My writing without a doubt has gotten stronger in these past few months. Specifically my writing process has improved a lot, and it is easier for me to find a good place to get started in my writing pieces. I’ve actually learned quite a lot about World War II that I didn’t know about through our first unit as we looked at a lot of letters written during WW2. Some course goals I have seen in myself include: developing critical reading skills, appreciate the practice of letter writing in various forms, and employing writing as a way to generate new ideas and understanding. After reading and analyzing so many letters in this course, I feel that my critical reading skills have improved a ton. I have been able to notice and connect themes and similarities/differences throughout what I read, which all fed into my first essay for this course. In terms of appreciating the practice of letter writing, I now deeply appreciate letters in a way that I didn’t know was possible. I’ve always somewhat respected letter writing, however after seeing it’s role in so many people’s lives in the past, I’ve come to have a deeper understanding for why letters are so important. Additionally, I have certainly found myself employing writing as a way to generate new ideas. We’ve done a few free writes in class, and since then I have actually found them very helpful in a lot of different areas. A few days ago I was studying for my biology exam, and I pulled up an empty document and started writing how I felt as well as just trying to list as much information as I could remember for the exam. After writing everything on the document I sat back and read it. I found it really helpful. In addition to biology, in my writing process I have found free writes to be a really great way for me to start putting my ideas into one place before doing any writing. I actually crafted my thesis for my essay from a free write we did in class. As for things that were difficult for me, I found the essay the hardest for me to accomplish. The prompt was very broad, with not a lot of instruction, which I’m not very familiar with since in high school there is always a lot of structure. Ultimately, I made myself a structure after realizing how much I needed it. Something I found really interesting so far in this course has just been reading so many letters for different people with different perspectives. Unexpectedly, I also really enjoyed listening/reading the love letters during that unit. Throughout this whole experience, I found that I really need to listen to music while writing. It helps with the flow of my thoughts and writing those thoughts out. I’ve been specifically listening to instrumentals because they help me focus more than if the music has lyrics. It helps my process a lot in writing. However, I have figured out that I need pure silence to read. I really wish I sorted out the most efficient way for me to work like this in high school because it would have helped me a lot. Nonetheless I am grateful I have figured this out about myself now.
For a grade halfway through this class, I believe I deserve a B. I would say my effort deserves an A, however sometimes my writing is lacking enough analysis and I just can’t figure a theme or idea out. All of my work in this class has been completed and completed on time. I participate in class when needed. My writing blogs on my website have been pretty thorough, however there are some that definitely needed more though and deeper analysis that sometimes I just missed. By the end of this FYS course, I hope to have an A and work more on my analysis in my writing pieces. I think I can work towards that for sure and by the end of the semester feel more confident about my work.
