In Class Essay
SHello blog today I will be talking about an assignment that really scared me! What is it you ask? We had to write an in class SYNTHESIS ESSAY! It was the first time I had done anything like this, so I was nervous but ready to learn how to approach the assignment. Let me breakdown the whole situation for you.
Our classes goal was to all write an individual in class synthesis essay about the 2 books we have read in class and one other book/movie that support the thesis statement you created. The essay needed to have a thesis, hook, 3 paragraphs with different points that helped prove our thesis (with quotes, evidence & examples…) and finally a conclusion to end it off. Our thesis had to be influenced by the unit driving question…
“How do authors use text to teach us more about ourselves?”
The first book I read was Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. Click here to learn about why I chose it, and click here to see the movie trailer Kai, Maggie, Tamara, Morgan and I made for the book. As a class we read Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi… And last but not least a short children’s book called Go Show The World, by Wab Kinew. Once I had finished reading all these books and had to start thinking of a thesis for the essay… I ended up researching the authors. I soon learnt that all 3 authors personal experiences have influenced the stories they tell in there books. I then realized, most authors childhoods, careers, and cultures are the reasons why they publish the books they do! So, after a few drafts and the thanks to Ms. Maxwell, I came up with a thesis.
”Authors reflect on their personal experiences through text. They publish books and stories often related to things they have gone through.”
Once I was confident with the thesis, I started learning about the many, many, many other things that need to be included in a synthesis essay. There were many worksheets, about things like finding your PAR, creating a hook, etc. They weren’t fun to do, but ended up helping me in the long run. Then, one of the most important parts about this project, the essay outline. This helped me clear up my ideas, and prepare me for the in class write. Before I show you the essay and tell you how I felt about it, here is a Q&A about my perspective on essays.
Q: Explain what you think is the most important step to preparing for an in class essay.
A: I personally think that the most important step is to choose a thesis you are extremely confident in, and comfortable with. Because you can’t bring your outline into the in class write, you need to be able to prove your thesis even if you forget about everything you had planned to write down. If you don’t feel you can do that with your thesis, find another one, because realistically you can’t remember every single point you put in your outline and you need to feel confident and educated about your topic enough to give evidence and examples for your thesis without your outline.
Q: Explain what you think your biggest strength in writing is
A: As someone who isn’t the most confident in there writing skills, this is a hard question. People have told me my writing is clear and gets the point across, and I guess I agree with that. I can write a paragraph and have you leave, knowing clearly what I was trying to say. Something I hope to get better at is to be able to word things more nicely… Don’t really know how to explain but I want my writing to have some like Logan or Daniel skill in it. Those two are really good writers in my class who can write anything, and It will sound professional and detailed.
Q: Briefly discuss your opinion on your book – did this help you or hinder you in writing your essay?
A: I really enjoyed all 3 books I read which yes, did help me while writing the essay. Because I liked them, I remembered the events and characters from it which helped me a lot.
Now, here’s the essay I wrote.
After handing this in, my teacher was nice enough to give back really helpful and thorough feedback so I can make it better. This honestly wasn’t fun to revise at all as I wrote the essay about a week previously and totally wasn’t in the mood to do some revising, but obviously I still did it.
Moving on in the school year I want to take this experience with me. What do I want to improve on in my writing? Coming back to the Logan and Daniel type skill, I want to be able to write more fluent, smooth and detailed as there writing is. I want to use more fancy words that sound like there from a thesaurus… Anything that will overall just make my writing better. I will definitely focus on this goal for the rest of the year in blog posts, essays, etc.