Avery Stare

Mid Year Reflection

Throughout semester one I have developed a numerous amount of skills that have

strengthened my writing and have overall made me a better writer in different areas. A notable

skill that I feel as though I have become strongest in semester one is my thesis statements. My

best thesis statement from my most recent, Into the Wild essay, grasped the reader by stating,

“The structural element that contributes the greatest to Into the Wild’s complexity is Krakauer’s

use of a non-linear narrative. Krakauer's non linear style of writing uncovers new perspectives of

McCandless to the reader at many different periods of the story. This helped develop a reason for

McCandless’s erupt disappearance because of his childhood trauma and obsessions.” This thesis

statement is my strongest from semester one and used in my Into the Wild essay. The thesis

statement directly introduces the topic of my essay, the structural element Krakauer used while

writing into the wild. Along with that it is complex in introducing the ideas that are present

throughout the rest of my essay and the concepts presented in the thesis statement follow

throughout my entire essay. New elements introduced throughout my essay strengthen the

argument in my thesis making it even stronger. Although for semester two I could work on

shortening my thesis statement, making it more compact, considering it is lengthy with 3

sentences. Along with my thesis statements, another skill that I have improved on would be

pulling out evidence from texts, making my essays complex and further proving my claims.

Included in my synthesis paragraph I used a strong piece of evidence that helped my claims, “a

day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to

which he is the constant victim” (Douglass).This piece of evidence is from Frederick Douglass
and it develops the topic of injustice for African Americans in American society which I

described throughout that assignment. The quote supports my analysis because it emphasizes the

irony in which I describe of white people having independence while African Americans were

enslaved. The quote refers to the 4th of July and how white people celebrate their independence

while African Americans have none, this idea was presented through my claim and analysis

along with the quote strengthening my ideas. Throughout this semester I have advanced as a

writer in many ways although there are skills that I have realized I have to work on for semester

two.

In the future, semester two and further, I plan to continue strengthening my skills in

writing, and throughout semester one I have realized the specific areas in my writing I need to

focus on to become a stronger writer. An area I believe is necessary for me to focus on the most

in semester two is my analysis in my writing. For many of my essays in semester two I feel as

though my analysis haven’t fully strengthened my quotes and sometimes I appear to be

rewording or repeating my quotes in my analysis. The analysis in my argumentative essay was

the weakest compared to my other essays during semester one. This analysis pulled from my

argumentative essay repeats the quote prior to it stating, “heavy homework load leads to students

having no time to sleep, with sports, clubs, or other activities after school”. In the future instead

of simply just rewording my quotes I need to connect my analysis of the quote to my claims and

back to my thesis to strengthen and increase the fluency of my essay. There could be other

aspects of my essay that could use work but my analysis skills are most apparent to me.

For semester two my goal would be to continue becoming a better writer and be open to

learning new skills that will help me achieve my goal. Along with that I believe I can achieve

this goal by limiting distractions in class and fully engaging in the tips Mr. Smith will provide us
with becoming better writers. I will also be sure to ask Mr. Smith has strong questions that will

help me get to my goals, especially questions on how to make a stronger analysis. My goal of

becoming a better writer and focusing on strengthening my analysis will help the fluency of my

writing overall and make writing easier for me