What I Learned in English Class

Prior to this English lesson, I never used reading strategies to enhance my ability to read. I never thought much about them, and so I never had the motivation to do so either. Before I started using reading strategies, I did not engage very actively in reading, and while I was using the reading strategies, I was definitely more engaged in my reading then I would’ve been in before using them. After using the strategies, I more confident in my ability to read, and will continue to use them if needed for more active engagement. These strategies would also enhance my comprehension because I would be more interested in the reading material, hence increasing my level of comprehension.

The one strategy that I think would help improve my comprehension the most, would be using prior knowledge to think about the topic. I think out of all the other strategies, this one really helped me think about my point of view of the topic. This was really helpful as it made me think more about the topic in depth and improved my sense of knowledge in that sector. Using previous knowledge relating to that topic is a definite help in understanding the text more clearly and on different views. This strategy is essential in order to be successful in comprehending the text to the fullest.

When coming across an unfamiliar word in the past, I would either not think much of it, or take some time to search up the definition in a dictionary or on the internet. After this lesson I have now realized that skipping an unfamiliar word is not the greatest idea as each word in a text has its own value and specific meaning and should not just be skipped. Every time I would skip a word, I would be skipping something important, so this was something that didn’t work as much. After this lesson I have now realized that I should now look more into harder words and look up the definitions more often rather than skipping an important addition to the text.

I always try to focus and use every opportunity I can to enhance my vocabulary, or lexicon. I read news articles, magazines, books advised by friends, and other forms of texts on a daily basis. I think these are essential in improving one's vocabulary skills. My vocabulary still has a lot of work to do, but I think that it is improving every day in a way.

I think the author of this novel is extremely creative especially when it comes to vocabulary. He uses less common, yet powerful words to communicate and share the story. This makes me even more intrigued in reading more of this book. The author is very successful in terms of using the proper words and language to help us as readers visualize exactly what the author wants to portray in the story.

I was able to learn and review many new topics over the course of these short assignments. Firstly, I was able to review literary forms, which I have learned a lot about at school. I was not too familiar with these elements, but as I started doing this content’s work, I have gotten much more broad sense of understanding with what these forms are and how they work.

I was also not too familiar with the elements of informational forms. After reviewing the content assignments, my understanding tripled; I am much more confident with working with these elements. This type of learning will definitely help me going forward when reading this style of text. I now have a wide understanding which would surely help me recognize and give more emphasis to these elements.

This content also brought more insight on graphic texts, which was something that I was not too familiar with. My understanding with graphic texts has most definitely increased in way that I am now aware of how or what these types of texts portray their information. Going forward, these types of texts would help me by making me recognize different visualizations and how they are portraying their message.

The book ‘Animal Farm,’ has some text features such as titles and subtitles, but since the online version is not the best version to identify text features, some features I think would really help the readers understand the message being conveyed in the book are bold and/or italic fonts. Personally, these types of features really help me bring importance to what is happening or what the characters in the book are conveying. If I see italic or bold fonts, I immediately start reading more attentively and it really helps me understand the mood of the book, which is why these features are important.

The author of the book was extremely successful in terms of using figurative language to portray the message in the book. I think it is really effective of the author to do so, as it helps readers understand fully what is/was happening in the story.