          I have continued to read Catching Fire. I am getting very close to the end. After Katniss and Peeta made an alliance, they devised a plan to kill of the others. They were tricked, and their companions turned on them. The entire arena was blown to pieces, as Katniss was trying to survive. It is interesting to see all the survival skills That Katniss uses.

        I noticed a few key things as I read this book. First was the voice of Suzanne Collins. She has a dark tone in theses last couple of chapters. Also, the way that she characterizes Katniss, Peeta, and all the others is interesting. She characterizes them all as fierce, but striving toward a common goal. Lastly I notice the word choice that is used. The word choice in this book enhances the story, and makes it more exciting.

Catching Fire 100 mins
Poems 50 mins
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