TOW Post #27- TOW Reflection

           

            Through out the year of AP English, I have adjusted to the ongoing Text of the Week Posts that we had to do every week. At first I thought that having to do a blog post on a reading every week was a waste of time and not going to be beneficial for me in regards to the AP English Exam. I thought to myself, how is doing the same thing repetitively for months going to help me do well on the exam, since its not exactly how the exam will be like? But I have come to realized that the TOW posts have made me read many readings in a different and more analytical way. Also these TOWs help me strengthen a work on writing skills that I needed more practice with.
            Beginning with the first marking period there was a major difference between my second marking period posts and especially my third marking period posts. One of the characteristics of my first marking period trends seemed to be that I used new articles, in stead of writing that is easier to analyze rhetorically, such as opinionated essays. This trend quickly ended with in the next marking period. Besides the type of writing pieces I chose, another trend and difference compared to the other marking period posts was that I used a lot of quotes in my posts. This showed that I really didn't analyze much of the writing piece, instead I was just re-staing things in the writing piece. One last thing with in marking period one trends was that I did not have conclusion paragraphs, leaving my TOW post with no ending and just open. As the second marking period came around, my TOW post introductions were coming along, yet my posts seemed like lists when coming to explaining the rhetorical devices that were used. But as time passed i slowly began to integrate my rhetorical devices and connection them together, making a smoother TOW post. The third marking period posts are more detailed and began to get better with the "so what" aspect regarding the author's purpose. From the first marking period to the third marking period, my TOW post have changed for the better.
            Although I have made progress with my TOW posts, i believe there are still some things that I need to work on improving; one of them being the ultimate message of the author purpose. In other words the "so what" is a key aspect in writing that I need more practice with. But I have made progress considering I did not attempt to address a so what with my earlier TOW post. I also need to improve on connecting my rhetorical devices/reasonings a little bit more. Yet I do believe that I have mastered introductions. Coming into AP English writing introductions was a concern of mine, and shown through the TOW post, I have gotten a lot better with them.
           The TOW posts initially sounded like a bunch of work, just to keep us AP students busy, but I benefited from these TOW assignments each week, even though they might have been a bit of an annoyance. When the AP Exam came around last two weeks ago, I do believe that being prepared for the writing (and also reading) part of the exam was partially because of these TOW assignments. Not only have the TOWs may have helped me with my AP Exam, they have also allowed me to look at readings more analytically and become more interested in non-fiction reading.