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Seventeen years old and striving to become a computer engineering student someday. My hobbies are mainly tinkering with random things I find that interest me; and another thing that I like very much is geography. I'm known for my skills when it comes to computers and such and I'm also a heavy procrastinator, but I manage to cram all of it in time. I value my life very much and would spend all of it to have fun rather than to have stress on things.
Reading has had a detrimental part of my life. When I was a toddler, I was taught by my mother how to read at a very young age, and it greatly helped me expand my knowledge on a lot of things from an early age.
Well, in my opinion, reading is a way to encode or take in the symbols or words you are reading and then decode it to understand what is the meaning of said symbols.
What I think is useful about reading is that, in our modern society, we tend to appreciate more of our technological advancements when it comes to communication. To be specific, communication with faraway distances. Back then, we wrote letters to people, used telegrams, and before all of those well-structured messaging systems, we used to use smoke to signal meanings, and someone tries to transcribe it. Basically, without reading, we'll probably be stuck in the stone age.
Without reading, how can there be writing? History and cultures would be lost since we can't record it. The word of mouth only has a short lifespan, as it will later grow old. And we'll basically not learn from all our mistakes.'
We've progressed a lot as a society, and reading has become a part of our lives as it helps us be educated, be entertained, and understand concepts that can't be said. Reading has helped me, you, and all of us shape our world where it is today.
The stages of reading are the different stages on which you develop or what your progress is on a specific text you are to read. From the very start of the text, where you are introduced, to starting to read the text, up to the end of the text.
*Pre-reading
*During reading
*Post-reading
Pre-reading is the stage where you prepare yourself before diving into a text. It involves activities like looking at the title, thinking about what you already know on the topic, making guesses about the content, and skimming through headings or images. This helps you get a sense of what to expect and makes it easier to understand the material when you start reading.
- This is where you are introduced to a text.
- Question the intentions of the author's background.
- Question the author's reason.
- Looking at the synopsis (a brief summary of the text)'
During reading is the stage where you actively engage with the text. It involves reading and sometimes rereading to fully grasp the content. This includes figuring out the meanings of unfamiliar words, checking your understanding, making notes, thinking about what you’re reading, and drawing conclusions based on the information. This helps you stay focused and understand the material more deeply.
- Reading the full text
- Comprehend, annotate, reflect, infer on the text
Post-reading is the stage where you review and reflect on what you’ve read. It involves checking your understanding, summarizing the main points, thinking about the content, rewording ideas in your own words, creating visual aids like charts or diagrams, and writing about your thoughts or reactions. This helps solidify your understanding and retain the information better.
- Check if you understand the text
- Summarize, reflect, paraphrase
I'll be brutally honest here, I am the type of person that does'nt store all my learnings in long-term peroids of time and forget about it in like two days or so. So, in this part, let us review what the differences are between what's a topic sentence and what's a thesis statement, and even if you remind me about what a thesis statement is like three times a week, the best chances are I would forget the meaning and move on.
So, discussion time! So, topic sentence, this is the main idea or the central point of a paragraph. It supports, explains, or to elaborate on the given topic with details examples and evidences. Meanwhile a thesis statement is a concise summary of the main point or claim of an academic text. Thesis statments are basically made up of several topic sentences and it is usually located in the end of an introduction. It outlines the central argument or purpose, giving a clear guide or outline of the text, and it must be supportable and debatable. One thing for certain is that the two all share the purpose of providing clarity and direction: the thesis statement guides the reader through the entire essay, while topic sentences help organize and develop the argument paragraph by paragraph. Together, they ensure coherence and logical flow in writing.
Every person has a reason to read. People read because they develop a broad background, anticipate and predict, create motivation and interest, widen their vocabulary, find pleasure and enjoyment, and copy and paste the slide that explains "why do we read" and intepret it in this brief explanation. Basically, reading is detrimental to us as it serves a lot of purposes.
*Pleasure Reading
*Functional Reading
*Remedial Reading
They are all self-explanatory subjects, but just to give the gist of it, pleasure reading is where you read for entertainment and enjoyment; functional reading is used for understanding practical information, such as reading signs, menus, instructions, and labels; and remedial reading is used for correcting poor teaching and learning.
Basic reading skills are different ways to help you on reading texts. Simple as that.
*Skimming
*Locate the main idea
*Previewing
*Literal Reading
*Close Reading
*Inferential Reading
Skimming is a skill that basically aims to get the main idea and overview of a text by reading through it quickly. It is a type of rapid reading and sometimes requires you to use your finger as a guide to glide to the words. It mainly focuses on the first and last sentences and paragraphs.
Locating the main idea involves the identification of the central message. The main idea is usually found in the end of an introduction and usually has supporting details.
Scanning is another type of rapid reading. It is a skill where, during reading, the reader finds a specific information and avoids extras.
Literal reading is already self-explanatory. You basically read all of the given material and understand the ideas and facts of the contents of the given text. You are only understanding in the given material and only in that material. And during reading, you can take notes, summarize, and paraphrase your ideas.
Close reading is in the post-reading stage, where you are to dig deeper far beyond the text given.
Inferential reading is where you make assumptions about an open-ended story. You make your own conclusions, or endings.
It is where the reader annotates or condenses a paragraph into bite-sized pieces to be read. Usually, you condense 15-70% of the text.
Back when I was in grade ten, I have just learned that summarizing and paraphrasing was two different things altogether which, quite frankly, startled me. All those years of thinking they are just the same things, made me think about all of those grade 9 Paraphrasing I made basically summarizing them via bulletpoints. So, let us not confuse the two of them and learn what the two differences is.
So, summarizing, it is the act of restating the main ideas of a text in your own words, in a shorter, more concise form. Meanwhile Paraphrasing estating someone else's ideas or information in your own words. See the differences now? Summarizing requires you to make a paragraph or sentence simpler, while paraphrasing is where you remake the whole sentence, and depending on how long or short your sentence is, it must atleast have the same intended meaning.
Since we have the privilege to have freedom of speech to express our opinions on our reflection. Let’s just say that the first meeting was very tense. I heard rumors from sources I won’t disclose that you, sir, were somewhat of a strict teacher, something like that. First day and already, we were bombarded with a lot of questions about the topic, where, we are somewhat forced to recite. It was quite a scare since this is quite an unusual teaching style since every topic that is discussed a minuite ago; if you are chosen to recite, you'll have to find your words, impromptu style. I sometimes ask questions like “What if I got it wrong?” since the aura you're emitting is quite heavy, It made me quite hella anxious.
The lesson I learned on the class is that if you don’t listen and doze off, you’re pretty much screwed and have nothing to answer on the question (unless you have good long-term memory on your previous lessons) no one’s going to help you.
Another Thing that I have learned is that to STUDY. Since, in the first ever test, I already had, admittedly, quite a low score in my books. Didn't completely study since I think it was quite a simple test. But yeah, in the end, I had a mind block and basically, only know some of the things I learned.
These are just some of the images that were taken on that week. It was quite a short week since we only had like 3 meetings. To be honest, I was releived to not participate on some of the classes and be chosen to recite because it was scary as hell
Starting off on this lesson, Compositions; they can either be a paragraph (A group of inerrelated sentence that mainly talks on one idea) or an Essay (A group of paragraphs that make up one central idea).
This is the first sentence of the paragraph and introduces the main idea or point. It sets the tone and direction for the rest of the paragraph, giving the reader a clear idea of what to expect.
These sentences follow the topic sentence and provide evidence, examples, explanations, or details to support the main idea. They expand on the topic sentence, making the argument or idea more convincing and clear. This is the "body" of the paragraph, where the bulk of the information is presented.
This sentence wraps up the paragraph by summarizing the main point or providing a transition to the next paragraph. It reinforces the idea presented in the topic sentence and ensures the paragraph feels complete. A good concluding sentence can also link to the next paragraph if the writing is part of a larger piece.
And too add, we have something called, cohesive devices. Cohesive devices are basically transitional devices, pronouns, or repitition of ideas that used to connect ideas within a paragraph (or between paragraphs) and ensure the text flows smoothly. They help establish logical relationships between sentences and ideas, making the writing more coherent and easier to follow.
I.Introduction
A. Lead or Attention-getter
B. Transitional Statement
C. Thesis Statement
Il. Body
A. Major Point 1
1.Minor Detail
2. Minor Detail 2
B. Major Point 2
1. Minor Detail 1
2. Minor Detail 2
C. Major Point 3
1. Minor Detail 1
2. Minor Detail 2
III. Conclusion
A. Restatement of thesis statement
B. Transitional statement/reiteration of
purpose, benefit, and recommendation
C. Closing statement
Introduction
This is the first paragraph of your essay. It introduces the topic, grabs the reader's attention, and provides a thesis statement (the main idea or argument of your essay).
Transitional Paragraph
These are short paragraphs or sentences that connect different ideas or sections of your essay. They help the writing flow smoothly and guide the reader from one point to the next.
Body
This is the main part of your essay. It consists of several paragraphs that explain, support, or argue your thesis. Each paragraph focuses on one main idea or piece of evidence.
Conclusion
This is the last paragraph of your essay. It summarizes the main points, restates the thesis in a new way, and leaves the reader with a final thought or impression.
Back then, I would be unstoppable at making essays, but nowadays, it’s like my creativity for essays has stagnated, or even dwindled ever since the introduction of AI. I reflected on that day when there was an activity that I was so reliant on AI—prompting, asking, and getting ideas from AI—that my mind was basically enslaved by it... So, I just took a leap of faith; I didn’t use AI for essays after that. I did research and wrote the essay... And it even surprised me that I did all of that without relying on prompts and stuck to Google searches and such. It was quite freeing. Even though I’ll admit I crammed it in 2 hours, I still managed to finish it just in time. The hardest part for me in this subject was actually making an outline. Like, seriously, it took me half a day to think of a damn good outline, so I basically bit the bullet on that one and wrote the essay first and the outline last.
This also made me reflect on how easy the lessons being taught actually are. But I’ll admit it, there were times when I’d just nod at you, sir, like I was listening, when in fact, my mind was pretty occupied with plans after going home (Seriously, afternoon classes are tiring). But then again, I relearned quite a lot about certain topics, like how to make an essay and paragraphs, and of course, who could forget the thesis statement? I always forgot how to make one (is it just me? I really need to get my memory checked...). But these days, I’ve come to understand how to make one now, since I don’t want to embarrass myself.
I think this was the time that it was announced that we are making a portfolio and an essay about the Scientific Apparatuses. The reason I crammed my essay because we skipped? Well, not technically skip classes since that Friday, school was suspended. We made our way to Iloilo City to have some fun instead of doing the Essay in school that afternoon.(Fun first, stress later)
Claims are statements about debatable issues that involve both supporting and opposing viewpoints. To effectively categorize the argument's purpose, it is important to understand the topic thoroughly and have expertise in the subject.
*Claim of fact
*Claim of Value
*Claim of Policy
- Asserts that something is true, either in the past, present, or future.
- It may not state an exact fact but can be supported by evidence or studies.
Past: Claiming something happened because of someone or something (e.g., "The invention of the internet revolutionized communication in the 20th century").
Present: Asserting something is true right now (e.g., "Climate change is causing more frequent natural disasters").
Future: Predicting something will happen (e.g., "Renewable energy will dominate global power sources by 2050").
- Involves personal judgments, biases, or preferences about what is good or bad, right or wrong.
- Reflects subjective opinions rather than objective facts.
Examples:
"Classical music is more sophisticated than modern pop music."
"Social media has a negative impact on mental health."
Suggests what should or should not be done, proposing a specific action or change.
Often uses words like should, should not, must, must not.
Examples:
"Governments should invest more in public transportation to reduce traffic congestion."
"Schools must not allow the use of smartphones during class hours."
Quite an easy topic, but confusing when there’s a test about it, ugh! So infuriating. When you think it’s a claim of value, it’s actually a FACT; and when you think it’s a fact, it’s actually a claim of VALUE. Like, what the hell, man? This was also the time when we had to write an essay about—I don’t know—natural resources? And we had to include a claim of fact, policy, and value. At that time, since you, sir, wouldn’t come back to class, the others decided to go home, while my friend and I decided to stay at the Payag. While working on our essays there, we were actually quite surprised to find out that you came back... Oh god, this is going to be bad, I thought to myself... imagining what would happen if we didn’t go back... We decided to return to the room and expected the worst... But... nothing happened, just pure silence... And we were only allowed to leave if we showed our essay. At that time, writing my essay was hard since there was basically no internet. So, since I just wanted to get out of there to finish this essay, I stood up, walked to you, and handed in my incomplete essay, which you pointed out... “What’s the thesis statement in this essay...?” It dawned on me... What the hell is a thesis statement again? I stood there silently... And then... you just let me go, only pointing out that mistake... God, I just wanted to be out of there. Well, lesson learned: learn what you’re taught, and probably follow the instructions next time before deciding where to go afterward.
It's quite disappointing that we didn't take a picture at the Payag; we we're quite locked into our essays. You, sir, even gave me a short explanation on how to find sources and such in there; but since with my very bad listening skills, I just nod, pretended, as per usual, like I understood everything, out of respect (God, sometimes, I really need to increase my comprehension of things). But yeah, we were tasked to do another essay activity about how we can conserve our natural resources. When we were lectured about Claims, It was quite funn because Sir Pradas has a sore throat. That's how you cheer a team; but in all seriousness, just the sheer dedication to teach us even with the expense of your sore throat intrigued me greatly because I was expecting that you would atleast take a break or something.'
Context refers to the circumstances, background, or setting in which something exists or occurs. It provides the necessary information to fully understand or interpret a situation, statement, or piece of work.
Linear text refers to traditional written content that is designed to be read in a specific, sequential order from the beginning to the end. The author determines the structure and flow, guiding the reader through the material in a predetermined path. This type of text is commonly found in printed materials like books, articles, and documents, where the information is presented in a straightforward, linear fashion.
Intertext refers to the relationship or connection between different texts, where one text references, influences, or is influenced by another. It highlights how texts are not isolated but are part of a larger network of meanings, drawing on and contributing to a shared cultural and literary context. This concept emphasizes the interconnectedness of written works and the ways in which they inform and enrich each other.
Hypertext is a digital text system that allows non-linear navigation by linking pieces of text or media through clickable references (hyperlinks). Unlike traditional linear text, hypertext enables users to jump between related content, creating a web of interconnected, semantic networks. It is the foundation of the modern internet and web browsing.
To reflect on all my lessons, I have learned and relearned the most important concepts of languages: reading and writing. In the lessons, I have learned key concepts of reading, skills, and paved the way to improve and encourage reading for us, students, as it is quite a detrimental subject for your future endeavors to have the skills of reading. I've also learned how to create an essay and a paragraph (again), knowing that I was taught by our previous EAPP teacher, who discussed it. And most of the things that were taught to us were all fallback lessons from the previous gradings or last semester, like contexts and claims.
Also, I have to add a mindset of "Never judge a book by its cover," because from the start of the class, I thought that this would just be another class where there would be a strict teacher who would come and haunt me again. But no, we first need to understand why they are doing this in the first place. Why are they being strict? It's not because they hate their students, no. From my understanding, teachers are all just trying to help us achieve our goals and, basically, aim higher and higher. It made me quite calm now going to your class since, if you just learn and push yourself more and more, you'll be all fine. I don't know if you are a strict or compassionate teacher, Sir Pradas, but it is a breath of fresh air to have an interesting class sometimes where you have the fear to learn. No hate, just respect on my part.
And I guess, that wraps it up. This is probably the most fun I have making a portfolio since I get to experience managing a website. I still don't understand why we have to print it though. It is an E-portfolio for crying out loud! But all jokes aside, That's the rules I guess and I have to abide by it.
"So I like how you made yours look like a digital textbook. Organization is commendable because it is easy for me to read. The design of your portfolio also suits well with your personality. In your reflections, I can see that you were able to learn what was taught to us. I also like how you narrate your reflection and honestly sharing your perspective and experiences about our lesson. Lastly, the effort you put in making this portfolio is just amazing."