Tuana Gitonga

Mrs. Tatum

AP Language, Period 4

16 December 2019

Reflection Essay

I have always found myself to be naturally a good writer. Even my more lackluster or

poorly written pieces can be classified as at least decent in the eyes of many. However, if there

are a couple things that I struggle with is most definitely procrastination and putting in

energy/effort into things I am not interested in doing. Like Mrs. Tatum told me, if there is

something I do not want to do, more often than not, I will just put no effort or ever flat out not do

it. This is a vice of mine that I have been trying to work on for a while, and I should most

certainly break this habit before I enter the working world. As a writer, I believe that even if it is

a topic that I am not that knowledgeable about, I can write a good piece, however if it is a piece I

have no interest in writing, it is more than likely that I will procrastinate it and/or put no effort

into it so it’ll turn out worse than what I am truly capable of.

This semester has taught me quite a lot, and not just because I have had such an amazing

teacher. One skill this course has really taught me how to do is dig into arguments/thesis

statements and understand why the author’s claim is valid with solid points to back it up or not.

Now when never i read articles or hear speeches, I can analyze what rhetorical devices the author

attempts to employ in order to convince me, the reader, of understanding their side. Another skill

I have learned that piggybacks off of that is how to formulate my own arguments and use proper

evidence to back up said points. I was already pretty decent at this I would say, especially since I

had Honors World Literature w/ Mrs. Tatum my sophomore year and I learned that from her
then, but this year saw a definite spike in improving that skill. The peak tipping point when I

knew I had learned and locked down this skill was the semester-long research essay. Obviously,

the visual rhetoric really enhanced my claim, but that was only part of the reason why it

cemented me as a strong writer.

Overall, my writing has gotten a lot better since I started this class. Obviously, pieces like

my Toussaint-Louverture rhetorical analysis are good examples of what I should not do again

which is refuse to put effort into things I’m not invested in. but other than that piece, all my

writing pieces have been at the least very solid. Otherwise, I really love where this class has

taken me as writer and where the knowledge I have received from it will take me in the future.