Assignment/Activity Title9

th
Grade Critical Thinking Paper Year Freshman (2014)
Skill Writing Portfolio Category Critical Reasoning


My Critical Thinking Paper, titled Why the Government should be in Charge of the Video Game Rating
Systems will be one of the most important pieces for my portfolio. This year, I have argued on one side of the topic of
violence in video games. Throughout the next two years of my life in CAP, I will have argued both sides of this topic and
finally written from the side of the topic that showcases my opinion. Through these next few years, this assignment will
display my growth in thinking and writing skills.
When I was first given this assignment, I was overwhelmed by the ability to choose to choose a topic and the fast-
approaching due date. I felt that choosing a topic was the most challenging part of the assignment. I knew that I did not
want to choose a topic that involved politics (since I am not politically-inclined) or science (scientific issues can easily
become associated with ethics or religious beliefs, which exponentially increases the level of difficulty). Also, many of
the cultural issues tied in with politics. It almost seemed as if I had to write about a topic that I had little interest for, which
would have resulted in lack of effort. Soon, I realized that I took interest to issues involving pop-culture. I also knew that I
loved to play video games. After some thinking, my topic, violence in video games, was born. In order to successfully
complete the assignment by the due date, I developed a system to guide me throughout the assignment. The first phase
involved research and locating sources to cite. I found a variety of sources (opinionated, non-opinionated, showcased both
sides of the argument), and cited them for my Works Cited page. Then, I read through each article (to develop a clear
opinion) and highlighted vital information (quotes) to the development of my essay. The second phase was to actually
write the essay. Since I had already found useful quotes, writing the essay was simple. As I wrote, I experienced very few
writing blocks and felt no stress.
Through this assignment, I have learned that I work best through simple, but systematic goals. Being able to
divide the essay into phases greatly influenced by ability to interpret my thoughts into writing. For every essay that I
write in the future, I will create a system that will help me tackle small portions of the essay (instead of facing the essay
head-on). This will lessen the amount of work (that I would complete) per day. Otherwise, I would become so
exhausted from research, thinking, writing, citing, and staring at a computer screen that my finished draft would be subpar
to what I would like it to be.
If I could write this again (I will be able to write the Critical Thinking Paper again), I would divide the project
into even more phases. Instead of writing the paper in one day, I would write 2 paragraphs per day in order to place less
stress onto writing the assignment as a whole.







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Assignment/Activity Title3
rd
Quarter Cinematic Analysis Year Freshman (2014)
Skill Writing Portfolio Category Media and Communications


For my 3
rd
quarter Cinematic Analysis, I watched the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). When I choose
a movie for a Cinematic Analysis, I try to pick the most creative and interesting movie on the list, while still balanced
with history and/or politics. This would help me to discover the theme of the movie, pick out cinematographic techniques,
and relate to a point and time in history. I chose to watch and write about this movie because it combined historical
concepts and science fiction.
I had a particularly simple time writing this assignment from start to finish. The movie had a captivating plot, and
a variety of dynamic characters, in order to keep the viewer entertained. The interesting, but not too complex plot allowed
me to pluck out the theme of the movie for Section A (theme and basic summary) of the assignment. The setting is placed
on planet Earth in the post-World War Two era. This clear (and historically accurate) setting allowed me to complete
Section B (historical references in movie). Finally, since it is a sci-fi movie, various film techniques had to have been used
to create an unrealistic world (in this case, UFOs and giant robots). This allowed me to easily spot these techniques,
instead of becoming too involved in the movie and its plot. This helped me with Section C (cinematography of movie) of
the assignment.
Through this assignment, I have learned that my most successful Cinematic Analyses are created when I watch
movies with a fiction element to them. I made the mistake of watching an autobiography for my first Cinematic Analysis,
where I reviewed the movie Lincoln. Lincoln was an excellent movie, but the plot and characters were underdeveloped.
The cinematographic techniques were also hard to notice. After my 1
st
Cinematic Analysis, I watched more emotional
movies, which resulted in a more passionate and involved essay.
There has been a huge growth in my writing skills. All of my 9
th
grade Cinematic Analyses display this increasing
trend. At first, I received low grades (according to my standards) on these assignments. As the school year progressed, my
grades on this assignment have increased and my writing style has improved significantly.
These projects have taught me to unravel the thematic or historical context in every form of media, which is a
skill vital for becoming an exceptional CAP student. In CAP we learn to analyze novels (and other form of writing), plays,
film, photography, speeches, and events. The Cinematic Analyses have become an effective form of practice for the
development of the crucial skill of analyzing and interpreting the entire world around me.










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