Throughout this semester I have improved a lot as a learner by applying my reading and writing skills that continue to grow. This year’s English 10-1 in Mrs. Hunnisett’s class was a phenomenal year with many obstacles and opportunities that assisted in refining my skills.

There were some changes that were evident such as an immense improvement in my poetry analysis/comprehension and also my general writing skills. In my perspective, keeping a journal that we wrote in the beginning of the class was something that largely assisted in my growth, sparking certain ideas or concepts that I did use afterward in the semester. Writing blogs was another thing that at first seemed unnecessary, however I slowly came to realize how they were indeed inspiring me and helping me to improve my writing.

In this class the separation of “Say, mean, and matter” in the three part diagram has helped me view certain concepts differently and polish my paragraphs when writing essays. Some strengths during this semester were definitely reading and the ability to apply the concepts taught in class. However, there were also some challenges such as the poetry unit; however those challenges were eventually faced and met with efforts to improve.

Reading is something that was not only required to boost my growth during this semester, but it is also something that I have enjoyed doing for many years. During the past few months my reading skills have exceptionally improved and I have started to read books that are more challenging and out of my comfort zone in order to further improve my skills. Books such as The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and many others have increased my passion for reading and continue to ignite my  desire to read more books. In my opinion, all genres of books are great as long as the novel contains suspense and description which engages the reader to dissolve in the story, unable to put the book down. A few years in the past my reading skills were not as strong as they are today; however, I need to continue to read daily with the aim of one or more books per month, as advised by Mrs. Hunnisett, to continue to develop my reading skills in the future as well.

Although there was a sudden improvement in my reading skills since the past years, this contributed in helping my writing ability enhance and better develop. As mentioned before, the three stages of say, mean and matter were certainly helpful; also the practice we received in class to write many pieces provided me with confidence. Since short stories had always fascinated me rather than essays, I was more confident in writing short stories, however after this semester I have gained self-confidence and improved my skills in writing essays which was one of my key growths during this year. I believe I can provide more clear evidence related to the topic and organize my essay accordingly better than I could before.

In the future, I plan to read more books and set goals to challange myself, but at the same time enjoy it. In order to further develop my writing skills it is important to revise all the different concepts taught and also practice because the more the practice one gets the more they can improve. Overall, this semster in L.A with Mrs.Hunnisett taught me how writing and reading are so valuable and enjoyable that one completely transitions to a seperate melodious world of imagination when they learn to create a passion for reading and writing.