Proefke 1

Matthew Proefke
Mrs. Cracchiolo
10 Honors Literature and Composition I
16 January 2017
Semester Metacognitive Reflection

1. What are your initial thoughts looking back at your summer reading writing sample and
why?
I am relatively proud of the job I did on the analytical writing, considering there
were not really many lessons on specific analytical writing previously. I am proud of how
I finished the essay in class, sparing a minute or two, and specifically my more powerful
introduction. However, an accomplishment as it was, after taking months off of writing,
there was much room for improvement. Clarity and specificity were the biggest issues
within the writing, as Mrs. Cracchiolo commented more than once. Overall, the summer
reading writing essay was a success, as the grade was more than satisfactory after a
summer without writing.
2. In comparison to the start of the year, please describe your current progress as an
analytical writer. Do you feel you have grown and if so, how have you progressed?
I have definitely grown as a writer from the start of the school year. I was able to
apply new structures and break bad habits I generated last year. My grammar is much
improved from last year, with better word choice and more complex sentence structure. I
received a 9 on one of my essays, the highest score I have ever earned on the AP scale. I
now also have a better understanding of speech writing, and use of rhetoric.
3. In which areas of analytical writing have you been challenged? Why? What made these
areas difficult?
I have struggled in analyzing and applying rhetoric. I originally was not sure
what I was specifically supposed to be looking for in the analysis of rhetoric, so it was
initially difficult for me to discuss in depth the effects of certain rhetoric devices and
appeals. Also, I found that with a lack of understanding of rhetoric in others' writing,
came difficulties in using rhetorical devices in my own writing. Eventually, after
correcting my understanding of an author's message, I was better able to understand
rhetoric in speeches and other writing.
4. What have you done to overcome these struggles? What resources, if any, did you use?

Proefke 2

To better understand rhetoric, I had to analyze one speech multiple times to ensure
I understood the author's message and why he/she specifically used a certain device. I
also heavily relied on Mrs. Cracchiolo's feedback regarding improvement in my analyses,
and what I needed to strengthen. I finally consulted a peer editor for one of my essays,
which afterward, I significantly improved.
5. What are some areas that you feel you still need to focus/work on next semester?
I feel there is still room for improvement in the explanation and application of
quotes from my writing to the writing I am analyzing. In addition, I should move away
from the use of demonstratives, specifically "that". The word "that", many times, is not
needed in my writing and it provides an unnecessary break in the flow of my work. A
last item I could work on is being more succinct, specifically by excluding unnecessary
information.
6. Which assignment are you particularly proud of and why?
I am particularly proud of my Julius Caesar Essay, because I received a high
score, and the prompt I chose was rather difficult. I picked the prompt which required me
to develop themes and apply them to death scenes in Julius Caesar, and then ultimately to
the entire play. I supported all of my evidence thoroughly, and provided multiple
applications for each theme to ensure I answered the prompt completely. In addition,
Mrs. Cracchiolo commented on my well developed thought process. Her comment was
an breakthrough for me, as I had previously been hindered by some lack of clarity in my
writing.
7. How do you feel about the "Claim, Evidence, Reasoning" structure to help you get/stay
organized? Explain.
I personally like the "claim, evidence, reasoning" strategy to help me keep an
organized structure for my ideas. I am able to better understand my own writing, and my
writing makes more sense for peer editors and for the teacher reading it. However, I
dislike the rigidity of the structure, so I attempt to bend it so I have a better ability to use
my own voice and generate my own style. The "claim, evidence, reasoning" structure was
easy for me to apply, because I used it as a different derivative of the "loop" structure
from 9 Honors.
8. Respectfully discuss Mrs. Cracchiolo's strengths in teaching writing.
Mrs. Cracchiolo does well teaching structures, and she emphasizes the importance
of structure for conveying ideas. She also does a good job commenting on potential

Proefke 3
improvements in our papers, specifically the need for clear topic sentences and the need
for flow in the paper. Finally, Mrs. Cracchiolo assisted us in application of symbolism
and themes from readings to our writing multiple times, which was very helpful, since it
was a relatively newly introduced concept. Mrs. Cracchiolo, for her first year teaching
10 Honors, did extremely well in her teaching of writing, and I am glad to have
experienced her class.
9. Respectfully discuss ways Mrs. Cracchiolo could improve her teaching of writing.
To improve her teaching of writing, Mrs. Cracchiolo could be more specific in
both directions and examples. Vagueness was reoccurring in many prompts, such the
Julius Caesar Essay topics; the prompts were rather open ended, all ending with the
direction of "do not merely summarize the plot". In addition, some of the teachings were
hard to apply without some examples given. For example, analysis of rhetoric was
difficult for me personally to figure out quickly. An example, perhaps, would have eased
the stress of attempting to understand exactly what she is looking for in the analysis.
Overall, Mrs. Cracchiolo does a good job teaching writing, just a suggestion for her
would be to focus on being more specific in her directions.
10. Discuss any lasting comments you may have about your journey as a writer, your
frustration and triumphs, your writing progress in the class as a whole, your hope for the
next semester pertaining to writing, or any other feedback you may have about general
writing.
I have experienced significant growth in the past semester, especially in analytical
writing. I had many triumphs, although some were coupled with frustrations. I improved
significantly on the timing of my in-class essays, so I stayed within the time limit. I
experienced (unfortunately), the stress of writing a formal essay in about 4 hours. I
improved drastically as a peer editor, as I began to find more errors and stress different
things in the writer's work. I hope next semester will entail as much improvement as the
past semester has, and I always want to learn more styles of writing. Thanks for all of
your help in my growth, Mrs. Cracchiolo!