One thing I learned was how to construct an essay in our letter to Paul. I learned to establish pathos, which were ways to describe something with emotion. I developed a strong first paragraph explaining who I was, which made the UN, who I wrote to, want to keep reading. I was able to write a strong thesis statement, and convinced the UN why there help was needed immediately. This writing assignment was also one of my best, and I got an A- on it. I had good support paragraphs, and overall, felt that I learned a lot and how to write an essay/letter.
The weekly articles on the different countries caused me to struggle at first. Mr. Fielder taught us an important skill called Margin Noting helped me to understand the articles better. It also forced me to look up words in order to have a better understanding of the article. It seemed like the first or second time I would read a new article; I would have no clue what they were talking about. I learned that in order to understand an article, it could take some researching first. For the China weekly article, I wasn’t aware of a lot of the issues and had to take time to research before I would be close to writing my paragraph.
Looking back at the beginning of the year, the “First Day of School” memoir taught me a lot. When I read it now, I can see the progress I’ve made in my writing throughout the semester. I’ve learned that in order to create a well written paper or paragraph, it takes lot of effort, and in order to get the grade you want, you have to put in the time. This assignment taught me that in your writing, there’s always room for improvement. A paper can always be revised, and a second opinion is helpful when it comes to others proofreading it. I learned that it’s helpful to a reader and interesting when you can “paint a picture” in their mind with descriptive words.
Throughout all of our big projects and researching, I learned how to find a credible source. A credible source is a website where the information is trustworthy and reliable. For example, Wikipedia could be an excellent source in some cases. When you’re trying to learn an overall background on an issue, like in the South Africa project, Wikipedia could come in handy. But when you’re looking for research where you might need to quote it, you need a reliable source. A reliable source could be a website sponsored by the South African Government or Travel, like in our most recent project.
The Rwanda project was probably one of my favorite class assignments. There was a lengthy process and work we had to do to prepare for the class discussion. Understanding the whole genocide took a lot of work because most of us were not familiar with any of the issues that were occurring. We learned about the Hutu’s and Tutsi’s, as well as the identity cards. Working in groups made the project not as difficult because we were able to discuss with them. Finally, it led to the debate, which was a good, learning experience.