The First and the Last

                                                     

Achievements, mishaps, excitement, a whirl wind of emotions and events have passed by with this following year.  Honors English is almost over. WOW! I can't believe that it has been a whole year already.  Looking back on the blogs that I have written over the course of the year was a lot of fun.  At the beginning of the year, I remember thinking, a blog, aahhhhhh I don't think I can do that!  Looking at my first blog to my last post there was a huge improvement and develop that I felt I achieved in my “blogging” career.  Rereading my first blog it sounded as if I was focusing more on "sounding good" rather than expressing myself through my writing.  As the year progressed, I felt like I vastly improved in that area.  I focused on showing myself through the writing rather than blank words that sounded good.  In the start of 2011, I included more pictures, color, and a few videos here and there showed more of me.  Even at the beginning I was afraid of what others thought of my ideas.  Was I right? Was there something wrong with what I wrote?  Did I get the totally wrong idea?  Now, I found that the ideas I wrote can be wrong, but noticing them and fixing them is nothing to be ashamed of.  Looking back on some of my many mistakes has helped me continue to grow as a writer.  It’s disappointing to think that next year there will be no more blogging.  I was just getting a hang of the whole thing.  This blog really helped me write whatever came to my head at the time.  It helped me to be more aware of writing freely rather then looking for the correct format or right answers.  

                           

“You must do the very thing you think you cannot do”

                                                             Eleanor Roosevelt      

            Like I said, I was in disbelief that I could ever complete a whole year of blogging and let alone developing as much as I did as a writer this year!  Now I am really encouraged to tackle the “I can’t do” list.  Like I said earlier on the Courtney Thomason blog, “you don’t fully know how much you are capable of achieving until you do.”  I hope next year I can continue to grow as I much as I did this year.

            I would like to thank those who have continued following this blog journey with me.  Thank you, Mrs. Gilman for all your recommendations, comments, and advice that you have given me throughout the year.  I always loved to come to English 1^st period.  Thank you for a great year.  However; like Robert Frost said, “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” Thanks for the great journey. Yours truly,

                        Rachel 

DEFINITYELY PROJECTS

 This year’s projects, blogs, and writing assignments have been full of unexpected turns and twist for me.  For starters, the completion of every assignment had me wishing the same thing, “I wish I had one more day to make it perfect."  However; nothing can reach perfection and if someone has, I would like to know how they did it!  One of my favorite projects, looking back on it was our Outside Reading Assignment last semester.  The task, to create a visual aide to display some of the major points in the novel such as: characters, motifs, etc.  The novel I chose was Pride and Prejudice and there was so many fun opportunities that I really wanted to display.  I was limited, however, because my drawing skills aren't exactly up to par, but I still managed to do with what I had.
      In the end of all the cutting, gluing, moving, leveling, adding, subtracting, placing, etc. I had finally created a piece that I was proud of.  It wasn't a poster, but it was contained in a picture frame with some of the most important aspects from the book.  The countless hours creating it and the work/ stress I put into it finally paid off.  It’s always nice to make something that you are proud of!
      This year, out of all the activities we did I loved doing the projects!  This one, however, I liked the best.  

Poetry

My "poetic" career so far, has been very hard core.  Reading nursery rhymes before bed at the age of five and writing poetry for Mother's Day has set me up as a renowned poet.  One of my best experiences however, was part of Poetry Out Loud.  Before high school, I never really analyzed poetry.  For me, it’s always something that you read in your spare time.  However; reading Up Hill by Christina Rossetti led me through a new gate.  I had to really dig into the poem to understand its meaning. 

Being able to analyze a piece of poetry and finally understanding what the author’s intentions were planted a small seed of hope that I can really love poetry.  As you can see from my prior knowledge of poetry, I haven't had too many experiences.  It’s frustrating when you really don't understand a poem, because everything has a hidden meaning instead of literal interpretations.  Poetry Out Loud opened my eyes to the beauty of poetry.  Now I have a better understanding of how poetry can create connects between the author and her/his audience.  Once you have that experience, you want to keep reading more and more!  

            When I hear poetry I think: beautiful, interesting, unique, emotions, ideas, thoughts, dreams, and difficult.  To me poetry is difficult to understand, but at this point in time if I understand what the author is saying then I love Poetry.  If I don't understand what the author is getting at, then it can be really frustrating.  Right now, if I can get a grip on the whole concept of poetry then I could unlock another door of English!