These notes were taken during assigned reading of “They Say /I Say”. I took notes on every chapter so that I was always prepared for a class discussion. They helped me stay on track with the readings and remember important events from each chapter. In addition, I did not need to sort through the book to locate a certain section, I could just refer to my notes.
The Critical Analysis Essay was the most complex essay that I had to write for this class. There were multiple requirements and the essay was longer than any other essay that I had previously written for this class. When I began writing the essay, I struggled with writing and I realized that I did not even know what I was writing. This confusion led to the creation of my own prompt page, further breaking down the essay and organizing all of the requirements. This way, I did not leave any points out in my essay and stayed focused throughout my writing process.
When writing the Critical Analysis Essay, I had to read the short story, “Diary of a Madman”. This was a complex reading about a man descending into his mental illness (schizophrenia). In order to save myself time, I took notes on the short story from each diary entry. Thus, when I wanted to refer back to the short story I could just refer to my notes to save time. This note taking helped keep me organized and funneled a short story into two pages of notes.
These pictures were taking during my first Peer Review session. As the first step of the revision process, these peer reviews would prove to be extremely helpful later on in the future. Having someone else read my paper and point out errors that I did not notice on my own allowed myself to gain insight for later papers. After the peer review, I went back into my essay and added paragraphs, transitions, and clarity for confusing sections. There is a tremendous difference between this draft and my final draft of my Literacy Narrative, and part of the reason why is peer reviews.
These free writes helped me organize and outline my first essay, the literacy narrative. The first free write, written on August 28, allowed me to pick a novel for my essay and begin to compare myself to the main character, Miri. The second free write, written on September 14, allowed me to plan when I was going to write my essay. Setting a specific time was helpful to me because, similar to writing assignments in a planner, I had a set list of what to do and when.
While this portfolio is not due for many weeks, I think that it will be most beneficial to myself and my readers to add to this portfolio as I finish each assignment. That way, a true progress will be recorded. I hope to see a true evolution in my writing as I complete my first semester of college-whether that is through revisions, organization, I know my writing will improve and cannot wait to document the changes that I will experience as a writer.
