Marcy Bardman
English 1 Scholar
It is actually really hard to write, or rather type, as we would say in today's era. If one ever gets there, it takes a while to work through the nide method of starting out with crap and growing flowers. Sometimes the flowers just don't get enough sunshine and never start to grow.
The tallest flower I think I might have grown this year, my Analysis of Satire, grew because of the high degree of clarity I felt I achieved in the work. "Short and sweet" was a goal I tried to work on all year, and I think I might have started to latch on to something when I broke down the satire.
The rest of the flowers I tried to grow are organized from tallest to shortest height, from best to worst achievement. The organization was not solely based on degrees of clarity, but that is a larger determining factor. Rankings were also determined based on the level to which I felt I efficiently achieved the goals, tasks, and FCAs at hand.
RESUME
1
Analysis of Satire
Analyzing Key and Peele's clip The Slave Auction, the goal of this assignment was to break the satire down and explain how race could be put in such a humorous context. Through quote sandwiches and appropriate use of commas, the irony and hyperbole in this short clip were to be analyzed in depth.
For me, this was one of the more challenging assignmnets in the whole year. Humor in general really isn't as easy to produce or break down as it may sound. It took me a while to figure out why such a serious topic could successfully be laughed at. I think I did a pretty good job of breaking apart the satire into a few simple enough definitions. However, I had a couple punctuation errors, which damaged the essay. Nothing can ever be perfect, and my continuous mistakes with commas are a perfect example of this.
2
Argument 1
The first of many arguments to come in the spring term, Argument 1 was an assignment with a new twist. A claim, warrant, and reason was required for the roots of the essay. Through a strong rebuttal and accurate backing and grounds, persuasion of the reader to agree with a certain opinion was to be achieved. Grammar and mechanics were also important to make this work successful.
I made this essay a lot harder than it needed to be. It was the first argument that I had ever written in such an efficient way. The first time through I added so much to my backing and grounds that they drowned in information. After editing over and over, the backbone of my piece became more clear and allowed the reader to agree with my claim even further. This essay is closer to the top because I feel that I followed the model and format well. I never truly made my backing and grounds as clear as they could have been, therefore lowering the ranking of this piece.
Analysis of The Human Comedy
3
This piece was a first in a series to come of analytic writing. Instead of showing and not telling with narrative writing, this piece was designed to tell and show a point, using examples. Using the Human Comedy and Campbell's philosophy, the goal of the assignment was to show that Homer did indeed embody The Hero Cycle. An engaging introduction, three direct quotations in quote sandwiches, and an illusion to Catcher in the Rye in the final conclusion paragraph. As a whole, the essay was to be simple, clear, and easy to understand yet still proving a point.
While this might not have been one of the best books I read all year, nor the hero cycle a philosophy I entirely agreed with, I still tried to throw myself into this paper. Writing with quote sandwiches for the first time was something a little bit different, but I think I adapted to the format pretty well. Achieving and engaging introduction and conclusion was something I had never done before. As it wasn't the traditional way I had been taught, it took me quite a while to think of something that wouldn't bore the reader. I don't think I ever got this skill down perfectly. Thus why this work is closer to the top of the list but still not the best piece I have ever written in English 1.
4
Argument 2
Similar to Argument 1, Argument 2 was to include an effective thesis, backing and grounds, and rebuttal paragraph. Accurate grammar and mechanics were also important so as not to distract the reader with unnessecary mistakes.
As a topic of high debate today, global climate change is rather complicated. I did my best to pick an appropriate claim. What I came up with was really two different claims in one, because I felt so strongly about both that I could not give either up. I think I did a fairly good job of supporting my thesis with backing and grounds. However, my rebuttal was really complicated to write because of the many parts to my thesis. This most likely lost some of the reader's willingness to agree with me on the topic, an important aspect for a successful argument. Thus, I placed this work lower on the chart.
Short Imaginary Monolgue
5
As a portion of our fall exam this piece was supposed to reflect all skills we had learned in the first term of English 1. In the form of a monologue told from the perspective of another character, the goal of the work was to include dialogue, humor, variety, and originality. The reader needed to be engaged in an imaginative setting produced by vivid imagery.
Looking back on this piece, I wish I could have thought of a better idea to base my monologue off of. I guess the idea of stabbing a leaf with a stick was so absurd that it was intriguing. In the time limit given, I tried to paint the best picture with words possible. I put this piece so high in the list because I felt that I did a pretty good job being humorous and appropriately describing the action at hand.
How To Process Analysis
7
This essay was essentially intended to be a how to, but nide English 1 style. Using well thought out transitions and correctly placed punctuation, the work needed to include a rhetorical move and a clear tone. Because of the clarity of the essay, the reader was to learn something new.
For this assignment, I had a million ideas flying through my head but I settled upon explaining to the reader how not to be nervous when they stepped up to an important competition. However, the way I wrote it was too muddled and confusing. It started sounding so philosophical that it wasn't simple enough and appropraite for the assignment. There were only about two paragraphs that one could actually understand. But I just wasn't sure how to efficiently explain the topic. Thus, this piece has a lower ranking.
The Lanyard
8
Using The Lanyard by Billy Collins as a model, the task was to write a narrative poem in which we thanked our parents for giving us life. The tone was sarcastic yet appropriate, sticking closely to the original model. Sentence usage and structure was also a key component.
Having not written much poetry before, the Lanyard wasn't one of my better assignments. It was definitely more well written than works like my rejection letter because I did not repeat myself as much. I felt like I stayed focused on what I wanted to write and presented it with an appropriate amount of description. The tone could have been a bit more sarcastic. I think I got a little bit too in depth with the meaning needing to be conveyed in the poem, thus why it wasn't higher on my list of formal writing pieces.
The Oval Essay
6
This assignment challenged the writer to vividly narrate 3 separate objects or short events by "showing, not telling". The basis for the work was Gail Griffin's "Oval". Thus, our final piece was to have 3 separate vignettes that all related to each other through individual content and an overall title.
I am on the boundary of calling this a good essay. I think I did pretty good job of visually describing things, but sometimes it fell through the cracks. The wording I used in a few sentences overdid the descriptions, something we were specifically asked not to do. I remember making edit after edit, which without a doubt taught me how to write better in such a descriptive setting. Short and sweet.
The Balancing Act
9
Based off the Balancing Act by Lisa Knopp, the goals of this piece were to focus on an engaging opening line and paragraph, a narrative that contained something revealing about the writer at its core, and variation in sentence and paragraph structure to attract the reader. By alternating short and long sentences and paragraph, the audience should have been able to continually stay engaged in the work. Vivid imagery was also recommended to make the Balancing Act more of a narrative work.
The first time I wrote my Balancing Act, it was very personally revealing, but it did not grasp the reader's attention like it should have. I had alternated short and long sentences here and there but it wasn't enough. I placed this piece below my Oval Essay. I felt like it did not provide as clear of a picture as my Oval did. Both pieces have their faults, but my Balancing Act has too many more.
Rejection Letter
10
The goal of this formal piece was to slowly ease the student in to writing for E1 using irony and a simple template. Closely mirroring the comic magazine article The Rejection Letter of Anne Frank by Mike Sacks and Teddy Wayne, I was to create my own rejection letter. I was allowed to keep large portions of sentences. The rest of the letter was comically filled in with the rejection of something that never would have been rejected in the first place.
This piece isn't the worst that I have written all year but it is pretty close. Looking back on it many months later I realized that it was too long because I had repeated a bunch of points. In at least two sentences I had said the same thing, just with different wording. This was a problem that I always had trouble mastering in middle school. But reviewing some of my last works in English 1, I think I might have finally conquered it.
Classical Artist Investigation
11
A formal essay for History of Art and Music, this work was not required to have as much structure as any piece in English 1. Essentially it was supposed to be a biographical piece on an influential artist from the Classical Period. The goals were to include not only a basic synopsis of the artist's life, but also to analyze his role and influence on the period through reviews of the artist and personal opinion.
This essay was rather dry and tasteless. I did my best to spice it up, but there wasn't really much I could find to make straight facts suddenly interesting. The work also wasn't really as concise as it was required to be. I probably should have tried using some of the skills I learned in English about alternating short and long sentences and having vivid imagery to put a little flavor onto the page.
Summer Writing
12
As the first formal writing ever this year, this essay consisted of an introduction of myself to my new English teacher. The goal was to include something distinctive and build a picture of myself in 2-4 pages.
This is without a doubt the worst essay I have written in English all year. It is so traditional with an introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The introduction and conclusion had so many of the typical sentences trying to summarize the body paragraphs that they are disgusting. There are definitely many more ways to make a reader interested and engaged in a paper.
Formal Writing
Informal Writing
A lot of the informal writing I seemed to do in English 1 was free writing, letting myself go for five minutes or mapping out my ideas for a more formal piece. I kind of liked having something less pressuring to go back to. The two informal pieces I selected are more focused than a regular old free write. At the end of List 1, reflecting on everything I had jammed into my brain in about two months was really helpful. Writing this piece let me know that English will forever be a constant spider web. There are always a million ways to move forward with stronger thread and a million ways to fall backwards on that same thread.
The beginning of my how to essay demonstrates a struggle that I would go through constantly all year: second- guessing myself about what to write. These few paragraphs were intended to be the introduction of an explanation about how to gain respect when working out. I decided that it would be too complicated to explain and my actual topic didn't turn out much better. This essay showed me that nothing can ever be perfect and that I won't ever entirely love what I am doing, even if it is something that I can choose. It is sometimes best to throw myself into the task, though it may be one I never imagined myself doing.
