Understanding and identifying content in novels can sometimes be a challenge for me. Recognizing symbols and imagery that are important in order to understand the passage are complex for me and I hope to improve this during this semester. In order to comprehend novels, I would like to utilize a couple of strategies which I think will help me significantly. Reading novels out loud helps me apprehend the passage better. Apart from this, taking annotated notes while reading the text will help me to a great extent as it has worked for me in the …show more content…
past. Writing down questions and information about characters will help me later in the novel as I will be able to go back to my initial thoughts and see how the characters developed over time. Furthermore, trying to assess the type of language, symbols, imagery, and allusions that are being used by the writer is always a challenge for me and I hope to overcome this issue by working with my group members. Helping each other out with identifying symbols and imagery that are significant in order to understand the passage is vital in order to perform well in this course.
My presentation skills also need quite a bit of improvement.
I am good at creating content for the presentation and researching about the particular topic, but presenting it perfectly is a challenge for me. The quality of the presentation is crucial in order to succeed at school and this course will help me develop my presentation skills. Overcoming this weakness would mean using presentation strategies like using eye contact and body language that would get the attention of the audience. This would hopefully build up my confidence and I would be able to present better. This again comes to expanding my communication skills and in order to do this, I hope to get some tips from not only my peers but also my
instructor.
Drawing conclusions and coming up with new ideas using prior knowledge is an amazing skill and could be improved significantly. Over the passage of time, I seem to forget content that I have learned in the past and I am thus unable to use that information in the future. This weakness can be overcome by keeping a diary or just having annotated notes for the passages I have read as I would be able to look back at what I have learned before and use it in order to draw conclusions.
Vocabulary development is an essential part of this course and I hope to improve it in order to be fully prepared for the English diploma and also for university. Expansion of vocabulary and development of stylistic choices are fundamental elements of this course and reading various novels, poems, and passages will help me improve this. Moreover, underlining words I don’t understand and looking up their meaning would be a great strategy to utilize if I want to expand my knowledge. Some poems contain complex words and having a variety of words in my system will help me overcome that weakness as well.
Interpreting poems have always been a challenge for me and I have tried to improve by reading various poems. I am unable to identify what the writer’s main purpose is; which is an important element in the process of comprehending the content of the poem. Poems are something I am interested in and I am certain that this course will help me develop my poem analysis skills via various projects like the ones coming up. I look forward to sharing poetry with the class and attempting to analyze a poem in front of my peers. These projects will expose me to the perspectives of other people, which would help me gain more knowledge.
Even though I have my weaknesses, there are a couple of things which I recognize to be my strengths. This includes recording initial thoughts about a novel or a passage, setting goals for language and personal development, using referencing strategies, assessing settings and plots, analyzing characters, planning and listing down the information required, identifying biases, and analyzing the writer’s intentions. Furthermore, working together with my peers will help me develop as an individual. Teamwork is an essential skill and I respect and value everyone I work with. Apart from this, practicing reading comprehensions - which I considered to be one of my main weaknesses - has helped me a lot, as I now consider it to be one of my main strengths. Writing the SAT exam has helped me develop my reading comprehension skills tremendously. I hope to further develop my skills through enrollment in the ELA-30 course and maintaining the same level of excellence by continuing to practice.
As far as the course is concerned, I prefer to learn via visuals and also by reading and writing. In the past, I have come across teachers who limit their students by restricting them to essay topics and I believe that students should be given the opportunity to come up with their own critical questions and work with the teacher in order to ensure that the question fits the objectives of the ELA-30 curriculum. Moreover, I suggest group projects because working together with different people improves your communication and leadership skills. This does not mean working with just your classmates, but it also includes working closely with the teacher.
I personally love to work with my teachers as they help me accomplish my goals. Not only do they teach me about the coursework, but they also give essential life lessons. I look forward to working with Mr. Holland as I believe that he will help me change my weaknesses into my strengths and further improve my strengths by teaching me how to use different strategies in order to excel at this course. He will certainly be a gargantuan help to all his students throughout this semester and I look forward to working with him.