English Portfolio #1 2019
Relating to the literature aspect of this course, I aim to become better at structuring and organising my thoughts and evidence in essays with focus regarding topic sentences and themes. Additionally, I want to increase my reading level and frequency. For example, the topics of the books that relate to my interests outside my school academic subjects in order for my to expand my overall general knowledge.
Being an international student and living in a cultured society with the added privilege of being able to travel to new places such as Greece and Japan, which are both places I have visited recently and are a common destination for me and my family. I want to allow myself to get a glimpse of new communities, how they function and how I might temporarily fit into their routine. Achieving this requires me to understand their history, religion(s), and language. Even though, I attempt to learn basic language before visiting a certain place and usually go to historical events during the trip, literature texts we study in class help me make a clear connection between certain unfamiliar cultures and my own personal and academic studies. For example, touring the Greek Acropolis and analysing the values and beliefs of the Greek mythology foundational story, Jason and the argonauts is one time where I was able to display knowledge about both factual history, as well as a culture’s literature and religious beliefs and myths.
