"At this Moment, I Am" Essay
This was the first writing assignment I had to do for Ms. Shirk; we had to write an essay about what are we or what are we doing at this moment in time. Once we wrote our essays first draft we had peer critique sessions, and this type of work truly thought me how useful and needed refinement is. After we had our paper we had to rewrite our papers and were able to improve our work because of my peers thoughts.
"At this Moment, I Am" Essay Link
"At this Moment, I Am" Essay Reflection
Since this was my first writing assignment for Ms. Shirk, I was nervous, because I had no idea how she graded assignments. In my old school we were given a workbook that taught us how to format essays properly, so I remembered most of the steps and the tips the booklet provided. As a result my essay was lacking deeper feeling and emotion; it was all in the correct format and tense but that was it. My peers could only give me so much critique on how to improve my essay; it wasn't until Ms. Shirk wrote me comments and I was able to realize were I need growth. This was a real good learning essay for me, because it got me thinking about significant I really am and how much I do need to grow in essays.
Anthropological Case Study
For this assignment we were given a partner and we had to reflect on deep questions about the our partners culture. We were given a few days to interview our partners and take notes. The learning concepts behind this project was probably to open our eyes to different cultures around us. Respect is a quality that was also thought through this assignment. This was also an interesting assignment because I got to learn about another's culture.
Anthropological Case Study Link
Anthropological Case Study Reflection
This assignment got me thinking about how many different cultures there are around me. In my old school it was a close tight knit community and since the school was very impressionable we usually believed in the same holidays and such. So, I never really realized how different people can be even if they live in the same area with the same opportunities. Like my partner was also Catholic but didn't practice as much of the religious holidays as my family due to some doubts in there faith. This was also the first time I have ever heard of anthropology, and it surprised me how much I enjoyed learning about different cultures.
Original Poem
We were given a prep packet on how to construct poems; there were many different poems that we learned about. Some of the poems were haikus, elegy and free verse poems; I'm most proud of my free verse poem. For the haikus we had to write a poem with a unique format, it was by syllables and the theme had to be about nature. The elegy is a poem that you say when you lose a love one, so its a poem about remembrance of something or someone you lost. For the free verse poem we had to write about an emotion something that we feel strongly about. Once we picked our finale poem and had it peer critique we presented it
Original Poem Link
Original Poem Reflection
I have never been able to connect to poetry or any type of that form of art, but I was able to learn how to express my thoughts and opinions in a strong promenade way. My favorite piece was my free verse, because I was able to put my raw emotions into words that was quite freeing. I was never the kind of person to explode in front of my parents, so I would keep it in and it just kept building until I was able to let it out through poetry. This project showed me that poetry is a great outlet for your strong feelings and thoughts; it could even challenge their own beliefs. I'm glad I was able to connect to the lesson the way I did, I also enjoyed the fact that I was able to show off my strong opinions.
Promise to Life Poem
For this assignment I had to create a free verse poem with the theme of a promise to life in the mirror of death. This poem was meant to prepare us for the big Day of the Dead Exhibition slam poetry piece. To create our final promise to life poem we had a packet that had us write ten things on our bucket list, and write our own elegy poem. Ms. Shirk wanted us to realize how precious life is and how much we want to accomplish, so our poems could contain hope and promise. After we wrote our poems we had peer critique and then we typed up our finale draft.
Promise to Life Poem Link
Promise to Life Poem Reflection
From the very beginning of this project I knew I was going to have a hard time constructing this poem, because I always want the details to be perfect and I am not very creative. My group wanted to create this poem with kind of a humorous tone thus explaining why I brought the flea into the piece, but instead of ending humorous it was more like a rhyming train wreck. I wanted to include rhyming because I always feel like it helps the poem flow in a more relax why, but is catchy. It took me awhile to get any words down on paper and once I did I kept going back and rewriting because I wasn't content with it. In short my piece took me awhile to complete and frankly I think it came out cliché, but all my hard work amounted into it.
Vignettes
The task was to type five of my original vignettes from the packets that Ms. Shirk had assigned through out the book; The House on Mango Street. Each day we would read a chapter we would have to reflect back on the book and on our lives and write a little vignette about the special topic. We then have to revise the five vignettes that we choose, so they can match more of Sandra Cisneros writing style. Ms. Shirk has already read all of them and gave us constructive feedback. So, I just have to title each one of my vignettes, print them out and turn them in on Friday 19th.
House on Mango Street Vignettes Link
Vignettes Reflection
I did enjoy rewriting the vignettes and kind of changing them into Sandra Cisneros writing style. She kind of has a unique mysteries writing style, like its an easy reading level but there's so much unconventional symbolism going on. I like how see writes about a topic that a huge audience can relate to, but she provides just enough information to get you thinking. I have always loved writing , because I feel like its a good outlet for my thoughts and imagination. In short, I did enjoy writing these vignettes, because we had a writing prompt everyday and that let me express myself.
Analysis Essay for Inspiring Song Description
For this assignment I had to pick the song that inspires me the most and write a thesis paper about how it also inspires others. This was a long rigorous process of writing, peer critique and revision. For the thesis paper I had to look up articles and lyrics that supported my three main claims about why the song is inspiring. There was days spent looking for supportive evidence and hours spent on peer critique sessions. After every student created a solid paper it was put through a workshop of peer critiques; students were broken down into different groups. The different groups focused on pure grammar, spelling, thesis statements and correct essay format. The purpose of this writing assignment was to help with our writing skills, because thesis papers are going to be seen a lot through my life as I mature and it is skill that needs to be learned. Correct writing is a major skill that every high school student needs to know; without writing there is no way to communicate to rest of the world through paper.
Analysis Essay for Inspiring Song
Analysis Essay for Inspiring Song Reflection
For me this was a rigorous and tedious task, because I did many rough drafts, spent hours pondering the topic and making a thesis statement. I was suppose to turn in three rough drafts at the end of this process, but I did five rough drafts. I wanted my essay to stand out and be amazing; I wanted to prove that I have good writing skills. So that's why I had the need to do two extra rough drafts, and for the same reason I pondered my essay question for hours. I would research different articles that could support my claim for hours trying to find the strongest evidence to prove my point. The most difficult for me was creating a solid thesis statement; I remember that when we first began Mrs. Shirk gave us the option to use her thesis statement format or chose are own. I wanted mine to be different and to standout so I tried to do my own and it didn't end as I hoped. In the end I used the format given, but I still think I had a strong statement. If I could go back and revise something it would be adding more description in my paragraphs. C
CER Description
For this activity every student was given a worksheet with empty boxes and a lined paper. In the boxes you had to put the question asked, your claim, three evidence and then three explanations for the evidence. CER stands for Claim Evidence Reason, and the purpose of this activity is to improve paragraph writing. Most students are taught that paragraph should be about five sentences long, but in reality it needs to be a complete detailed thought. It can be difficult to write a complete thought that has a nice flow and is understandable by other readers; so, this is why the CER is so helpful. It helps organize thoughts that are complete and detailed. After you complete the worksheet at home you take it to school and have a peer critique session with your partner just to check for overlooked errors. After your complete paragraph is rewritten on a clean sheet of paper it is turned in to be graded by Mrs. Shirk.
CER Reflection
When I first heard about CER and it being closer to eight sentences I was shocked and dumbfounded. I was so shocked because in my whole schooling career I was told that it needs to be in five sentences; short and direct. I know understand why in the beginning of the year I was getting comments to be more descriptive, because I was being to direct and genera. I do think that the CER has made a huge change in my writing; I notice my paragraphs are longer and more descriptive. I sometimes have a hard time organizing a complete descriptive thought but having the format of making a claim with three different reasons helps keep it into a nice congruent paragraph. The CER I have displayed above is the one I did the best in; we were only given two worksheets but I did better in this one. The question was; who is one person who made your break memorable? I choose my dad and talked about what we did over the break. I am proud that I did pretty good for my first time ever having this activity.
Commentary for Comic Strip Description
For this project you are required to read a book on your own and then create a writing piece followed with a comic strip that depicts your favorite part from your book. There will be a written commentary about your comic strip explaining the scene, and why you drew the scene the way you did. The commentary had to be written in complete MLA format; which means, double space lines, Times New Roman font, name, grade, teachers name and the date the assignment is due.
Commentary for Comic Strip Reflection
I had to do reports for this assignment, because when I first started I didn't know that there was a proper format that had to be followed. I did not know that I had to specifically write about what is occurring in the scene and why I drew the characters the way I did. So, I redid the paper in the correct format and receive a very decent grade that I am proud of. If I had to go back and revise something from the commentary it would be to give more detail in my paragraphs. I noticed from the comments that I was starting good thoughts, I just was not fully completing them. This scene is actually the turning point of the whole story, after this occurs in the novel it changes to a more hopeful story. However, it is not a very well known or important scene but it is to me because it quickens the plot.I enjoyed creating this writing piece because it let tell my opinion on my favorite part of the book and how I imagined it.
Letter to the Author and Proposal for the Movie Description
For the letter to the author independent reading assignment students are required to write a personal letter to the author of the book you read. Students have to connect, reflect and your feelings about the book to the author. The learning goals of this project is to be able to read and honestly discuss a book with the author. This assignment is not about parsing the writer or fan girling over him or her; it was about reading and sharing your honest opinion about the book. The opinion could be either negative or positive, the point was to give honest feedback.
For the movie proposal I had to read a book, create a movie poster and a writing piece. The movie poster has to depict the theme, a scene or a symbol from the book. A cast will also have to be chosen, it can either be people you know our other famous actors. There does have to be a reason why a person is chosen though.
For the movie proposal I had to read a book, create a movie poster and a writing piece. The movie poster has to depict the theme, a scene or a symbol from the book. A cast will also have to be chosen, it can either be people you know our other famous actors. There does have to be a reason why a person is chosen though.
Letter to the Author Reflection
The book I choose to write about was Of Mice And Men, the reason why I choose this book is because I felt like there is a lot of symbolism and would make a lot to talk about. I also choose this book because I know it is an all time classic and I love rereading classics. I feel like whenever you reread a classic you find something that you did not see before or you make a new connection to something. If I could go back and revise a few things I would revise my grammar and go deeper. In my comments I see a lot of mistakes, they are mainly grammar mistakes. So, I would just reread the whole thing out loud and that would allow me to pick out the flaws before Mrs. Shirk. When I say I would go deeper I mean that I would explain my thoughts with more detail. I do feel that if I added more to the letter it would have been better.
Proposal for the Movie Reflection
For this project I read my favorite book of all time; The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I picked this book because I have never seen a movie The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and would love to see one; so I decided to create a cast and a movie poster. In the poster I drew Tom Sawyer in his overalls and infamous straw hat, because he is obviously the main character . The blue on the side of the poster was placed there to add more color and because blue, red and white symbolizes that this book reminds me of America in the olden days. The movie poster tagline is; The boy who has done it all, and it is true. I feel that this movie would get a large audience because The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a classic and I am sure many adults feel just as connected to the story as an adolescence. Most movies these days are very inappropriate or not family friendly and this would be an excellent family friendly movie that all ages could enjoy.
Character Sketch Description
This was another independent reading project where you have to pick your favorite character from a book, and draw a portrait with objects to describe their personal traits. Along with the drawing a written piece is also required. The writing piece has to contain the character's biggest secret, their personality and the explanation of why the character looks the way it does. The drawing has to be completed on a big poster board with the image taking up eighty percent of the poster board. The learning goals of this assignment is to excel in literature, drawing and reading. The portrait also has to be colored to more vividly show the character. The character that is chosen does not have to be the main character, which gives you creative license.
Character Sketch Reflection
The book I chose to do the report on is; Under the Jolly Rodger. This is a book from the series of Jacky Faber, she is the main character and is one of my book character idols. She is one of my idols because she travels the world in the Navy as a boy, has love affairs, beats most every man who challengers her and becomes a vigilantey. I drew Jacky Faber with a pirate hat to give you insight into her personality and her career. The writing piece was also fun to create, because I was able to become very creative with her personality and her secrets; for her biggest secret I put that she could time travel. I enjoyed having creative license of the amazing Jacky Faber, it allowed me to have fun with a book character without having to create a whole new character. I did spend a lot of time working on Jacky's portrait, but that is just because I made multiply rough drafts in hope to get her perfect. One thing that I would revise for this project would be the writing piece, because I should have used more descriptive language. I would also add color to the background of the drawling, but I am most proud of my creativity writing level.