Argumentative essay

The argumentative assignment that I selected was “The Crucible essay”. This essay was based on The

Crucible, which was timed and done in my AP English language class. The date I completed this assignment

was December 13, 2017, my junior year. I was asked to argue whether John Proctor or Reverend Hale was the

tragic hero of the story, and discuss the strengths and flaws that lead to their fall. Although some may argue that

Reverend Hale was the tragic hero, my argument was that John Proctor was the actual tragic hero of the play.

Overall, this assignment is an argumentative piece, because in order to defend my argument, I was challenged to

explain my ideas and beliefs. Additionally, I had to provide evidence to support my perspectives. Lastly, I had

to ensure that my evidence was used in a strategic manner, in order for me to explain my ideas in a way that

would be understandable and convincing.

Throughout this process, I was also tasked to use multiple SLOs. One SLO that I used was being a

critical thinker. I was a critical thinker by searching for quotes in the book that would correlate with my

argument that Proctor is the tragic hero. Additionally, I also had to explain what these quotes meant and why

they were relevant. Furthermore, I had to ensure that the information I used was in chronicle order so I would

not contradict myself when explaining why Proctor is the tragic hero of the story. I was successfully able to do

this by analyzing and revising my work whenever I made any changes. I used my critical thinking skills

efficiently throughout my essay to defend my argument. While completing this assignment, being an effective

communicator was also one of my tasks because I had to provide explanations. In order to ensure that my work

was correct, and my essay made sense, communication with my teacher making sure the assignment was correct

was fundamental. Whenever doubts or questions about the assignment appeared, I’d freely addressed them with

my teacher and received help. If I was struggling, I wasn’t afraid to communicate with my teacher and I believe

that to be effective communication because that assisted me in writing a stronger argument.

Overall, this assignment really helped me improve on my SLO’s. This is due to the fact that it

challenged me to thoroughly think about the information I was gathering and organize it. In order to defend my
point of view, critical thinking was vastly emphasized. This assignment also helped me by pushing me to be

more interactive with my teacher in regards to asking more questions. Additionally, this also allowed me to

improve my writing assignments. However, I would like to continue to push myself in order to improve my

grammar skills so when I go to college, I am able to write efficient and better essays. Lastly, the SLO’s that

were emphasized in this essay can be very useful throughout my life after high school. I will be able to use these

skills in future jobs, money management, and buying a car or home. Life can be difficult and I will encounter

obstacles which will require for me to take action, and these SLO’s are a way to prepare myself in having to

defend tough life decisions.