I am writing this letter to share my experience as a ninth grade student in English 11 at Fairfield Warde High School. I would like to discuss both the positive and negative aspects of the English curriculum this year, as well as the transition from middle school to high school as it pertains to my English experience.
Throughout the year, there have been several texts that we have not only read, but spent a significant amount of time analyzing and discussing. One of the most effective units was on the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand. This novel explores the contrast between the philosophical concepts of individualism and collectivism. These ideas sparked fascinating class discussions, a deeply analytical theme essay, and a thought-provoking debate. …show more content…
Some of these skills were very helpful and substantially improved my writing, yet some of these skills were less helpful as we had already developed them in middle schools. For example, I came into this year with a proficient ability to weave quotes into my writing and provide proper context for them. This is evident in my Anthem literary analysis essay, in which I show adeptness in this skill. When supporting my argument, I wrote, “Equality also speaks of his friend International, who shows fear when him and Equality find a secret grate that covers an old tunnel. International doesn’t want to go down, warily stating, ‘everything which is not permitted by law is forbidden’” (Murray 2). This essay was written in October, yet it clearly represents an ability to provide context for a quote. This is a skill that didn’t need to be worked on, unlike MLA formatting, which is a skill that many ninth graders did not know coming into this year. For example, my very first essay this year was a book review on The Nazi Hunters by Neal Bascomb, a book I had read over the summer. This essay lacks any sign of proper MLA formatting, with a bolded title, no date, and no page numbers. The only MLA rule the essay follows is double spacing, yet I still failed to do this correctly as the heading was not double spaced. Learning how to format essays properly was very useful as we had not been
Throughout the year, there have been several texts that we have not only read, but spent a significant amount of time analyzing and discussing. One of the most effective units was on the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand. This novel explores the contrast between the philosophical concepts of individualism and collectivism. These ideas sparked fascinating class discussions, a deeply analytical theme essay, and a thought-provoking debate. …show more content…
Some of these skills were very helpful and substantially improved my writing, yet some of these skills were less helpful as we had already developed them in middle schools. For example, I came into this year with a proficient ability to weave quotes into my writing and provide proper context for them. This is evident in my Anthem literary analysis essay, in which I show adeptness in this skill. When supporting my argument, I wrote, “Equality also speaks of his friend International, who shows fear when him and Equality find a secret grate that covers an old tunnel. International doesn’t want to go down, warily stating, ‘everything which is not permitted by law is forbidden’” (Murray 2). This essay was written in October, yet it clearly represents an ability to provide context for a quote. This is a skill that didn’t need to be worked on, unlike MLA formatting, which is a skill that many ninth graders did not know coming into this year. For example, my very first essay this year was a book review on The Nazi Hunters by Neal Bascomb, a book I had read over the summer. This essay lacks any sign of proper MLA formatting, with a bolded title, no date, and no page numbers. The only MLA rule the essay follows is double spacing, yet I still failed to do this correctly as the heading was not double spaced. Learning how to format essays properly was very useful as we had not been