This semester has been a trial of my writing skills. The Product Evaluation was hard for me. I felt that trying to describe a good product is a hard task. It's hard to describe what tastes are like, and what your own personal preferences are. I think that was the hardest essay to write this year. The Rant N Rave was amazing. It made me feel so much better to get everything out and not have any emotions that hadn't been dealt with. I don't know if this actually helped my writing skills, but it helped my soul and I'm glad we did it; it was my favorite essay! The Research Paper was actually really fun for me. I think that research papers are easy to write because you get to learn while you write; it was also easy because the topic I chose was very interesting. Also, I think it was good preparation for college because I know I will have to write more research papers in the future. This paper was also a good experience for my works cited skills. I learned how to cite very well without any online websites to do it for me; in fact, after this paper I don't even trust online websites to do my works cited. The first paper I did this year I messed up on my works cited so many times, but now I have it almost mastered. In fact, I didn't have one correction for my works cited on my Research Paper. The Lit Crit Essay was in the middle of the Product Evaluation and the Research Essay. It’s hard for me to look beyond the obvious point in the novel to something deeper and more hidden. I can read very well, I just don't consciously think about what deeper meaning there could be. In my first summary response I sort of just made stuff up to make it sound like I knew what I was talking about, but this semester I could actually see how the machinery was a symbol when I went back through and looked at it in the Lit Crit Essay.
I think I have progressed as a writer at incredible amounts. Before this class I just slid by because I could. This class I had to actually work on it and I couldn't just write it the night before and still get an "A" on it. I had to actually stick to the guidelines and go back over it multiple times before I was satisfied. My editing skills have also improved a lot. The first paper I just looked over it once and called it good, but now I know I have to look over it at least 5 times, and have at least 2 people peer read it before I trust myself to turn in the paper. I think this class has definitely prepared me for college; I learned that I will actually have to give it everything I got to make it an "A" paper. I would have been shell-shocked going into college without this class. Even though this class was a pain in the butt, and really challenging for me, I’m glad I took it. I’m glad that Mr. Schelle pushed my class so that we know where our limits are. Many of the kids in this class are naturally smart and this class taught us to push ourselves to new boundaries and made it to where we actually had to try. I am a better writer because of this class.