Ameya Rao

Ms. Justice

AP English 1B

23 May 2019

Self Evaluation

Although writing has always been something I enjoy doing, the work I’ve done in class

this year and the reflection I’ve done with my work on this portfolio has made me self-aware of

how to truly connect to your writing and how to grow and develop as a writer. This year, we’ve

worked on a diverse range of writing assignments from timed writings to seminar questions to

out-of-class essays which have all given me insight on various writing and analysis skills.

The most important thing I’ve learned about myself as a writer this year is the importance

of connecting with my work and ensuring that I am writing for myself and not to fulfill a school

assignment. This really became clear to me while writing the compare and contrast essay, a piece

that I invested a lot of effort into, because I wrote about something that I truly cared about and

connected to. However, it was easier to do this on the out-of-class essay as we had a lot more

freedom in the topic matter, and I found it difficult to connect with my work on the timed

writings. As the year progressed, I found that I was able to write with more flexibility in the

timed writings especially in the argument essay which allowed me to showcase my voice.

However, it was still important to me to use my own writing style and allow my voice to come

through in essays such as the rhetorical analysis essays, which I feel I have accomplished now at

the conclusion of the year. Some of the shorter works from the American Voices unit of the class

such as “Mother Tongue” and “Two Ways to Belong in America” played an important role in
shaping my own voice as a writer and understanding what it means to connect with your work.

Many of the works we interacted with in the American Voices unit were personal and allowed

the writer’s voice to shine clearly through, something I was able to learn a lot from.

Revision is arguably one of the most important stages in the writing process and it’s also

one of the hardest. Earlier in the year with the Loaded Word Narrative, it was easy for me to be

attached to my own writing and stubbornly refuse to alter it drastically from my original writing.

Sometimes I felt like what I originally wrote was likely the best version of it and that I shouldn’t

incorporate too many changes suggested during peer edits as that the reviewers don’t know what

my goals are for the piece. However, over time I realized the importance of allowing fresh

perspectives to give input on my work and more importantly that I needed to look at my own

work from a new angle as well. In class we discussed how ​As I Lay Dying ​was written all at one

go and while there was likely some revision, it was clear that nothing was majorly altered in the

novel. While this was a stylistic choice with an impact we can analyze, this study showed me

exactly what my goal for my writing was and that I didn’t like the idea of an all-at-once work.

Coming back to my work after taking a break proved to be very beneficial for inspiring new

ideas and fresh thoughts to improve my essays. At the start of the year, we learned to take a 1

minute break during timed essays to relax and look at our work with a fresh mind and this was

something I took to heart. Even during the AP Exam, I took a minute near the end of the essay

period to just sit and relax in order to come back and read over my work with a clear mind.

Throughout this year, my writing style has remained pretty constant, however I’ve

allowed my voice to shine through in my work and worked on writing pieces I was truly proud
of. I learned a lot about what I find important as a writer and benefited immensely from the

intense essay writing we engaged in and I’m grateful for everything I’ve gained in this class.