walked into English call on the first day of my senior year I was conflicted with emotions every student has on their first day of school. I was also troubled by the rumors I heard about some of classes I signed up for, especially AP English. DUring the summer my brother took a look over my schedule and the first thing he said was “Good luck with AP english, those reading quizzes are so difficult”. Needless to say I started off the year reading 1984 as slowly and repetitively as possible in order to remember every little detail. I ended up getting three wrong on my first quiz which wasn’t to bad but not what I wanted. Over the course of 1984 my quiz grades raised as my attention to detail grew. My previous English courses only quized me on what someone could get from Sparknotes but those odd AP reading questions helped me see the importance of small details and how they connect to works as a whole. I really learned and better understand the signs and meanings of motifs and hidden symbols. My writing took a lot longer to progress compared to my reading comprehension skills in AP English. I heard about Mr. Sullivan’s tentative and thorough grading style which caused me to take about fifteen strict work hours to complete my first essay. I originally thought that 1984 essay was my best I have ever written and I was right at the time but I only received a grade of eighty. Puzzled I looked at the comments Mr. Sullivan wrote on my paper, which I never recieved in any other course before, and saw the small mistakes that I had been making for years and have gone unnoticed. My writing sloley improved as I corrected the wrong tendencies I had been using and I manage to make my way up into the lower nineties for essay grades about halfway through the year. However halfway through the year I began to feel the effects of senioritis. When the second semester began that's when I started to procrastinate the most. My grades started to decline as my writing began to fill with more and more flaws. I questioned why I was getting such low marks on my essays and quizzes but I came to realize I was doing it to myself. Mr. Sullivan's speeches about procrastinating really hit me hard and by the end of the year I turned around my lackadaisical approach to writing. What I learned the best in AP English class this year was to not cut corners. I read all of the dystopian novels and soon after that I saw myself Sparknoting a chapter here and there until I once Sparknoted a whole book. My grades lowered into the mid eighties but the ethical guilt was the worst part. I was disgusted with myself as I cheated the course and Mr. Sullivan. After that one book (As I Lay Dying) I made a promise to myself to read every book cover to cover after that. I’m very thankful I took AP English this year with Mr. Sullivan. I learned the benefits of paying attention to small details, learning from my mistakes, and doing the work even if it's tough. I plan to continue these revelations I learned in AP English next year in college.
walked into English call on the first day of my senior year I was conflicted with emotions every student has on their first day of school. I was also troubled by the rumors I heard about some of classes I signed up for, especially AP English. DUring the summer my brother took a look over my schedule and the first thing he said was “Good luck with AP english, those reading quizzes are so difficult”. Needless to say I started off the year reading 1984 as slowly and repetitively as possible in order to remember every little detail. I ended up getting three wrong on my first quiz which wasn’t to bad but not what I wanted. Over the course of 1984 my quiz grades raised as my attention to detail grew. My previous English courses only quized me on what someone could get from Sparknotes but those odd AP reading questions helped me see the importance of small details and how they connect to works as a whole. I really learned and better understand the signs and meanings of motifs and hidden symbols. My writing took a lot longer to progress compared to my reading comprehension skills in AP English. I heard about Mr. Sullivan’s tentative and thorough grading style which caused me to take about fifteen strict work hours to complete my first essay. I originally thought that 1984 essay was my best I have ever written and I was right at the time but I only received a grade of eighty. Puzzled I looked at the comments Mr. Sullivan wrote on my paper, which I never recieved in any other course before, and saw the small mistakes that I had been making for years and have gone unnoticed. My writing sloley improved as I corrected the wrong tendencies I had been using and I manage to make my way up into the lower nineties for essay grades about halfway through the year. However halfway through the year I began to feel the effects of senioritis. When the second semester began that's when I started to procrastinate the most. My grades started to decline as my writing began to fill with more and more flaws. I questioned why I was getting such low marks on my essays and quizzes but I came to realize I was doing it to myself. Mr. Sullivan's speeches about procrastinating really hit me hard and by the end of the year I turned around my lackadaisical approach to writing. What I learned the best in AP English class this year was to not cut corners. I read all of the dystopian novels and soon after that I saw myself Sparknoting a chapter here and there until I once Sparknoted a whole book. My grades lowered into the mid eighties but the ethical guilt was the worst part. I was disgusted with myself as I cheated the course and Mr. Sullivan. After that one book (As I Lay Dying) I made a promise to myself to read every book cover to cover after that. I’m very thankful I took AP English this year with Mr. Sullivan. I learned the benefits of paying attention to small details, learning from my mistakes, and doing the work even if it's tough. I plan to continue these revelations I learned in AP English next year in college.