Metacognitive Blog: And Then There Were None

I had written an essay on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. During the revision process, I made sure to correct and improve on several things. First, I changed all contractions (excluding dialogue) to their separate parent words (such as changing "don't" to "do not" or "isn't" to "is not.") Then, I read over the essay and looked for sentences that looked choppy or needed explanations or details. I made sentences longer and helped them flow better. Finally, I skimmed the essay for any grammar, spelling or punctuation errors, which were an easy fix. Of the three types of support for improving my essay, I only had the chance to receive two (written feedback on timed writing; peer editing). Personally, I believe the peer review checklist and commentary was more helpful because my peer gave specific examples of what I could fix. She also made comments on what she liked about the essay. I also think the peer review checklist was helpful because it gave a second opinion on whether or not I left anything out. As for the rest of the year, I believe peer editing, feedback on past assignments, and an adult's advice on written work will continue to help me improve my writing. I personally think that other peoples' opinions and feedback is vastly important. It can help writers by showing them what people think of their work, and readers will often catch a mistake that the writer overlooked. Even though writing is one of my strongest points in school, I have plenty of room to improve. I often make sentences much longer than they should be, and sometimes I struggle with making my writing stick to the topic. Occasionally my sentences 'jump' from topic to topic without proper transitions. One goal I have this year is to keep my writing short and sweet when necessary, and always on topic.

Thanks for reading!
~Luna M.

Theme of Smiles To Go- Timed Writing, Revised Version

I read Smiles To Go by Jerry Spinelli. The theme in this book is not everything can be planned out in life, and sometimes it’ll throw something at you that you’d never expect. This is because the main character, Will Tuppence, has his whole life planned out. He loves to be in charge and in control of what’s going on around him. Things have a routine for him, and that’s how they should be. Suddenly, a new scientific discovery shatters that mindset and leaves him feeling lost. The discovery? Protons, the immensely tiny particles that make up our entire universe, can die. What does that mean? Everything has an end. Everything that is something will eventually cease to exist and become nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing. (Note: Science has not yet confirmed that proton decay is real or possible.) This supports the theme because from Will’s perspective, his future seems unsure and unstable now that he knows nothing will last forever. Farther into the book, Will’s plan is upset when he is unable to complete a chess tournament. He is so close to winning a match when all of a sudden his parents come with grave news- there has been an accident. Will’s little sister Tabby, frustrated and seeking attention, decides to try to skateboard down Dead Man’s Hill- the most treacherous hill in the area, just like Will’s friend B.T., the only person to ever skateboard down that hill and survive. She is severely injured and ends up in the hospital on life support. Will is struck with how small and innocent and weak she seems- no, this can’t be the little girl who climbs on the counter, steals atomic watches, and drops black jelly beans (his favorite) into the trash one by one just to make him mad. This is not the plan. This is not the routine. Will’s mother gives him a strange task: Go home and look carefully at Ozzie, Tabby’s stuffed octopus. Will obeys. He does as he is instructed and finds that Ozzie’s stuffing has been replaced with a jar of black jelly beans. His mother later explains that Tabby has picked every single jelly bean out of the trash when Will was not looking, dusted them off, and collected them in the jar. It is a birthday present, albeit a strange one, and it shows that Tabby loves Will as her big brother- she just shows it differently. This supports the theme because Will has always thought of Tabby as the obnoxious younger sibling that’s out to drive him insane- always there, making mischief. When she is hospitalized, she is no longer there to bother him. His life is altered, and he realizes just how important Tabby actually is to him. Sure, she drives him crazy, but deep down, he loves her. At the end of the book, Will decides to lighten up a bit and not fuss over his life quite so much. He learns to accept that life is full of unexpected events, and it doesn't always go the way you want it to. Thank you for reading!