Marissa Crespo

Mrs. Anderson
AP Literature Writing Portfolio Reflection II
February 21, 2017

During the second trimester of AP English Literature, the deep analysis of books/the

motives behind characters actions has impacted both my reading and writing the most. The

Frankenstein critical lens project (which I did on Marxism) truly opened my eyes to new ways of

viewing/understanding characters, themes, purpose, and even people in my everyday life. Who

would have thought that Frankensteins monster could have be likened to the French Revolution

or technology during the late 18th century? Certainly not myself had I not done this project.

Connecting Marxism to Frankenstein was definitely a stretch; however, the difficulty of

connecting them is what made the project so enriching for me. I was forced to find minute

snippets of the text to connect to very particular aspects of technology and French Revolution

and thoroughly support my connections which not only helped me better understand the book,

but helped me become a more persuasive writer/presenter. Having to present a complex idea

clearly, concisely, and persuasively was a challenge and a learning experience.

In addition to this, the Frankenstein collaborative passage analysis (which I initially

dreaded) became a surprisingly beneficial learning experience. I am a devout independent

worker when it comes to writing, labs, projects, and all things school, so, of course, when we

were assigned a collaborative essay I was completely against it; however, as Kelly and I were

making notes on/discussing the passage together, my opinion on the assignment changed.

Writing a passage analysis with another person forced me to discuss my ideas which as a result

allowed me to bounce my ideas off of hers, draw new conclusions, and analyze the passage

further than I would have done on my own. The inherent discussion aspect of this assignment
showed me that thorough discussion of a passage helps me formulate newer and deeper ideas

about an excerpt since I am hearing another persons insight.

The culmination of the lessons I learned from the critical lens presentation and the

collaborative passage analysis were utilized as I wrote the Fifth Business key passage analysis.

This essay gave me the opportunity to put my discussion to generate new ideas skill and my

newly-enhanced persuasive writing of complex ideas skill to the test! To come up with what I

thought Robertson Davies purpose was in writing that specific passage, I participated in and

actively listened to class discussions about Jungian psychology and masks which helped me

formulate my own opinions/ideas on Davies purpose. Furthermore, I also watched and took

notes on the Jungian Psychology documentary we watched in class (and notated when

ifth
something from the documentary directly connected to my idea of what the purpose of the F

Business passage was) which allowed me to have my own internal discussion about the

connection between Jungian masks and the passage. When it came to actually writing the key

passage analysis, I put my persuasive writing of complex ideas skill into action. To do so, I

made a clear outline to ensure that my intricate ideas were being explained clearly, logically, and

always being related back to the purpose of the novel as a whole.