Language Investigation #3

In high school, the four main classes I remember taking were American Literature, Creative Writing, Independent Reading and Advanced Composition. In American Literature we read The Great Gatsby and To Kill a Mockingbird. We mostly did group work on those stories rather than writing individual papers to discover the theme behind each book. In Independent Reading we were required to read a certain number of pages each week but could pick what books we wanted to read. Each day we would write down what happened in the particular section that we read and once we were done reading the book we had a list of projects we could do which varied from writing a paper to creating a collage.

Advanced Composition was the class that had the most specific guidelines and regulations to the class. We wrote a number of papers each varying on their topic. Fortunately I kept all of mine so I can tell you a little about each. We had to do a compare and contrast paper, I compared driving versus flying. I wrote an informational paper on the No Child Left behind Act. One paper on how information can easily be misinterpreted via television or the newspaper because content is relayed from one person to another. Women’s image in society, how women are always looking to be reassured because society forces us to constantly look at ourselves. Lastly, a paper on how people sue companies for there own mistakes and why it is not okay (Example: McDonald’s lady suing because she split hot coffee on herself claiming the coffee didn’t say it would be hot). Each paper had specific guidelines to follow. We were graded on organization, technical aspect, sentence fluency and content. Organization consisted of: method of organization, justifiable title, thesis meets the established standards and is a definition, full paragraphs and transitions unify paper. Technical aspect was: all rules of form style are followed (3rd person, present tense etc.), all rules of formal grammar are followed, proofreading is evident in spelling and usage, punctuation is correct, agreement is consistent, use of “to be” verbs is avoided, and 2 errors per 100 words is unacceptable. For each section there were a certain number of points and if you failed to meet some of those requirements per 100 words you would loose points. So some areas on the rubric wouldn’t receive a number grade if there were two many errors, it would read UA meaning unacceptable. If we received an unacceptable we would be given the chance to go back and correct those areas by ourselves to receive credit. Sentence Fluency consisted of: essay illustrates student “voice”, word choice is appropriate for intended audience, sentence beginnings are unique, different sentence types are used (parallel, loose, periodic, balanced), and writing is interesting and unique. Content consisted of: validity of assessment based on development of definition, respect is tendered the audience, topic is dealt with in a mature style, ideas are specific and focused, ample evidence and explanations are used, and objectivity is shown.

Although, this rubric may seem hard and unfair, these strict guidelines really helped my writing. Sometimes they were frustrating to follow because I wasn’t used to writing in that particular style with so many guidelines but after a while it was easy and just the norm of our class. One paper we couldn’t use any “to be” verbs throughout the entire paper which was extremely hard to do because “to be” verbs are used on a pretty regular basis. Those words consisted of: am, is, are, was, were, has or have been, had been, will have been, being, and to be. I would write a paragraph and then stop and go back to see if I had used any “to be” verbs. It was easiest to just write the paper using the “to be” verbs then go back and rewrite the sentences that had them versus trying to write sentences right away without using them. Our teacher knew that college professors wouldn’t be as specific as he was about certain rules but he wanted us to be one step above that, so if we were forced to follow very specific guidelines we could without trouble. This class taught me how to formulate a thesis, make a statement and give backup for that statement and compare and contrast two things effectively. I also learned how to write a research paper, citing references when appropriate and how to make a works cited page. If I hadn’t taken this class I would not be prepared for writing college papers.

Taking Advanced Composition made me want to become a teacher. The prompts my teacher gave us and restrictions we were required to follow, forced me to think in ways that I never thought were possible. Just by doing those two things I was greatly affected. No other teacher, throughout elementary school, junior high or high school forced me to think in that variant of a way. I never knew I had it in me to think that particular way or come up with these ideas myself. It was because he was able to find that side to me that no other teacher had, that I was instantly affected by his class. For me, that is huge. I think it is a huge accomplishment for a teacher to have that much of an effect on a student. I want to be able to have that same effect on a student of my own. I want to open up the world for them, enable them to see something that they couldn’t before and because of me they are forever changed. It sounds a little extreme, I know, but if a teacher was able to do it to me, I know I have the power somewhere in me to do it to someone else.