Writing Reflection

In humanities, we needed to read two books which are called 'The Alchemist' and 'Julius Caesar'. Also based on these books, we should write the essays about the main characters. We had to get information and quotations from the book.

Ideas and content helped my essay to focused on the topic and showed clear reasons for the ideas. The Alchemist essay, I got lots of ideas from the book "The Alchemist'. I wrote about the main character, Santiago. “I can always go back to being a shepherd, the boy thought. I learned how to care for sheep, and I haven’t forgotten how that’s done. But maybe I’ll never have another chance to get to the Pyramids in Egypt.” Using this quotation, I said Santiago was very determined and I also can find his determination from the quotation. But when I explained why he was determined, I added some confusion. If I read my essay again, I can notice that Santiago might be undetermined. It would make reader confused. On the other hand, my Julius Caesar essay was better than the Alchemist one. I wrote about Brutus's patriotism and honor. I clearly gave the reasons why I thought Brutus was honorable and patriotic. But I repeated some reasons again and again. To improve writing essay, I should look for the essay for several times, and get check by teachers or other students.

My organization for Alchemist essay was quiet messy. I started with good quotations, but the topic sentences were not really clear. In the Alchemist essay, I used details over and over again, so it made more confusing. Julius Caesar essay was fairly better than the Alchemist. I think the topic sentences were improved than the alchemist even though there were grammar mistakes. Julius Caesar essay was organized in order.

There are lots of growth between the two essays. It shows how much I improved in my writing skills. The Alchemist essay wasn't well-organized and I did not really use descriptive words to describe the situation, but in Julius Caesar essay, the quotes that I chose for the evidence fitted the topic. I also had less grammar mistakes in my Julius Caesar essay than the Alchemist essay. I had improved on writing conclusion that summarize my ideas.

SLR that represents my two essay is reason critically and communicate effectively. I needed to have explanation for the quotations. I communicated with friends and we checked each others' works. We gave opinions and my humanities support teacher also helped me to correct the essays.