Reading Reflections
#1- I grew in the understanding that you can read for a deeper purpose and not just for pleasure. When I first read through the Scarlet Ibis and Angels in the snow I was able to pick out things like signposts and symbols but I wasn't able to connect them back to an overall theme or concept. In the Scarlet Ibis I knew that the fallen Ibis was a symbol but I didn’t know how to connect it to a theme or concept. As I read through it again I started to look deeper into the text and was able to connect the fallen Ibis to different literary devices. I connected the Ibis to the concept of death, in my paragraph I wrote: “The Ibis also connects back to the concept of death which was a recurring concept in the story.” When I read for pleasure I don’t usually pay attention to things like symbols or signposts I read more for entertainment. These two artifacts are a good example of how I grew because I was able to read deeper into texts and use the signposts I found in texts and put them into an analytical paragraphs.
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#2- I grew in the understanding that sometimes the author has a deeper purpose in their writing opposed to just writing for entertainment. I learned that a lot of times the author is trying to get you to see things from a different perspective of someone else’s point of view. The Hate U Give and To Kill A Mockingbird are a great example of this because both books try and help readers understand hardships faced by African Americans but are set in two different time periods. For example in The Hate U Give the author talks about Starr, the main character, and how she has to act different around white people then she does around black people so she isn’t judged and they don’t make assumptions about her. These books both gave me a lot of insight to the hardships that African Americans face and also how our society has/hasn't changed because the books were set in two different time periods.
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Writing Reflections
#1- I grew in the understanding that in order to make my writing flow better and stay on topic I needed to cut back on unnecessary details. For example in the first draft of my personal narrative I talked about My new softball coach and when he got hired but these details were not relevant to the main topic of the story. I took my teachers feedback and was able to make my narrative build up to the climax without dragging on too long and being boring and off topic. I also didn't punctuate mt dialogue correctly but after feedback went back and fixed it. Below are my teacher comments, rough draft, and final draft.
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*Click Photos to Enlarge
Rough Draft
Final Draft
#2- I grew in the understanding that you can make a creative project that offers new insights into themes, symbols and characters opposed to a standard essay or paper. In “To Kill A Mockingbird” I was given the question “How does one's power have to do with fairness and justice?” To answer this question I looked at my TKAM reading guide and quotes from certain characters and made a podcast with fellow students. I worked to create an accurate answer to this question but did it from a character's perspective. Normally I would’ve just wrote a paper from my perspective and pulled in evidence from the book opposed to doing it from a character's perspective.
Individual Script
Individual Script
Final Product
Reflection
Two things I’m proud of during this tri are my ability to be a leader when working in small groups and being able to show respect for peers’ ideas and handling subject maturely. I have always considered myself a natural born leader and I’m really good at jumping into a group and getting everyone involved and working hard. I also think that I am able to take all group members suggestions into consideration and respect their ideas. This tri I think I handled some of the more mature content for example the mature language in TKAM very well and didn’t let it get me off task or distracted. One thing I wish I would’ve done better is been on task during class discussions. Next trimester I plan to be on task all the time and utilize my in class work time better.