Writing Reflection

Explain one or more specific aspects of your writing that have improved this year. In this explanation, you must directly refer to at least two specific pieces of writing that you produced for this class. You may use any assignment, project, writing sample, draft, blog entry, etc. You should discuss the writing tips & strategies we studied, the processes & methods we used, the critiques & drafts we employed and the products we created (feel free to use these specific key terms to keep your reflection focused).

Over the course of this year, my writing has improved tremendously. Before 11th grade, it was choppy and had no sense of creative writing. But as I was challenged to develop highly articulate thoughts (such as creative anecdotes in the beginning of my essays), I learned that I have to think through each sentence slowly, and perfect each one. 

I have also learned from writing tips! I look at my first 11th grade blog and notice that it contains numerous verbs ending in -ing. However, as I look a larger and more recent writing piece, I can see that I rarely use -ing; in fact, I only use it twice. Other grammar tips I have applied through my writing is:

• Concerts, not pancakes. I have used this writing tip to transform the way I write. In tenth grade, I wrote an essay on Mary Wollstonecraft. In this essay, I began it with a general example and scenario for the reader. I never went completely in depth, though. But if you look at an essay from this year (like my photo essay), you can see that I began with a highly descriptive scenario. I also use this writing tip to end my essays well. To end well, I state my specific thoughts and opinions.
• NoOoOoO. I think this has helped with my vocabulary because I used to italicize and bold many adjectives and points I wanted to get to the reader. But as I used this writing tip, I learned that it's better to use stronger words that articulate your point.

Some other things that helped my writing were the numerous drafts and critiques we made, especially for Ampersand. As I began my piece on Ampersand, I first started with a piece on responsibility, and how teenagers transition from school to work. After two critiques on my paper, I realized it wasn't an article I was passionate about, so I switched my article to tips for meditating in your office. This related a little more to me, because I understood how stressful a situation can get, especially if you're pressed for time! The critiques on my new paper were easier to adjust, and not as harsh, because I related more to my writing. In the end, I came out with a final piece that I was comfortable with.

I feel that this is another thing I have learned about writing: be passionate about it. In order to write something that will speak to readers, you have to first speak to it. If you cannot sit down, type a flow of words out about a subject, then why are you even writing about the subject at all? I know that we had to write essays about novels and historical figures, but we were always given a choice on prompts.

Describe one specific goal for your future writing. Your explanation of your goal(s) must include some or all of the following: writing samples from this year, writing strategies you have used in the past, writing strategies or techniques you would like to develop, examples from authors you respect, etc.

One specific goal I have for my future writing is to expand my vocabulary. This was one of my primary goals for eleventh grade, and I feel like I started off strongly with it in my American Icons piece. I still want to continue to absorb new vocabulary, and use that in later writing pieces, especially in college letters.

As I learned this year, I need to express more diction, which is a better choice of words. For future writing, I want to be able to have a list of words in my head, with fabulous diction. One example I've seen with this type of writing is in Into the Wild, one of the books I read this year. The author wrote lovely, and described nature and scenery in perfect vocabulary. It truly made me picture the entire scene, and that's the effect I want to have on my readers as well.

I have also seen amazing diction in D'Vaughn McCrae's Ampersand piece. My favorite sentence that uses amazing diction is "His face looks tightened, with furrowed wooly eyebrows." I can picture this setting, and the diction she uses is perfect to create a picture.