Hi,

1. Lexi Hennessy 1A June 5th, 2012 Hi, I’m Lexi Hennessy and I'm going to reflect upon my freshman year. Starting high school was a big jump for me, but looking back there’s not much I would change. All the friends I’ve made, all the teachers I admire, and all the great memories that will always be with me made this year worthwhile. There is no doubt I grew a lot this year not only as a person, but as a student and writer. There was never a day that I didn’t look forward to 1A English class. 1A always started my day off right. With all the sarcasm and tension in the room, there was never a class that didn’t make me crack up. On a more serious note, there is so much I have learned this year that will stay with me. I feel almost like we plunged into a journey of writing, learning each step of the way. I’m incredibly proud of all the accomplishments I’ve made this year and all the obstacles I’ve overcome. I have so much to be thankful for. I don’t think I could have asked for a better freshman year! I’ve never thought of myself as a creative person until I really had to apply myself with the poetry booklet. Poetry had never been something I’d enjoyed, but the way it was taught to me this year revealed it as something special that I’m certain will interest me for the rest of my life. This was challenging for me, but so necessary to strengthen my writing and creativity. I feel like I grew up this year and I honestly think it has a lot to do with Mrs. Turner’s class. I’ve learned to respect it and her so much. Even this assignment has turned out to be a valuable exercise. I never thought a reflective letter could make me tear up like this. There were many assignments that I found enjoyable but my favorite would have to be the fairy tale satire story. That paper really brought out my sarcastic side. I’m proud of the work I’ve done and don’t think these lessons will be forgotten. It was kind of amazing to see that I could be a better writer than I ever thought possible.

2. Within my portfolio you will find a Satirical Fairy Tale. It’s Boldilocks and the Three Bears with many twists made to demonstrate satire. My portfolio also contains four of my finest poetry works, “Birdawocky”, “Happy”, “Permit”, and “Olivia”. These are probably the poems I am the most proud of. Birdawocky is a new version on my take of “Jabberwocky”. It is deeper, mysterious, and a little more confusing than the usual poems I write, but it really expanded my knowledge of writing poetry so I found it essential to add to my portfolio. “Happy” is an emotional poem that was probably my favorite to write, it explains when I’m happy and what makes me happy. The next poem you will find is called “Permit” it’s just about freedom and growing up. Last but not least, is my poem “Olivia” it is an original poem about my baby sister and dance, my two favorite things! It’s mainly about us growing together and making each other stronger. These would have to be my favorite works of the year. I feel I really succeeded in writing them and I learned from every assignment. Moving on in my portfolio you will find a paper I wrote on “me as a writer”. I really wanted to include this because it’s from the beginning of the year and I find it funny to reflect back on it and see how much I’ve changed. This paper is not my finest work; I really did grow from the beginning of the school year to now! The final paper is one I wrote towards the end of the year about New Orleans. It was actually one that was initially poorly written in order to demonstrate how not to write. I worked hard to correct my poor writing style and numerous grammar mistakes and I think the final product is actually quite good! My portfolio is a good representation of what I have learned and what I have written this year. It represents more than a record of my assignments. It reflects my improvement, encourages me to strive to live up to my potential, and is a keepsake of some great memories from my freshman year in high school. Thank Mrs. Turner!