Steve Ortiz

During the course of this past semester, I believe that I have grown as a student in my
skills for academic success. Before this semester, I had trouble using text as a means to
propagate my ideas since I found difficulty in determining what part of the text would be best to
substantiate my essay. As a result, I would spend rather large amounts of time in doing so, a
habit that is quite horrid for timed writing assignments. In addition, I would have quite a time
figuring out how much of the text I would quote in my essay before it became superfluous. Now
I am able to do so within a much more reasonable time slot as the advent of efficient planning
has greatly aided me with this task, in addition to aiding with the aforementioned dilemma of
quotation length. This growth has aided me with my AP exams, where timing, along with quality,
was of the upmost importance.
My Gilded Dream essay is evidence of my growth as the essays process allowed me to
develop the aforementioned area. The essay is an argumentative one, where we were given a
choice of three separate thesis statements to base our essays on, with the novel The Great Gatsby,
acting as both the topic and the source of our information. We had to fill in a pre-write sheet
were we had to plan everything accordingly before we were to type our essay. This piece of
evidence shows I have grown because it shows the fruit of my labor. The labor being the
development of academic success and the fruit being the successful implementation of the skill
into the essay.
In addition to having grown as a student, I believe that I have grown as a global citizen in
the area of weighing perspectives. Before this semester, I had difficulty factoring in the
perspectives of others when considering controversial ideas or topics. As a result, any
argumentative essay that I would create would only consist of presenting facts that present my
view in a rather condescending manner. Now I am able to address the possibility of a
counterargument in a more calm approach knowing that an argumentative essay is much more
effective when one refutes a possible and clear counterargument.
My Huckleberry Synthesis essay is evidence of this growth as the controversial nature of
the novel required that I consider such view points. The essay was also an argumentative one,
which required us to create a concise and complete thesis statement that had to address in some
manner the controversial nature of banned books. Along with it being approved by our teacher,
we were given free reign over how we were to write this essay, with the exception of having to
cite three sources, including The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, in some way. This piece of
evidence displays that I have grown as I address the different perspectives that view the
controversial nature of banned books in a manner that allows us to comprehend my view points
and the faultiness of their potential counterarguments.