Kate S.

Mr. Schnair
English II
5-29-17

Spring Reflection

This year, spring semester has been rather exciting for me. While I have to be honest and say that
I learned more outside of the classroom than I did within it, it doesnt mean that these past few months
havent been fruitful either. Ive learned quite a few small tips and tricks, namely from the brief grammar
unit we completed at the end of the semester. Who/Whom had always confused me, and I know for a fact
that Im a queen when it comes to using too many commas. The grammar handouts helped somewhat
with both of those issues.
Back to my earlier point, I can say with certainty that my life outside of English II has contributed
the most to me becoming a better writer. Aside from the usual stories that I write on the side, I undertook
a fairly big writing project last February. This additional work, I feel, helped exemplify my strengths as a
writer and encouraged me to push my boundaries. The assignment was a short story to apply for the
University of Iowas summer program, which I got accepted into. Oddly enough, I based that submission
off of a short assignment I did for this class last semester. Per usual, I had been bitterly disappointed that I
was confined to 700 words, and took the new opportunity to expand the narrative to the level I wanted. In
the end, that story wound up being around eleven pages and 5,800 words. I think this is an excellent
example of one of my greatest strengths as a writer, both this semester and otherwise: I know how to
create a long piece while still sustaining and expanding its narrative. Although editing is always a skill I
need to work on (this class certainly has tested my patience with it) I know that when I do cut loose I can
produce quality writing. For history papers and beyond, expansive writing is a useful skill to have up my
sleeve.
For my revisions, I once again focused mostly on specific tasks. As far as the academic final
went, I chose to revise my in-class essay on William Blakes The GARDEN of LOVE. I distinctly
remember sitting there scrawling as fast as I could, knowing that there was more I wanted to say but no
time to figure out how to add it. In the final version, I added in a couple of those points in the first
paragraph that I had missed and attempted to fix the counter argument a revision you had suggested.
I had wanted to revise my comic for the creative assignment, but due to a number of factors I
chose my persona poem instead. For me, art is a labor of love. It takes me hours upon hours to complete a
single drawing, and this is without thinking about multiple panels. I simply havent had that time, and so I
revised the shorter piece. As such, my changes for the poem were mostly small. Per your suggestions on
my original assignment, I chose to add some punctuation and also tried to add in a smidgen more of
figurative language. The second task was a little harder, however, as it had already been hard to fit
Lysanders narrative into the confines of a Shakespearean sonnet. I think I managed it, however, and am
happy with how the poem came out.