My second piece was my Travel Article on Cambodia. It was a long and tiresome process, with: one plan, two drafts and a final copy. However, the process gave me a chance to develop my writing and also to reflect upon the experience I had in Cambodia. This also gave me a chance to be creative, by putting in pictures, shifting the layout to make it look interesting. Despite this, the writing part of the article was difficult. It was a totally new style of writing, rather than just a plain essay format. We had to write in first person, and describe our feelings and perspectives towards the city and its culture. Also you had a strict page limit, of two A3 papers, which some people thought was a lot, but others thought they would have to cut their essays in half. After all was said and done, the final result looked brilliant. I could picture myself back in Cambodia, and it made my trip come alive again. This was probably my most memorable part of the whole English course and also the piece that has shown my most mature and in-depth thinking.
‘People say you must learn from your mistakes, and build on your success’ John C. Calhoun. My character essay titled, Piggy fits right into one of those two categories. Looking back, the reason I didn’t perform up to scratch was due to the fact that my whole process and understanding of the 4’C’s was limited. It started of with a very vague plan, which was more like a template. This made my writing the essay much tougher. However, I redid my plan, making it clear to me and the person reading the essay, what my intentions were. This essay also had to be handwritten, which put me off. Once I wrote a sentence, I wanted to change it, and that would be very untidy, rather than just backspacing on the computer. However, I learnt from my mistakes, and worked out how to properly use the 4’C’s and I now know the true meaning of ‘learning from your mistakes. This is why I wish I could redo this piece.
The piece that has taught me the most about writing is my original short story, Megan. This is because I had every available option open to create a story, however, choosing the right option was crucial. My story Megan is about how a boy creates an image on the computer, and falls in love with it. Then one day the image comes to life, and how the boy is distraught because she has left him forever, or so he thinks. I believe that from this piece, and with the help of both my peers and teacher’s editing, was the point which opened my eyes to English and all its wonders.
When you read a story, and the ending is not the way you want it to be, don’t you always wish that you could create your own ending, which is both creative and realistic at the same time? Well that’s what my alternate ending ‘Death for Love’ is about. This is the ending which I believe should be at the end of the open ended short story, The Lady or the Tiger. This was the first graded piece of work that we did. I was very pleased with my end result, since I didn’t know what the grade nine standard of work would be. However, this piece, though I thought was graded on quite an easy criteria, made me very proud. This is because getting an ‘A’ on your first piece of work, opens your eyes to brighter prospects and most importantly, it boosts your confidence.
My final portfolio piece is my election speech. This was a creative speech, where you had to try and vote your Lord of the Flies character into being the leader. We could be creative in the way we dress, and the various actions and accents we could use to make our character come to life. I dressed up in a tattered t-shirt, and ripped shorts, with a pillow under my shirt and think glasses. This is also the only oral piece of work in my portfolio, because I think this piece sums up my verbal skills. I love speaking to large crowds, like my grand-parents wedding anniversary where there were around 250 people. However, doing actions and accents, rather than just standing there and reading like a robot is very different. It attracts the audience and also makes them feel part of the speech. This I believe is a great piece of work for all people, and I believe everyone should have this particular experience.
Next year in grade ten, I want to be a more adaptable learner, and not only develop my reading, writing and verbal skills, but also to learn new techniques to make my understanding of the language much broader. I also want to be an asset to all my peers, and help them develop their skills, and also accept their help when I need it.
So in conclusion, I have enjoyed my year in English immensely. I have managed to open my eyes, to a whole new path in life. With each year, my vocabulary and writing skills increase, and I want to develop these skills to become a better all round person. I now know the importance of the language, because it helps in each subject. As you can see, the mind of the ninth grader is a complex one, but also one that can really understand the importance for the past, present and the future.