New Skill In English

   This year in English I have learned a lot; however, by far the most important thing I've learned is how to analyze a piece of writing. Whether it a poem, a five-part paragraph, or a whole novel, I now know how to annotate and make light of what I'm reading. Before I would just read something and not think about a deeper meaning that it might have. I never even considered that there was a deeper meaning. I've learned to find diction, tone, and style. I've learned to delve into the work of writing and find a theme woven into the it. I never even knew what connotation was, and now I can pick it out easily.
   I never thought that learning how to find imagery and detail was going to be such an important part of writing and reading. I have realized that finding all these things while reading make reading more enjoyable. Even when I read for fun outside of class I pick up on these things in the books. I continue to find these little pieces of what makes up literature, and use them to get more out of what I am reading. Even in books like Harry Potter, I am noticing the little things like tone or diction that make for a totally different reading experience. For example, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth novel in the series, the tone is becoming darker. The writing style, the descriptions, the events, the entire way the book is written makes the reader feel like the times in the book have become more dark and dangerous (which of course they have because Lord Voldemort has returned). Events at the beginning like Draco Malfoy breaking Harry's nose foreshadows all the bad things that happen later in the book.
   To be able to use the things that I'm learning in class in my normal day-to-day life, make me feel like I am really learning. I like that I can use things that I have done in class to raise what I am getting out of my reading for fun. It makes me excited to learn more!

Lobsters

       During the discussion of the poem "Lobsters" by Howard Nemerov there were many interesting ideas that came up. One of them that really stood out to me was said by Olivia. She said that humans never really think that they are going to die until it comes right up on them. She said that we imagine ourselves to be almost immortal until something changes and we see that death is really upon us. That really stood out to me and I thought about it a lot.
   The author was talking about lobsters, but in a way that made it about more than sea creatures in a tank. He made the reader think about life, and how short it can be, especially for lobsters, who, once caught, sit in tank and wait to be picked out for slaughter. When lobsters are caught they are marked for death, as many humans. I don't mean all humans are going to be murdered, but we are going to die eventually. People don't really think about death until it has effect on their life. It's something that is really interesting about people: we know things, but until it is important to us, we dont really take notice of it. By using lobsters as a comparison to people, Nemerov creates a new idea for the reader to think about how the people are sitting around waiting for death just like the lobsters in the tank.

Five Part Paragraphs

   Over the last few weeks we have been reading five part paragraphs aloud in class. A common critique that seems to come up is always about the commentary. Whether the writer has too much, too little, too much plot summary, etc. it seems like it is a recurring element in our writing. It's a little bit different for each persons paragraph, but something always comes up about the commentary. I think this can be solved if people start to edit their paragraphs better. They have been good, but if people spend more time on the commentary especially that it will be a lot better. The commentary is something that really makes or breaks a paragraph, so it's important that it's good. If the commentary in peoples' paragraphs improves the paragraphs will be a lot better.  
     One thing that I need to work on is editing. I spend way too much time over-thinking my paragraph. I hated my paragraph and I couldn't figure out what to do. Finally I just sat down and rewrote it. Not completely, but I changed a lot of what I had written. I still wasn't really happy with it, but it was better that what I'd had. I just need to be able to write things the way I really want them the first time. Editing isn't bad, but I just need to stop over thinking my writing. I also write way to much, and it's overwhelming for the paragraph. If there is too much, then the paragraph is hard to process. When I was rewriting my paragraph I took a ton of stuff out and it cleared my head about what I really wanted to write. If I can get better at figuring out what I want to include, then my writing will become better.