Highlights of Grade 12 English
The work that I have produced throughout ENG4U has developed my abilities as a writer in several ways. I have built confidence in creative writing and analytical writing, as well as discussions and presentations. These assessments, combined with the work and lessons, have taught me how to structure my thoughts and effectively communicate my opinions.
Through the course's creative writing assessments I have gradually gained confidence in creating my own creative works. This type of writing feels more personal, but I have been able to include creative methods that I may have felt too insecure to share in the past. I was also able to become increasingly confident in my use of punctuation, language features, and sentence types. The analytical assessments that I created from the beginning of the course developed my ability to interpret works and share these interpretations. Starting with smaller tasks, I was able to build my skills. I learned how to properly format analytical pieces, include reliable academic sources, and properly cite quotations. All of these abilities then had to be incorporated into the Romeo and Juliet essay. Lastly, through in class discussions I have become increasingly comfortable with sharing my interpretations and building on them. These skills were invaluable once it came time to present my ISP.
All of these skills have prepared me for post secondary education. I will be pursuing Psychology in university. This will undoubtedly involve essay writing, interpretation of research, as well as listening skills. The practice that I have interpreting academic sources, in analytical writing, has also prepared me for my post-secondary education.
These are the five tasks that I believe best represent my growth throughout the course:
My evaluation on the review of Rings of Power considered the quality of the review and its effectiveness in catering its target audience. I am proud of this work because I was able to communicate a very specific opinion and consistently support it throughout. I put a lot of effort into finding several relevant quotations from the review and using them to build an in depth explanation of my opinions. All of these quotations were properly formatted and cited in MLA format. The work itself was also properly formatted in MLA format.
After evaluating reviews, I completed an assignment creating a review of my own. I chose to review the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once. I used the techniques that I had previously assessed in reviews, to effectively create my own. I was proud of this work because I felt that I communicated my opinions on the film in a sophisticated manner. I also really enjoyed this assessment, since I chose to review a movie that I love. The film had a very impactful message, which I was able to give my opinion on while also providing expert opinion and useful facts. I was also proud of the creative title, and my ability to write the review in a fluid manner, while following proper paragraphing and citation formatting.
I created an adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. This involved understanding the methods and language features used by Remarque, then applying them to my adaptation. I was very proud of how I incorporated his writing style. For example, I used a variety of metaphors that were relevant to the story. This assignment also involved a reflection on my work. This reflection was quite detailed and explained why I chose to include certain aspects in my adaptation. It succeeded as a piece of creative writing, due to the wide variety of sentence types, punctuation, language features, and methods used. It was also formatted in the proper style, with paragraphs effectively separating individual topics.
One of the biggest assessments in ENG4U was the essay on Romeo and Juliet. I chose to write the essay on how both Romeo and Juliet created their own downfall, connecting it to topics that we learned in class. I enjoyed this assessment because I like developing my own opinions on the books that I read. I find it fascinating to consider all of the small details that come together to create the characters and narrative. I was proud of my ability to format my opinion, and link a wide variety of evidence to that opinion. I was also able to do this while while adhering to the MLA guidelines. For example, all quotations were cited in text and in a Works Cited page.
My ISP investigated how the context and different writing techniques used in The Handmaid's Tale functioned to communicate the themes within the story and portray the narrator sympathetically. Using the skills that I developed through in class discussions, I was able to relate specific quotations to my thesis. I was also able to confidently answer questions from classmates, with no prior preparation of the answers. My presentation was also visually appealing, with photos and important information presented in point form. All quotations were cited and every source that I used was included on the final slide of my presentation.
Website Reflection:
I first created this website in grade 10 English. It has works from the very beginning of grade 10, displaying my growth over the years. For this reason, I believe it is a very accurate representation of my identity as a writer. I chose to create a simplistic website to keep the focus on the content of the works, and to keep it easy to navigate. Essays and creative writing pieces are separated into their own sections, and there is a 'My Blog' section that contains all of my works. I also showcase a couple of recent works on the 'Home' page. I chose a simple purple and white colour palette because it appears professional, while also being appealing to look at.
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