6.25.2020

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In this class, I focused on rechecking my book review because it also accounts for part of my grade. Now that I looked back at it, I could notice that the introduction paragraph lacked information about the author. Not only that, but the essay itself was very long. However, I want to most of the paragraphs, because I felt that they clarified my critique, so shortening will be an upcoming challenge. Despite that, using the tools Mr. Paterson showcased us, I was surprised that the results were better than what I've expected. I have used AWL last year, so seeing that the number was about a 5, was decent, but I want to still improve the number, in order to correspond with my readability levels. For my readability, I got a 14 grade which accounts for older students, so I either want to downgrade my readability by making the sentences clearer because I tend to prolong my sentences with unnecessary adjectives or, I would like to add a couple more AWL words to increase the percentage. Something that I like about the AWL list is that the words aren't chosen for their difficulty. Instead, they are chosen for their efficiency and good usage, so it would be fair for all students regarding their English proficiency levels. However, this means that using bland words multiple times to increase the percentage won't be affecting the student's learning ability. This is why I think it's important to be interdisciplinary when checking your work.

A problem that I could see is the obvious reusing of certain words that are related to the book. For example, I both use the word "plague", and "Camus" a lot, one being the title of the book and the other, being the author. Although it would be difficult to find synonyms for the author's name, I believe that I could find alternatives for the other. Perhaps I could use Thesaurus, but only to an extent because sometimes, the words recommended aren't fit for the sentence that I'm trying to write. I'm very glad that we have these tools because most writing services that we use (Google, Word, etc..) still don't have the latest features that can improve our writing to its best. Moreover, there are so many tools in English that it's becoming overwhelming. Perhaps the development of these tools in the future can surpass the grading accuracy of teachers, so student grades may be depicted through computers. This means that people may not need to have an abundant knowledge of a certain subject in order to become a teacher, because they can have online grading systems assess their student's work. But I don't think this will happen unless it becomes a necessity to increase the teacher population. 

Nevertheless, I would like to continue using these tools as a guide to improving my writing. Since teachers are humans, and may not have time feedbacking every student's work at all times, I will try my best to self-check my essay. Moreover, I would like to ask my peers for advice, because it's more comfortable to discuss with people whom I know from other than just English class. Also, I want to add information about the author by reading the book review terms more, because I thought that it was lacking the 3 B's. It's nice to see my essay being deconstructed from many aspects of writing, as it helps enhance my ideas in a more engaging fashion. It makes me wonder if there are apps like these for Japanese, as then it would help all students in Japan.


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