English

English 2

Grade: 9

Teacher: Mrs. Carter

We aRe Writing

Every quarter, Chapin High School gives students a prompt for an optional essay contest. All of the submitted essays are then judged, and the top three essay authors are awarded scholarship money.

Debate on Animal Experimentation

This was the second debate that we held in English, which my class was able to choose the topic for. We did this by having each person in the class present one idea to debate on, which turned out to be a great experience in itself for me. I had to overcome my fear of being judged or made fun of when I suggested we debate gay marriage. However, after a class vote, we chose to debate on whether animal experimentation should be legal, which was a topic I could be just as passionate about.

Because my previous team won the first debate, I was able to choose which team I would be on, and I chose to be on the opposition (not supporting animal experimentation). Although I disagreed with those who chose to be on proposition, I had respect for them because it takes a lot of courage to stand up for something that you believe is right, despite what others may think, and I was intersted to see what kind of research they came up with.

This being the second debate, it wasn't as difficult to determine a system for how to prepare. My team got our cumulative ideas together after doing some preliminary research, and then divided up into groups for each of our points. Within each group, people were assigned a certain role. I researched and helped to write the speech, because I am not a skilled speaker. However, I used my role as an opportunity to quietly lead by setting an example and immediately getting to work, while sharing some other ideas with my group. The whole debate unit was an incredible learning experience for me because I had to push myself to speak up, and I also learned some of the essentials of preparation and leadership, especially from our extremely knowledgable Mayor and an experienced attorney, who were kind enough to come watch and talk to us afterwards.

Virtual Team Challenge

On the left, the leadership log that I wrote about ALA's virtual team challenge is shown. The Virtual Team Challenge was a computer simulation that placed our teams in a virtual city which we had to handle after it experienced an oil spill. Our jobs were different according to our roles in the group, but each one included tasks which required heavy reasearch, communication, preparation, teamwork, proffesionalism, and so on. Most of these skills we had to develop ourselves, because there was not much clear direction given at the beginning. From the experience, I learned valuable lessons about individual effort and preparation, team communication, and important aspects about business which can be applied to many areas of my life. As I am placed in similar situations in the future, I will carry these new and beneficial techniques with me.

Poetry Video Project

For this project, we were each able to choose a poem to analyze, and then display in a video. I chose "Hope Is The Thing With Feathers", by Emily Dickenson. Using TP-CASTT (title, paraphrase, connotation, attitude, shifts, title, and theme), I consolidated my thoughts on what message the poem was really trying to convey, and explained my thought process in a 1 1/2 page essay.

The phrases in this poem are intriguing, and use a lot of symbolism. This symbolism was very effective in getting me to feel the different tones and understand the theme. As I read it, many different pictures and ideas came to my head, which I tried to show throughout the video. I also came to conclude that the theme was, "Hope is an unwavering source of comfort, which is strongest when it is needed most."

This project was beneficial to me as a student because it taught me how to discover the true message behind a piece of literature, and then how to display that so others will understand my connections with just pictures. I also learned to work better with technology, and the poem itself helped me to realize that no matter how hard things get in any situation, I will always have hope on my side.

Chapin High School Is Palmetto's Finest (2nd Submission)

At the beginning of my freshman year, I was notified that Chapin High School held quarterly writing competitons for scholarship money. As soon as I learned about this amazing opportunity, I commited myself to submitting an essay each time. I worked extremely hard on perfecting my first essay, and was overjoyed to find that I had won the entire contest, which was open to the whole school! This motivated me to continue with my dedication.

On the left is a slideshow showing my second submission to the We aRe Writing Scholarship Essay contest. For this essay, the prompt was to write about why Chapin High School should be awarded the title of Palmetto's Finest.

When I wrote this essay, I worked even harder than before to make it perfect in hopes of continuing a winning streak. My strategy was to follow a long and detailed process, spread out over many school nights. First, I brainstormed my ideas relating to the prompt on a sheet of notebook paper. After I knew I had all of my ideas written down, I did my best to connect them to eachother and organize them effectively. I then went straight to my computer and started typing, one paragraph at a time. Each paragraph took me a very long time to perfect, because I wanted my ideas to be prevalent and to flow. After I read over my typed essay, I formatted and shortened it so it fit the requirements. Weeks after I turned it in, I found out that I had won first place again!

Taking the initiative to enter in these contests has helped me to improve my writing skills and methods/techniques. I had to find a system that worked into my busy homework schedule and also realized the importance of being passionate about a subject. I truly believed that CHS deserved to be Palmetto's Finest, so I was ecstatic when I found out that we had won this amazing award! I have since continued to enter in these contests, experiencing more benefits that definitely exceed the money.