Final Reflection

In my year of AP Lang I have seen my writing grow and progress in many ways, from style to vocabulary.  A major indicator of said growth is that I have more of a personal style and voice to my writing. No longer do I feel as if my writing is generic and commonplace, indistinguishable from the writing of my peers. The blog assignment was most helpful in my development of my writing style. Unlike the journal project, where one could rant, curse and write almost incoherently for lines on end, the blog project set some rules creating substance to the entries. While I still possessed the freedom to write what I wished, I had to keep the foul language at bay and be aware of my audience- the World Wide Web. These constraints helped me to better articulate and form my blog posts, giving them more substance than a private journal entry.  Because of this I believe my personal voice and style of writing flourished in my blog posts.

Nonetheless, I need to improve on forming and articulating an effective argument. Creating and integrating support for my arguments remains a difficult task under a time constraint. In addition, more grammar can be implemented into class. While I may be an effective writer as a whole, I have trouble with grammar as it relates to my writings. For example, in-depth lessons on compound-complex sentences or subordinate clauses are unnecessary. However, comma splices (which I probably still have within this reflection) and how to use various punctuation are topics that can be implemented next year to improve the class.

Overall, the most meaningful and memorable activities, I felt, were the projects that left a physical, tangible mark on the world. The class project, where a whole group of independent, haughty teens could come together to create a children’s picture book in a matter of days is simply astonishing.  I can pop in the DVD into my computer to see my Scarlet Letter adaptation whenever I please.  On the internet now and forever is a website satirizing teen pregnancy.  These assignments are the ones I will remember about the class in five years’ time.