Based on today's practice test results, I would say there are three major areas in which I'm achieving success. Number one is annotation of the text and my ability to "interact" with it. By marking its basic structure, mechanics, and techniques I found it easy to answer questions related to structure and literary devices. My second strength is symbolism. For some reason, the way I skim passages allows me to easily pick up on the main symbol of the text/underlying meanings. Thirdly, I'm successful at vocabulary and being able to remember rhetorical devices. Hopefully, this will prove itself helpful on following tests.
On the flip side, I admit that I need to improve on more things than not. Although I'm sure we'll cover these topics, I found myself struggling with classifying poems (time periods, style). Along with this, it was difficult for me to get past some of the more "olden-sounding" words and phrases. I got held up on not knowing the meanings or pronunciations of certain things, and therefore, lost precious time. One of my biggest hurdles was being able to analyze quotes. When they were severed from the rest of the text, it was difficult for me to understand their true meanings or the author's intentions. Somehow, I'll need to improve on inferring the author's purpose.
In order to improve on these weaknesses and many others, my plan will consist of three achievable and measurable goals. Firstly, to improve on classification of poetry, I will plan on attaining (learning) the information in class, and then furthering my knowledge at home. Once I learn the basic classifications and time periods of literature, I'll need to start by understanding them and being able to give examples of each. Then, I'll take time to memorize them and apply them to daily readings. My second goal will deal with unfamiliar-sounding words and style. Reading through various time periods' pieces daily will get me more comfortable with understanding it. Marking any unknown words or strange colloquial diction and then taking time to research it may solve this simple weakness and allow me more time for reading.
My third goal will be practice with quote analysis. By familiarizing myself with quotes similar to the ones pulled from the multiple choice test, I can hopefully train my mind to work through their analysis in an orderly system. Connected to this, I'll review my notes from AP Comp related to the rhetorical triangle (audience, purpose, speaker..). By first understanding the author's audience and purpose in writing the piece, it will become easier for me to analyze and make inferences.
After reading your blog post about the practice test, we share many of the same strengths and weaknesses. I struggled mainly with the poetry passages as well. A large portion of the time is taken up by decoding the unfamiliar language and trying to make it understandable, and the questions asking about specific quotes create huge road blocks for me. I think that your goals are (just as you said) very measurable and attainable. All three of your goals focus on areas that I need to work on over the course of the next two trimesters. Obviously we still have a lot to learn about poetry, and hopefully by surrounding ourselves by the different styles and languages of these poems we will feel more comfortable on future tests. As for the quote analysis, knowing exactly where that quote is will save time, and allow for context clues. Best of luck in accomplishing your goals this trimester.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading through a couple other people's blog posts, I found your's to be the only one where I found our strenghts and weaknesses being flip flopped. Whereas I would consider myself adept at analyzation of quotes and knowing the factual information on authors or knowing foreign words, however I will agree that the 'olden-sounding' words were a bit difficult to decipher. With quote analysis though, what I often do is first see what part of the text is the quote coming from and what is the mood being conveyed at the point and then, I will replace the quote with my own phrasing of it. If my phrasing fits into the piece as well the original quote, then I can often see what the author is trying to accomplish with said quote.
ReplyDeleteAs for the actual post, I enjoyed how it was very direct and thoroughly covered all that needed to be discussed for the assignment. There was no confusion in your text and it was very easy to read. Also, your goals are very attainable and seem to be easy enough to follow through with. They are in fact, similar to my own strategies for accomplish my goals. Hope you enjoy this class as much as I will!