Writing
House on Mango Street Formal Essay #1
After reading the book, House on Mango Street, we were asked to think about and reflect on Esperanza's growth and how she changed throughout the book. Then, using quotes from the book as our evidence, we were to write an essay explaining how she changed. This was our first formal essay of the year. I got a 4 on this essay on a scale of 1-5. I'm proud of my score since it was my first formal essay. But I need to work on the context of my quotes and making sure what I say was actually said in the book instead of what I inferred while reading. My goal for my next formal essay is to either stay at a 4 or go up to a 5, but I would be happy with a 4 except maybe with a higher grade and to hopefully improve on embedding my quotes.
_ <------(Click here to see my House On Mango Street essay)
After reading the book, House on Mango Street, we were asked to think about and reflect on Esperanza's growth and how she changed throughout the book. Then, using quotes from the book as our evidence, we were to write an essay explaining how she changed. This was our first formal essay of the year. I got a 4 on this essay on a scale of 1-5. I'm proud of my score since it was my first formal essay. But I need to work on the context of my quotes and making sure what I say was actually said in the book instead of what I inferred while reading. My goal for my next formal essay is to either stay at a 4 or go up to a 5, but I would be happy with a 4 except maybe with a higher grade and to hopefully improve on embedding my quotes.
_ <------(Click here to see my House On Mango Street essay)
Hatchet Formal Essay #2
After reading the book Hatchet, we were given specific prompts and told to write an essay on one of them. I decided to write my essay on the power of power of positive thinking and how it impacted Brian during his time in the wild. I talked about how in the beginning of the book Brian starts off as naive and negative but throughout the story becomes more thoughtful and positive. This essay was actually not as good as my first one, and I had trouble with my commentary and embedding my quotes. I had to make sure that I wasn't voicing my own opinion before I was supposed to. Critique from Erin definitely helped my writing this year and I know what I'm supposed to work on next year and in the years to come when writing essays. I want to improve on my commentary and finding the quotes that I end up using in my final essay. I think that good quotes should make everything really easy.
_<----(Click here to see my final Hatchet essay)
After reading the book Hatchet, we were given specific prompts and told to write an essay on one of them. I decided to write my essay on the power of power of positive thinking and how it impacted Brian during his time in the wild. I talked about how in the beginning of the book Brian starts off as naive and negative but throughout the story becomes more thoughtful and positive. This essay was actually not as good as my first one, and I had trouble with my commentary and embedding my quotes. I had to make sure that I wasn't voicing my own opinion before I was supposed to. Critique from Erin definitely helped my writing this year and I know what I'm supposed to work on next year and in the years to come when writing essays. I want to improve on my commentary and finding the quotes that I end up using in my final essay. I think that good quotes should make everything really easy.
_<----(Click here to see my final Hatchet essay)
Timed Writing #1- Dreams Essay
This was the my first timed writing of the year. It was about the poem Dreams by Langston Hughes. Comparing this timed writing to ones later in the year I notice a big difference. I didn't really know how to start off a paragraph smoothly, I just stated ideas straight out. Throughout the year I think I've gotten better at it as well as gotten better at embedding my quotes. All that said, I am actually really proud of this timed writing for it being my first one. I think that even though the formatting wasn't great, the content was solid. I also still agree with the ideas that I presented in the essay and feel that if I could revise it, it would turn out really good.
_<---(Click here to see the introduction and first paragraph of my Dreams timed writing)
This was the my first timed writing of the year. It was about the poem Dreams by Langston Hughes. Comparing this timed writing to ones later in the year I notice a big difference. I didn't really know how to start off a paragraph smoothly, I just stated ideas straight out. Throughout the year I think I've gotten better at it as well as gotten better at embedding my quotes. All that said, I am actually really proud of this timed writing for it being my first one. I think that even though the formatting wasn't great, the content was solid. I also still agree with the ideas that I presented in the essay and feel that if I could revise it, it would turn out really good.
_<---(Click here to see the introduction and first paragraph of my Dreams timed writing)
Timed Writing #4- The Odyssey
This timed writing was towards the end of the year. After watching The Odyssey as a class, we were asked to do a timed writing, choosing one of the 5 prompts given to us. My prompt was to compare and contrast the attributes of Odysseus (the main character) that make him a hero along with those that make him a flawed one. My thesis was that Odysseus was considered a hero by many, but along with the great things about there are also flaws. I think that I improved in this essay. I didn't just state opinions, I led into them as well as improved on embedding my quotes. I know that this timed writing is far from perfect but I do think it is a lot better than my first one. I know that there are still things that I need to work on, such as commentary (too much or too little) and the concrete details that I choose. But I definitely see an improvement and I plan to get even better next year and in the years to come.
_<----(Click here to see my The Odyssey timed writing)
This timed writing was towards the end of the year. After watching The Odyssey as a class, we were asked to do a timed writing, choosing one of the 5 prompts given to us. My prompt was to compare and contrast the attributes of Odysseus (the main character) that make him a hero along with those that make him a flawed one. My thesis was that Odysseus was considered a hero by many, but along with the great things about there are also flaws. I think that I improved in this essay. I didn't just state opinions, I led into them as well as improved on embedding my quotes. I know that this timed writing is far from perfect but I do think it is a lot better than my first one. I know that there are still things that I need to work on, such as commentary (too much or too little) and the concrete details that I choose. But I definitely see an improvement and I plan to get even better next year and in the years to come.
_<----(Click here to see my The Odyssey timed writing)