SUMMER VACATION

Response Sheet (2 pages)

Name: Emanuel Cabildo D. Vallejera Date: June 18, 2013

I. WRITING

1. Was 15 minutes enough for you to write your essay? Why or why not?

Personally, 15 minutes was not enough for me to write a good essay. An essay should be planned out well. First the
writer must think of what to write about the topic given and plan how to place them in the introduction, body and
conclusion of the essay. As with my experience from our class and from the UPCAT, I did not have enough time to
thoroughly think about what to write in my essay and how to place them in order.

2. How easy or difficult was this assignment for you? Describe the challenges you encountered (if any.)

This assignment was easy for me because writing essays is what I enjoy most, especially when I was in high school.
But looking at my 15-minute product, I could tell that I may not have applied everything I have learned in school. For
example, my essay swayed from one topic to another. It seemed as if my summer vacation was not the topic of the
essay but rather the broadening of my view of the world and the maturity I have gained from my vacation.


3. How satisfied are you with the product? Is this a fair representation of your writing skill? Why or Why not?

If I put it into percentage, I can honestly say that I am only 60% satisfied with my work because I believe that my
work was good but not the best work that I could have given. I think that the lack of enough time was the main reason
why I did not produce one of my best works.


II. READING
1. Are you only reading your classmates essays after seeing this response sheet? YES or NO?

Yes.

2. Did you read ALL of your classmates essays? If not, what percentage did you read? How long did it take?

Yes, I did. I could not give a specific length of time because I did not read all of them in one day but rather I read
them as they were uploaded by my classmates. But thinking about, I can say that I could read one essay in 2-3 minutes.

3. How many essays did you read closely? Skim through? Skip entirely? Explain.

I read all of them closely. I chose not to just skim through them because I want to read everyones essay and
understand them in one go. It is painstaking but then it is a bother when you have to go back to some of the essays
because you did not understand them the first time or you chose not to read some parts of their essays.

4. Describe your reading process. If you could compare your reading these essays to an animal, what animal would it
be and why?

I read every essay fast but I make sure that I understand every single one of them and that I place myself in the
writers shoes. I could compare myself to an owl because I read every essay and I think about what the reader wants to
express in his or her essay. I do not just read them but rather I simultaneously read and feel what they are saying, what
they want to say, and what they thought about the topic.

5. Describe the highlights and lowlights of reading these essays.

Reading essays is not a chore for me but rather it is a place where I can not only practice my readings skills but also it
is where I can learn many things from other people. I not only learn facts but I also experience how one individual
perceives a topic. It is like when you read an essay, you are seeing the world in another persons point of view. You see it
with the knowledge and understanding of that person. But one thing that bothers me is that not all things stated in an
essay are factual.

6. Did you or can you identify recurrent themes, patterns, ways of writing? Notice any clichs?

While I was reading my classmates essays, I noticed that some of them started their essays with describing their
summer as boring, as normal and sometimes even common. Though some explain why they chose to describe their
summers like that, they do not usually expound on the activities that they had done or the places they had gone to. I
think these are perfect examples of clichs when students are asked how their summers were or what did they feel
about their summer. But some explained their summers in other ways, like it was a time of transition from being a high
school Senior to a college Freshman and they described what they felt about the process and what they had done to
prepare for the university.

7. Did you pick up any techniques you wish you could have used yourself? Identify or give examples here.

I did pick up some techniques while reading the essays for example, you should really think about all your activities
during the summer and just pick about one or two that you would like to expound on so that your essay would not look
messy and all over the place. I believe my essay was going to all sorts of directions and then in the end I would just say
that it was not an easy summer unlike my classmates that were just talking about their chosen activities from their
summers and supporting their main topic which is what made their summer boring or fun or different from the normal
summers we experience. One good example is Jendrich Ongs essay (which is by the way untitled as of this writing)
where he took one activity which was being enrolled in his schools IB Diploma program and explaining what it is and
why he did not spend his summer like the rest of us did.

8. What did you learn about writing by reading these essays?

I learned that when given only 15 minutes to write an essay, it is easy to commit mistakes while writing like
describing our summers and not really expounding on the reasons why we felt like our summers were just normal or for
some people, different. I also learned that you should think first about what you should write rather than writing directly
from your brain and onto paper. I remember our UPCAT essays were actually like this, where we would write directly
from our tired brains onto our papers because we were only given 15 minutes also which is definitely not enough time
to think our essays through and arrange all the elements of the essays.
To sum all of these up, I can conclude that given a very restricted environment to write essays in, we should just
stick to the basics and keep it simple and not try to give a Palanca-winning essay because some people tend to overdo it
and then in the end realize that with the time limit, it is simply impossible.

III. For each category name the essay and the author:

Catchiest Title: A Not-so-Summer Summer by Juan Antonio R. Magalang

The intro that drew me in: My Summer Vacation by Jessa de Guzman

Most surprising event: Not So Summer Vacation by Jana Datu

Most memorable moment: My Summer Vacation by Marsheila Gamallo

The easiest read: (No title) by Jendrich Ong

Most profound: (No title) by Joel Ian C. Espita

Most organized: (No title) by Gertrude Anmari Farenas

New word I learned: My Summer Vacation by Genesis Lance U. Orejas

Most striking conclusion: (No title) by Joel Ian C. Espita

The line I wish I had written: My Summer Vacation by Keesha S. dela Pea

The essay I wish I had written: My Summer Vacation by Genesis Lance U. Orejas

The essay that is most similar to mine: My Summer Vacation by Keesha S. dela Pea

The essay that seems most unfinished: My Summer Vacation by Bryan Carrasco

The essay I can least understand: My Summer Vacation by Bryan Carrasco



Name three categories of your own and identify the corresponding essays and authors.

1. Biggest Words Used: My Summer Vacation by Genesis Lance U. Orejas

2. The Summer I Wish I Had: My Summer Vacation by Marsheila Gamallo

3. Best Described Summer: (No title) by Joel Ian C. Espita