My Writing Reflection

When walking into my first period class as high schooler, I pictured myself as a well-rounded writer. My impression suddenly changed after a few weeks in Ms. Giroux’s class. As I received my first ECQ grade with a blood-inked C written in the corner, I realized I was going to have to put a lot more effort into my writing. I began to spend more time and put tedious details in my writing while doing deep revisions after my paper was complete. Towards the beginning of the year, my writing lacked creativity and organization skills. With much help and hard work throughout this school year, I have strongly developed my overall skills as a writer. My writing has showed a substantial amount of growth in all areas due to me learning new techniques
and utilizing my resources as a student. The lessons I have learned in this class will especially benefit me in the upcoming years and likewise, I will continue to improve the weaknesses recognized in my writing.
Using a variety of words has always come naturally to me while writing my papers. Throughout my personal narrative I accomplished the use of descriptive words, one example that conveys this is in my climax. When describing the climax of my story, I wrote, “My heart erupts with thundering pounds as I shuffle over to the front of his casket. My eyes flutter over his delicate body. His familiar pale blue eyes that used to look at me with love were now closed” (Personal Narrative 2). My word choice in these two sentences are original and I avoid using weak words. By using words that are detailed it allows the reader to picture what is happening in this scene. Another example in my writing that shows my use of diverse words, is in my persuasive speech. In my conclusion sentence for one of my body paragraphs, I wrote, “It is essential that all women have the ability to partake in any job or activity without being criticized” (Persuasive Speech 2). In this sentence the words I use sound educated and add professionalism to my paper. My strength in avoiding weak words have helped me weave together my transitions to my next topics.
Transitions is a quality that has consistently stood out in my writing over the years.
I have always incorporated transitions in any kind of writing. However, in my midterm essay, I further exceeded in solid transitions throughout my entire paper. One of the best examples of this is when I wrote, “Another hardship that has come with the development of advanced technology, is students are using it to complete basic assignments for them” (Midterm 2). In this sentence, I connect my ideas with one another and that results in a smooth transition to my next topic. When my writing attaches my topics together, it provides the reader with a good understanding of all the points I wish to get across. Likewise in my persuasive speech, I wrote, “Additionally, women are made to feel that they need to give a certain impression for men” (Persuasive Speech 2). This example displays how I clearly state my next argument with linking it to my previous topic. Despite my ability to create superb transitions, I have struggled with the use of sensory imagery while writing
papers.
I have constantly struggled with adding compelling sensory imagery to my writing. While I had a little amount of sensory imagery included in my memoir, one of the worst examples is in one of my body paragraph. To describe the characters first impression of America, I wrote, “Once I arrived in America, my confidence of running into Dominic began to diminish when I realized how massive it is here compared to my home town” (Memoir 2). While I noted how massive America seemed, it is difficult for the readers to understand what I really mean by this because I never describe where she used to live. Also, I don’t included any small details about the places she was experiencing. Another piece of evidence that show my weakness in using sensory imagery is in my personal narrative, “It’s dreadful to experience the people my Nono had made an impact on, utter their goodbyes” (Personal Narrative 1). In this sentence I fail to go into detail of what I was witnessing. I simply just state that people are uttering their goodbyes without using any sensory imagery so the reader can connect to my writing. Furthermore, my lack of sensory imagery associates with my inability to integrate valuable dialogue.
Throughout the year I used a minimal amount of dialogue in my papers and when I did, I didn’t incorporate it well into my writing.
One of the worst examples of this is in my personal narrative, “I notice a slight nudge, while my sister Madison mutters, “Bri move!” I quickly stroll to my seat and join the rest of my family” (Personal Narrative 1). This sentence adds little to my overall paper, and doesn’t help the readers understand anything about the story I am telling. Similarly in my partner mini memoir, I wrote, ‘“When he gave me the light green jersey with a large soccer ball plastered on the front he said, “Kenneth you are going to score your first goal in this jersey”’ (Partner Mini Memoir 1). In this sentence it is evident that I lack the ability to integrate dialogue strongly into my papers. When writing this, I should have built up the anticipation to what the coach says because that was the focal point of the paper. Dialogue is a skill that I have often struggled with when writing my papers and is something I need to improve on. Although I didn’t show any growth in my use of dialogue, It is clear that I advanced in integrating quotes in my writing throughout the
year. From quarter one to now my skills in merging quotes into my writing have evolved tremendously. During the beginning of the year, I struggled a great amount with the use of quotes in my paper. An example of this is in my Separate Peace timed writing, ‘“I had no idea why this gave me such intense relief, but it seemed, standing there in Finny’s triumphant shirt, that I would never stumble through the confusions of my own character again’ (Knowles 62)” (Summer Reading Essay 1). In this sentence I never introduce the quote which shows the difficulty I used to have with using quotes in my writing. However, as the year progressed, I learned how to introduce my quotes and add them seamlessly into my writing. In my midterm essay I show extreme growth in this particular area. One of the best examples is when I wrote, “In the short story, ‘The Veldt’ by Ray Bradbury, it demonstrates that when technology is used without conscious it can damage lives, ‘You’ve let this room and this house replace you and your wife in your children’s affections. This room is their mother and father, far more important in their lives than their real parents’ (Bradbury 16)” (Midterm Essay 1). In this sentence I clearly state the source the quote is coming from and the importance of it to my paper. This clearly exhibits the development I have made with accommodating quotes in my writing over the course of this school year. As of now, I as a writer have become much more developed in all areas of writing. I used to lack the ability to draw in my reader's attention with creativeness and engaging information. Currently, I am able to write interesting introductions and connect my ideas with one another. At the beginning of the year, I would rush through my writing and never revise my papers. As the year progressed, I realized the importance of assessing my work and soon after my papers began to thrive. This class has increased my overall writing skills but it has especially made the flow of my writing enhance due to me learning how to integrate quotes. Going into next years literature class, I am going to use my skills in avoiding weak words and transitions to succeed in the class. Additionally, I’m going to proceed working on improving my use of sensory imagery and dialogue so I can be an all around better writer. This class has advanced my strengths as a writer and has taught me many skills that I will be able to use in the future to fix the weaknesses in my writing.