self-reflection

Over this past semester, I've learned to truly embrace my love of writing. The quiet, relaxed environment of the class instantly sooths me, which enhances my creativity and refreshes my mind. After working on several poems, a screenplay, a monologue, and a memoir, I've become familiar with many techniques and styles of writing. I've written many poems over the years, mainly because poetry has been heavily implemented in all of my English classes since elementary school. However, this class has given me a different outlook on poetry, and allows much more freedom of expression than any poem I've written in English class. After reading poems from the poetry book in class, I began to recognize the many different styles of poetry and prose. I've taken formats from those poems and experimented with them in order to discover what's most appealing to me. After rereading my works from this semester, I've found that repetition is a commonly used technique of mine, not just within poetry. While writing my memoir, I used repetition to engage the reader and draw a full circle from the beginning to the end of the piece, which I've personally always found intriguing to read.

The memoir assignment was interesting to me, because I'd never written one or even knew how to write one. After helpful instruction and guidance from Ms. Scheulteiss, writing a memoir didn't seem nearly as difficult as I thought it was. Once I narrowed in on my subject, words flowed effortlessly onto the page, as if it was natural. Overall I've developed an appreciation for memoirs, and I hope to continue writing them. I also enjoyed the screenplay writing process. Screenplay writing has allowed me to translate my thoughts onto paper, completing the made-up scenario that once existed in my head. So far, writing a monologue has been the most difficult for me. I found it hard to translate a character's thoughts into complete dialogue. It also took some time to decide where I would insert the monologue, and who the speaker was. Ultimately, I believe that my monologue turned out well, considering it wasn't an easy task for me. Looking into the upcoming months, as the college application process begins, I'd really like to master my essay writing and language skills. I know that this class has the power to help me accomplish that. Within the upcoming semester, I would love to continue writing either screenplays, memoirs, short stories, or even start something new. I think that I have strong writing potential, and so far this year I've been able to focus on what aspects of writing I love the most.