Sunday, April 15, 2012

Looking Back At Grade 11 English

Ha, semester one has been over for more than two months, and I still haven't written my personal reflections for English and physics. Such a procrastinator...

Anyway, grade 11 English was probably the most stressful course that I have had in my school career (so far). For one, its workload was a lot heavier than those of the other courses. For example, I remember that during December, we had this many things due:
  • Speech 
  • Macbeth culminating activity (mine was a story book)
  • ISP essay

This may not seem like too much, but considering that the Christmas holidays started on December 16th, and the fact that these three big assessments were all due before the holidays, I really think that the schedule was a bit cramped.  

Also, my teacher had the habit of giving very tight due dates. The speech was given only a week before they were due, the Macbeth culminating activity 1-2 weeks, and many writing pieces 1 day. So for the entire semester, I always seemed to be anxious about some English assignment that I had to complete soon.

Another reason why I was so stressed about the course was the low marks. Unlike my grade 10 English teacher, my grade 11 English teacher clearly didn't like my writing (style), and my marks were always in the 80's, not 90's. This made me extra nervous for each and every assignment, because I simply didn't know what she wanted from me.

Oh, what did I learn in the course?

Quite frankly, I don't think my teacher is very good at teaching or explaining concepts. I remember how many of her explanations for The Picture of Dorian Gray simply didn't make sense, and when students asked her questions, she usually just restated what she had said before.

As for what we have done in class, I remember reading Macbeth and The Picture of Dorian Gray, doing activities related to the two texts, and reading and analyzing several essays.

*sigh* I don't have any fond memories about this course.

Random piece of fact: my teacher didn't know how to spell "ostentatious."