My persuasive essay about the idea of one’s “home” being a
permanent part of them is one of the two assignments that I am most proud of.
Having not taken AP Comp, it was my first, real AP style paper, and I scored
much higher than I ever thought I could have. I did not expect to score a 7, or
A-, or to even be able to write a paper as well as I did on that essay. If
there is a topic I am passionate about, I can easily write about it, but
Angela’s Ashes was not one of those topics. I completely surprised myself on
that paper, considering it was an example of my writing skills truly being put
to the test. However, the weakness of that paper was I believe I spent much
more time on it than a normal AP essay would have allowed. I remember hearing
the time limit of these essays should not exceed an hour, and I worked on that
assignment for at least two, if not three hours. Writing with a time constraint
is something that I have never been good at. My best work comes when I can
spread it out and really have time to think without pressure, which is not a
situation that will occur on the AP exam.
The
second assignment that I am most proud of was the American Drama project. From
the start I knew this project would serve my group and I well. Our group
consisted of three guys and a girl who is very talented with video making and
editing skills, which is how I knew American Buffalo would be a great fit for
us. After reading the play I felt as thought I completely understand the themes
and the plot, and having an interest in classic movies and what makes them
“great,” I was able to bring some of that to light while writing the script and
realizing when to portray the most dramatic scenes/how to portray them. It was
a chance for me to flex my creative muscle in picking the song choice, as music
is something I will always have a passion for. While it was stressful in the
end, the project was definitely the most fun and easiest for me to help create.
I
believe that I participated adequately in the class. I did my best to answer
questions that I knew the answer to when we were asked in class, even though
there were not many. I also did my best to complete the homework and stay up to
date on the assigned readings. I put all possible effort into all of the
assigned papers and projects, putting as much thought as I could into the given
time. I also used my time in class effectively, never using lab time to work on
other homework unless I was entirely finished with the work assigned in this
class, which happened rarely, if ever.
I will admit that during the first
half of the tri, when most work was centered on the group presentations, my
participation did falter. I had cross-country practice every day after school
except Wednesday, immediately followed by coaching martial arts. This left me
unavailable until 7 or 8 PM most nights, by which time my group had already
completed almost all of the presentation. There were opportunities for me to
get started on the project immediately after school on occasion, and I took
advantage of those moments when it was possible. While I did still participate,
my contribution to the overall presentation tended to be pretty slim, which I
am completely aware of.
I believe I
successfully completed all of my goals that I set for myself earlier in the
year. First and foremost, my goal was to enjoy the class, which happened once
we stopped continuously doing presentations every day. Once that was coming
along it was much easier for me to work on my other goals, the most ambitious
of which was improving my essay writing and multiple-choice test taking skills.
There was plenty of in class practice that allowed me to do so but I also had
to set time aside for it at home. Studying the glossary of the 5 Steps To A 5
was my main way of improving/learning the terms and literary devices necessary
to pass the tests and become a more proficient writer.
My methods did end up helping me
more than I could ever have imagined. I went from an extremely low test score
on the first multiple choice test to a high B on the final, much of which was
based on setting aside legitimate time and effort for this class. My writing
ability also changed fairly dramatically, increasing from the a few low B/high
C papers in the beginning to eventually earning an A- on one of the final
papers, something that I was quite proud of. I was skeptical of exactly how
easily obtainable my goals were, but they proved to be much more in reach than
I expected.
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