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!