I included three different styles of writing within my writing portfolio.

The three styles are

poetry, an analysis essay and a report. I included poetry because it is very meaningful to me. I

have always loved poetry even as a little kid, so I enjoy getting to explore my creativity while

writing poetry. I included an analysis essay because it shows my skills of transferring what I read

and comprehend into an essay. I have written many essays on novels throughout my highschool

career. However, I chose to include an analysis essay from my senior year. This is because it

demonstrates all of my skills I have improved on and learned over the last four years. I also

included a report within my portfolio. The report shows how I can do proper research and rewrite

information in my own words. Starting this year, I now know how to prove if a website is reliable

or not. This skill has changed my writing for the better, especially when writing a report. I

included my goal statements and resume in my education and careers section. Both of these

writing pieces have something to say about myself.

I believe that my writing has improved from when I was a freshman to now. Now, I have

a better understanding when I read. With that, I can write a more proper essay because I

understood the content of the novel better. I also have learned more on run-on sentences. This

is a grammar error that I had struggled with in the early years of highschool. With this, one

writing strategy that has helped me with run-on sentences is to write shorter sentences, but

avoid choppiness. Using commas correctly has helped me as well. Another writing technique

that I have and will continue to use is brainstorming. Free writing, listing or clustering your

thoughts and ideas are all great strategies before writing. Brainstorming has helped me with

both my invention and organization of ideas. The most important insight I have learned from my

writing is to make sure that I engage the reader. This is important because if the reader is not

interested then they will not read my writing. I always make sure to start my writing pieces with a

hook or interesting sentence. This way people will not only want to read, but enjoy what they are

reading.
 During my senior year of highschool, my english class read the book Homegoing. This

novel impacted me in so many ways. It gave me a greater perspective and understanding of

what our history holds. Another novel that had a positive influence on me was the book We’ll Fly

Away. This novel was very personable for me to read because the characters were my age. It

gave me a positive influence in the reminder that everyone is brought upon challenges in life. It

gave me a positive influence on relationships. It gave me a positive influence on growth.

Although my reading and writing has improved since freshman year I still have some

more work to do. I still feel I need to improve on inserting quotes and/or quoting sources. My

grammar could always use some improvement and my use of transition words. When it comes

to my reading I am always working on comprehension. I still struggle with having to go back

over a paragraph I just read because I couldn’t remember. Comprehension and understanding

of what I read will always be a challenge for me. However, we are all still learning.