almost done.

For my sophomore year of English with Mr.Howell, we did many essays and response logs related to the books we were reading in class. I started out with an okay writing fluency and learned how to include evidence and insight in our writing. When writing about Westley in Princess Bride, using evidence and insight was very essential. The fact that “Westley saved Buttercup from Inigo, Fezzik, and Vizzini” proved that “he loved Buttercup deeply”. I’ve learned that it is important to analyze what you are reading so you can have a better understanding of the story and appreciate it. I hope to become a better at realizing what the author is implying with the actions he gives his characters.
We also had to compare the Princess Bride the movie to the book, and write a short FCA about it. At first this wasn’t an easy task because you really had to understand both the movie and the book to be able to compare the slight differences. “The movie has to consider the fact that the kids will be watching it; meanwhile, a higher age group will be reading the book.” In this FCA we had to incorporate sentences that had semi-colons followed by adverbs, such as in the previous quoted sentence. We also had to include good transitional words, which really helps when you are talking about a story so the sequence of events is clear. I have improved my ability to add certain sentence types into my writing, however I would still like to approve in that area because I know I still have more room to grow.
In English class we also did a lot of essay. I started out doing alright, but I needed more fluency and I needed to do better revisions to my work. In one sentence I wrote “Although Boxer- honorable, hardworking…” and a couple sentences down I wrote “Boxer, the hardest working…”. These two uses of the description hardworking made my writing appear redundant. I learned that it is best to go through my writing and change similar words to create more variety and richness. In addition, I need to do more proofreading so I can avoid silly mistakes.
As the year progressed, I improved a significant amount. I learned how to incorporate parallel structure into my writing, and the correct use of punctuation. My sentence, “In conclusion, bringing out the students highest potential, balancing freedom, and giving each student and equal opportunity for success are really understandable goals that we should set,” is a good example of my use of parallel structure. I believe parallel structure is a good way to include multiple ideas or things into once sentence. An instance of my improvement in correct punctuation would be as follows: “Student praise is also and important issue- not just for those who do their work all the time…another issue is when teachers favor some students over others; usually students who are doing really well.” Learning how to use parallel structure and a variety of punctuation enhanced my writing, and I hope to be consistent in adding them into my writing in the future.
In English class, we learned that it was vital to be able to listen to your peers and take notes to see different opinions. When faced with the difficult question of saving 17 people you don’t know or saving your own baby, we all had different ways to look at it. Some believed that they would rather “save their own flesh and blood”, while others believes they would rather “save more people”.