Semester 1 Reflection

Although it seems that there is no possible way that it can be true, the first semester of this year is just two weeks away from its ending, so that means it's time to look back at blogging throughout this semester. During this semester, I've independently read Life in Motion, Twelve Years a Slave, and 13 Reasons Why. The first book, and also my favorite out of the three, Life in Motion, was a memoir, written by ballet dancer, Misty Copeland about her struggles becoming a ballet dancer many struggles, such as a difficult childhood, lacking money, and having a different "look" than the typical ballerina. I loved that Copeland was so honest throughout the memoir and that the overall message conveyed could apply to things other than ballet. The second book, Twelve Years a Slave, was my least favorite because it was written so formally (since it was written in the 1800's) and that it was very difficult to connect to, which made me lose interest. The last book, 13 Reasons Why, was a very interesting book, from the overall plot, to the structure of the book that really grabbed the reader's attention. The plot was so intriguing that it kept you wanting to know more and more, something that I really love to see in a book because I get impatient with books that don't get to the point. So, overall my reading choices this semester were not too bad in the end.

 During this semester, my blog has changed dramatically, and for the better. When the blog was first started, my "voice" wasn't present and it really wasn't interesting at all. I strictly wrote what I was supposed to write and maybe added a picture of the book cover as a visual. There was no real attention grabber; it just sounded like an "English Robot" had written it. Luckily, however, when Mrs. Bross had read one of my first blog posts, the first thing she said that needed to be improved upon was making it sound more natural. And it was a good thing she said it, because my blog at its start was pretty weak and boring. Once I started to apply this to my blog, there was a drastic difference and it even felt a little easier to write. When I wrote more naturally, I found it simpler to add in things such as figurative language and good diction in order to improve the quality of my blog.  So, I guess I've done something correctly for my blog!

Even though my blog has shown great improvement since the beginning of the year, it still needs a bit of work to become to best it can be. The first thing that could be improved upon is grammar because it has never really been my strength and sometimes that is evident in my blog posts. Another thing that I wish to improve upon is what visuals I use in each of my posts. In most of my posts, there is just a picture of the cover of the book I am reading, which doesn't exactly help the reader with anything other than what to look for in the book store. Lastly, I'd like to improve on making the blog a piece of writing that the readers would actually enjoy reading and for them to feel as though they have gotten something out of reading my posts. From these weaknesses in my blog, my three goals for making a better blog are (1 having perfect grammar in each post
and proofreading it before posting it, (2 having strong visuals that contribute to my posts, and (3 making my blog interesting and effective to those who read it. I plan on reaching each of these goals throughout the next semester in order to help strengthen my blog as a whole.