This year, especially in American Literature, I feel as though I have grown immensely in my ability to take out the main ideas from a text, as well as the finer details based off those main ideas. I have learned how to use FIDDS in a way completely different than last year. Last year, I would say something like, "The imagery really paints a picture in ones head that he is scared....". Now, after everything I feel I have learned this year, I would say something closer to , " The detail describes the fear of ____, and the word _____ does this because...(related it back to thesis). Last year, I did not have the ability to correctly relate all my evidence back to the thesis, and do it in such a manner that adequately summed up my points. To throw in a IB Learner profile, I would say I became more principled when it comes to writing and literary analysis, because I fell as though I have learned the process well enough over the course of this Literary year.
In American Studies, I feel as though I have grown in being a better reflector, certainly an improvement over last year. I have grown as a reflector in terms of reflecting on how certain events in history have truly affected me and the country and the world in ways that cannot be reversed. Seeing why things happened, what the effects were, is something I have been able to understand better after this year, and a lot of the credit I feel goes to American Studies, because we spend a good chunk of time analyzing why things happened, and give greater importance to that over when /what happened. Growing as a reflector from this class has enabled me to be a better student in my opinion, as the improved reflective skill has carried over to other classes, allowing me to analyze my weaknesses, and through reflection, find a solution for them.
