First Semester Metacognitive Reflection

Throughout the semester, I have grown a lot in my writing. At the start of the semester, I had a good introduction and conclusion to my essays, but my analysis was sometimes weak. I would make strong points and assertions, but I would not connect them back to the thesis and it was hard to understand the bigger picture behind the thesis and the argument that I was making. I included strong quotes, but I did not develop the analysis that connected the quotes to my thesis statement. To improve my writing, I began to re-read my essays multiple times after writing them. I would also make sure to explain each of the quotes by connecting them back to my thesis, and I would make sure to connect my argument to its application and role in society in the conclusion of my essay.
As I focused on improving the areas of my writing that were originally weak, I began to get better at certain areas. I have become better at connecting the quotes that I include in my essay back to the thesis. I am also better at connecting my thesis to the information at the beginning of my introduction paragraphs and rewording my thesis in the conclusion. I need to continue to work on deepening my analysis. Once I make an argument, I need to connect the analysis back to the big idea and real-world connection. I can also write more in the time that we get in class, so I get more efficient at writing. I plan on accomplishing this by continuing to practice writing about various topics. I will also widen the scope of material that I read because reading different types of literature will help develop my writing style.
The writing piece that I am specifically proud of is the "Crucible Test Short Response". I received a full score on this piece due to my strong development of ideas. I had a good argument and I was able to effectively use quotes from the text to support my thesis. I also included deeper analysis and stronger vocabulary which strengthened my argument. Ms. Nagi has really helped improve my writing skills throughout the semester through the comments that she leaves on my essays and quick writes. I think that it would help my writing if we were able to sit down and discuss some of my writing pieces. I want to know why I got the score that I did for some of the writing pieces and what I could change or improve to get a higher score next time. I hope to improve my writing style even more throughout the rest of the school year.

                                                        Semester Writing Log