Prompt: Today, we learned how to use clustering as a brainstorming strategy before responding to any writing prompt. Think about today’s practice. How did clustering help you generate ideas, examples, etc for the prompt? What part of the clustering process was most useful to you, and do you think you would use this strategy when planning an AP Lang essay? Explain.

 Prompt Response: Using clustering helped me generate ideas by letting me get all my thoughts down visually without worrying about the structure right away. Branching out from a central idea made it easy to make unexpected connections. The most useful part of the process was seeing how different subtopics linked together, which helped me select my strongest arguments faster. I would definitely use this strategy when planning an AP Lang essay because it fits into the short planning window and gives a clear outline of the argument before writing. 

Summary: Today in class we talked about brainstorming strategies like clustering. We did a practice clustering on the topic of jobs. 

Reflection: This made the brainstorming phase much less overwhelming. This helped me to learn how to organize my thoughts before jumping straight into writing. This makes it much easier to build a clear line of reasoning in future essays. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Prompt: After reviewing the feedback on your argument essay, identify one thing you did well and one area you need to improve. Explain what you will do differently the next time you write an AP Lang argument essay.

Prompt Response:  After reviewing the feedback on my AP Lang argument essay, I realized I did a good job taking a clear stance and supporting it with strong evidence, but I need to better explain the tensions in the argument to earn the sophistication point.  To do this better next time, I will make sure to address opposing viewpoints and the complexities of the issue instead of just arguing one side. I also plan to unpack why the issue is so deeply contested and how different forces pull the argument in different directions.  Summary: Today in class, we started creating our own poems and learned how to use  Adobe Express.  Reflection:  This taught me how to combine digital tools with writing to present my ideas in a more engaging and visually appealing way. It also helps me feel more comfortable trying out new software for future school projects. 
Read more

Today, we learned how writers create a clear line of reasoning by connecting a claim, evidence, commentary, and conclusion. Which part of building an argument is most challenging for you, and why?

  Prompt Response:  The part of the argument that is the most challenging for me is the commentary on the evidence. I have trouble explaining how my explanations of the evidence relate back to my position. I also need to practice being more specific in my evidence and making sure it directly supports my claim. My commentary should be at least three sentences, but I sometimes have trouble coming up with three. I think that the commentary is challenging for me because I feel like I am being repetitive when I try to explain my evidence.  Summary: Today in class we learned about creating a line of reasoning and practice ordering an argument so that it made sense. We then received an unpopular opinion and had to create an argument to defend or refute it.  Reflection:  This will help me logically order my arguments using a line of reasoning. Defending the unpopular opinion helped me explain exactly why and how my evidence relates back to my claim. 
Read more

Think about a time when you made a claim or gave an opinion, but someone asked you, “Why?” or “How do you know?” Describe the situation. What evidence did you use to support your point, and why is explaining your evidence just as important as providing it?

 Prompt Response: One time, my friend and I were trying to decide on the best movie to watch, and I told her that the first movie in the series was definitely the best one. Right away she said, "That's not true". To support my claim, I brought up specific evidence. For example, how the original felt nostalgic, how it introduced all the best characters, and showed her the ratings online from movie critics. Explaining my evidence was just as important as giving it because just giving facts isn't always enough to convince someone. Explaining how the points proved my argument helped my friend understand from my perspective.  Summary: I was absent today in class. I heard that we read a short story and discussed it.  Reflection: I was absent today in class.
Read more