What I have learned about myself as a writer this year

I have grown as a writer this year and have learned details about my vocabulary and sentence fluency. I've learned that my vocabulary is mediocre and is rarely complicated or fancy. I do not see the point in fancy vocabulary because in my eyes, when somebody uses those kinds of words, they are trying to seem smart. When people use that type of vocabulary, it does not necessarily mean they are smart. I have begun to mature in my sentence fluency since last year, learning that I usually do not use proper sentence structure until I go back and edit my writing. I have also learned that to me, the most important part of writing is the editing process.

I have learned that writing does not take too much time for me, but I see others struggling with writing taking them too long. For some reason, putting my thoughts onto paper or into a Word document does not require much effort from me. I have learned that I make many grammatical mistakes in my first draft. I usually finish a paper thinking I have little to no grammatical errors but when I go back to read it, it turns out that there are many mistakes. I have grown to enjoy the rough draft stage of writing because I do not need to worry about editing during this stage.

I am a writer who

I am a writer who enjoys reading his own writing because I can say "Hey, I did that." I am a writer who tries his best to use proper grammar. I am a writer who does not enjoy showing others my writing due to my insecurities about putting my feelings and beliefs out there. I am a writer who does not enjoy most academic reading but I do enjoy reading on my own time. I am a writer who is never confident in his writing and double checks his work over and over again. Finally, I am a writer who thoroughly enjoys writing for most assignments we have done.

My goals as a sophomore writer

Going into sophomore year, I would like to be much more thorough when I write. I usually try to sum up what I am writing because I don't want my writing to bore the readers. Through experience I have come to learn that doing this is not helpful at all and I should add more details to what I write in order to improve it and keep it engaging. This will be one of my main goals since I have lost plenty of points because of the inability to provide enough detail in my writing.

Another goal of mine going into sophomore year is to become a better proofreader. After I am finished with a writing assignment, I always proofread it multiple times. Even after proofreading, there are still grammatical errors in my writing. I have tried multiple strategies including reading my writing out loud and reading it in my head several times, but none have seemed to work completely. I would like to try and become a better proofreader next year by paying attention to details and checking for punctuation errors.

What I need to work on as a writer

As a writer, I need to work on sentence structure more. When I write a sentence, I feel like I use effective word choice and fluency. Then, when I proofread it, it turns out to be choppy and ineffective. I have learned to proofread my writing multiple times from trial and error. If I work to structure my sentences better, I can make my writing flow more smoothly.

I also need to re-learn how to use quotations. When I write a quote, I will put a comma in the wrong place about half of the time. I always get one or two points taken off of major writing assignments due to this, and I need to change it. I am aware that since it was taught to me in the past, I am responsible for it when I write. This is why I need to become better at quoting to improve my writing.

My strengths as a writer

I believe that I have many strengths that have grown over the school year while writing. For instance, I have learned through the personal narrative paper that I should "show," not just tell what is going on in my writing. I understand now the importance of MLA formatted citations, formatting after working with my research paper, and attempting to properly cite all of my sources. I have learned and become confident in the use of in text citations, which I did not know existed before this year.

As we went over different forms of plagiarism and how not to plagiarize, I learned how to be careful while using paraphrasing. Through my own experience as a writer, when I am unsure if something needs to be cited, I always cite it anyway. I also learned that I can plagiarize my own work, although I do not quite understand that. Overall, the explanations in class about how to avoid plagiarism have helped me write without questioning myself and have made me a better writer.

My second semester writing

As the year has gone by, I have yet to visit the writing center for my second semester requirement.  I feel like I completed my research paper to the fullest of my capabilities and I believe that my writing has drastically changed for the better throughout the school year. I am planning to visit the writing center as I am finalizing my portfolio project. They writing fellows were extremely helpful when I visited them for the "Lord of the Flies" writing assignment. I believe that the writing fellows will also be helpful while I revise my personal narrative with them.

Comments

JordonianRApril 27, 2017 at 8:15 PM

I agree that all people are capable of lying and betrayal because of simple human nature. I also believe that power does not necessarily bring happiness and often causes stress.

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JordonianRApril 27, 2017 at 8:22 PM

I also can not remember a time I betrayed someone or if somebody betrayed me. I disagree with the fact that everything happens for a reason, but i'm not religious and don't have much input on that topic. Good post Joe.

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Why women are as violent as men and why anticipation is bad.

I strongly disagree with the statement that anticipation is a good thing. It will always get somebody's hopes up, resulting in the person over-hyping the future in their mind. Anticipation is also a bad thing because it causes great disappointment when something doesn't live up to its hype. Anticipation always leaves me on edge until the day the event happens and it bums me out because it let me down. It is never a good thing unless everything you anticipate will happen.

I disagree with one part of the statement that women are more compassionate. I don't really believe either way about women being more compassionate than men because I don't have experience with it, but I do believe that they are just as violent as men. It is hard to say this without being called sexist, but I do not really care if you take this the wrong way anyways. When women hurt men, they do it with the cheap excuse of "You cant hit me, I'm a girl!" I do believe that it is inappropriate to hit women, but this statement is preposterous. If a man hits another man and says " You can't hit me, I'm a man!", then they will get a swift uppercut to the jaw. In my lifetime, many girls have hit me or pulled my hair when I annoyed them because they knew I couldn't do anything about it. This proves how women are just as violent as men, but with the cowardly mentality that they will never get hurt in return. 

Pieces of Writing this year

After writing various assignments for English class this year, I feel like I have grown stronger as a writer. My worst piece of writing was the personal narrative at the beginning of the year. That was a miss instead of a hit. I didn't understand how to use imagery effectively and struggled with "showing, not telling" writing. As I learned more and wrote my research paper, I think I did well. I provided strong arguments to help my thesis and structured it to the best of my ability.

I also believe that I did the best I could have on my Lord of the Flies writing assignment. I described how the belief in the fictional beast created so much conflict during the story. I used evidence from the book to back up my thesis, much like in my research paper. It was definitely a hit instead of a miss. Overall, I am satisfied with my growth as a writer this year and I am ready for sophomore year writing.

Comments

JordonianRApril 13, 2017 at 6:56 PM

I can relate to your procrastination. I always do my blogs on Monday nights.

JordonianRApril 13, 2017 at 6:58 PM

I watched both of those shows as a child. They were a major part of my childhood.

Reading Strategies

Because we are reading a challenging book, I have developed a sort of system for reading it. For every page, I jot down notes in my notebook at home. I do not write on the pages because when I go back to read different pages I find it hard to concentrate with all of my markings and whatnot on the page. This is why I chose to do reading responses instead of annotations. Whenever I see something I find important, I write it down and write why it is important to the side of it. This has helped me stay organised without having to create distractions for myself when I go back to read a passage later.

I have also tried to note down what I think will need to be written about in the reading response I write. Whenever I see a broad topic brought up that is left open for debate in the book, such as Jaja's hurt finger, I write down what I believe happened before jotting down what I should write in the response. This has helped me be prepared for the days that a reading response is due. It prevents the responses from taking too much thought and effort while I write them because I have already put that thought and effort to use in my notes.

My most precious childhood possession

My most precious childhood possession was my first pocket knife. I had asked my parents for years for one, but they said I might cut myself. Eventually they got me one when I joined the boy scouts in first grade. It was a tiny blue knife. It seemed like it was never sharpened, but it didn't stop me from whittling with it. I spent about three hours making a spear with it and then threw the spear at a tree.

This item was important to me because of the amount of time I had tried to obtain it. My parents were right about it being too dangerous for a kid my age, though. I was whittling a stick, and accidentally cut a gash out of my wrist. I had not been paying attention and dropped the stick before moving the knife. I hid the scar from my dad so he did not take the knife away from me because I was being careless. I learned that my parents were right about things having to do with safety most of the time by doing this to myself.

Comments

JordonianRApril 7, 2017 at 6:16 AM

I have also relaxed less as I grew older. My parents always considered Sunday a day for relaxation, but i didnt listen.

JordonianRApril 7, 2017 at 6:14 AM

I agree with what you said. I do not understand why America has to be involved, though.

comments

JordonianRMarch 31, 2017 at 9:58 AM

I agree with your view on the 2 party system. Because of arguing, nothing gets done within each party.

JordonianRMarch 31, 2017 at 10:03 AM

I agree that global warming is probably not caused by humans. It could be happening, but it is not as big an issue as many think it is.

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Immigration Ban Article

In a political article written from what Sean Hannity said on his TV show, he talks about Trump's attempted ban on Muslim immigration. I chose this article because this topic seriously bothers me in everyday life. I live in constant fear of terrorism and I am constantly worrying about what to do about it if I am put in a terrorism situation. It interests me how some people do not agree that there would be many American deaths if this ban is not put into process. The main points that he makes is that the judges that stopped this ban are trying to jeopardize the lives of the American people, and that they have no right to stop his ban.

Although I do not agree that these judges are intentionally putting American lives at risk, I do agree that they are. I do not believe that there is a large portion of the Muslim population that are terrorists, but I do believe that a tiny amount of them are. This is not close to arguable, and since a tiny amount of them are, there will be many American deaths if the people in charge of our country keep letting Muslims into our country. Although some might argue that we should let them come in to the country anyways to improve our lives, this is not worth the thousands of American deaths that will occur if we allow them to come in to the country. I do not completely understand whether or not these judges do or don't have the right to stop this ban, but I do not think it is relevant. Overall I agreed with most of his points, but I do not agree that the judges stopping the ban want to jeopardize American lives.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/02/07/sean-hannity-alt-left-judges-lawmakers-play-games-with-president-trumps-travel-ban.html

Comments

JordonianRMarch 23, 2017 at 8:40 PM

I cant wait for the summer too. I also have trouble with focusing on homework.

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JordonianRMarch 23, 2017 at 10:44 PM

I understand how long some track meets can take after being in track in Middle school. I agree that nobody cared about competing in middle school track.

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What I have learned during the year

I have learned that I procrastinate frequently. During the first quarter, I feared high school and turned in all my work ahead of time. As the year has gone by, I have grown lazy as a student. Instead of turning something in before it is due, I wait until the last day to do it. This has become especially hard to do when I have research presentations due and have one night to do them. I have realized that this will not work out for me anymore.

During the second quarter, I decided to put off studying for tests to the last two days. This reflected poorly on my scores and overall grades. As I am going into the fourth quarter, I am planning to study well in advance for tests and quizzes. I have also learned to do homework in advance too. I will also help myself out by doing some work at school during tutorial and study hall.

Reading Response

I have been reading a book called Asylum recently before we received a new book to read in class. It is set in modern day New Orleans, which U have been to many times. This made the book more interesting to me because some of the locations in the book were places I had seen in New Orleans. The main character, Dan, is trying to determine whether his relatives could have ties to a local mental prison. His adventures into the Asylum with his friends ultimately leads to his repeated arrest. Although Dan is shaped to be a courageous character, he is sometimes described as cowardly by the author at some points in the book.

The author adds suspense to the ends of paragraphs and chapters to cause the reader to want to read more. He mentions how Dan is being chased by a man and ends the chapter there. Instead of just telling the story, the author provides colorful imagery of each scene. He describes sights smells, and sounds. The descriptions of sounds create intense scenes and makes the book more terrifying. Overall, Asylum is an entertaining book due to its imagery and terrifying scenes.

Comments

JordonianRMarch 9, 2017 at 8:06 PM

I would like to have a family tradition of going on vacation during break. I also have had my ears popped on an airplane.

JordonianRMarch 9, 2017 at 8:09 PM

I have also debated with my self whether or not to eat a piece of king cake. I know it is unhealthy, but I eat it anyways.

Mardi Gras Vacation

Each year for Mardi Gras, I go to New Orleans with my family. My family always invites some of their friends to meet us on Sunday to see a parade called Thoth. My dad is in the parade and throws me a bag of beads when he goes by. We stay at the Hilton hotel near the Riverwalk mall. The best part about staying at the hotel is that it is connected to the mall and it is less than a minute's walk to it.

We also go to another parade called Bachus after the first parade. We meet the same people to go see it and find a spot at the end of the parade route. The reason for this is that the people in the parade will throw more things to you if you are at the end of the route. They do this because they are not allowed to leave their float with any throws left at the end of the route. Each year I enjoy Mardi Gras and Mardi Gras break.