Dear Mrs.

Weathersbee,
Throughout this school year, I have made significant improvements on my
ability to analyze and put my thoughts together in my writing. I have become
better at analyzing documents further than what is on the page and at making my
thoughts more specific. As I went through my timed writings and essays, I noticed
significant improvement on my ability to analyze documents. I also noticed a
difference in my ability to form an opinion and back it up with specific evidence.
When I read our first timed writing on John F. Kennedys speech, I realized that I read
the document completely wrong and I didnt use specific evidence to back up my
opinions. I used logos, ethos and pathos to back up my analysis rather than the
purpose of those strategies in the speech. I also summarized the speech more than
I analyzed it. When I went through our latest timed writings such as the one on
social media, I noticed that even though they were different types of essays, my
analysis skills had greatly improved throughout the year. My ability to form an
opinion has also changed from the Gatsby paper to the social media paper. I
included these pieces in my portfolio because I felt that they best showed my
improvement throughout the year. They were also essays and timed writings that I
felt I could improve on. I felt like these essays represented my change in ability
from one essay to the next.
Literary texts that have had an impact on me this school year are The Great
Gatsby and The Fault in Our Stars. These books have had impacts on me because
they helped me realize how much I have grown in my reading skills over time. The
Great Gatsby showed me that I could understand higher level texts more than I
thought and I was able to form my own conclusions from the book through the
paper. I realized that I could understand and explain more complex meanings in a
book than I had before this year. It also helped me to expand my knowledge base
and challenge myself to evaluate the hidden meanings in the book. The Fault in
Our Stars had an impact on me this year because I learned that I was able to
understand more mature writing styles. There were also complex themes and
meanings throughout the book that made me think about what was actually
happening. It also allowed me to just read a book for pure interest and fun rather
than required reading.
Analysis will play a key role in my future when it comes to trying to figure out
documents or what others are trying to convey. I am interested in speech-language
pathology so analysis can be used in trying to figure out how to treat the patient
involved in the therapy. It can also be used to pick out important information in
emails, memos, and important paperwork. Clear communication will have an
impact on my future because as a speech-language pathologist, the whole point is
to teach better communication and speech skills to patients. Clear communication
allows you to get points across to others and allows you to convey your opinion to
others.
Sincerely,
Abigail