Conversation 1

Zohra Kazi

How does the author feel about her writing abilities?
The author believes in her writing and thinks it’s considered good writing. She could not believe that she had failed the part of the writing test since she does so well in class. As the texts states ” I decided to quit trying so hard. Apparently — I told myself — the people grading the tests didn’t have the slightest clue about what constituted good writing.” She knew that her writing wasn’t the problem. So even when she failed the test she proceeded to excel in her writing classes.
How does the author feel about standardized tests?
The author feels as if the people who are grading standardized tests should give some sort of feedback. “I wish I knew why I failed that test because then I might have written what was expected on the second try, maintained my enthusiasm for writing, and continued to do well.” She had to retake the test and failed multiple times because she didn’t know where she was going wrong. This had discouraged her and the authors love for writing, failing that test multiple times made writing less enjoyable.
Retell the author’s journey as a writer.
The author had loved writing since a child. She was always a smart kid and she believed in that until she failed the proficiency test in 8th grade. This had the author rethinking about her love for writing. She was in disbelief that she could have failed the test but did so well in class. The author failing the first time did not discourage her in writing. She tried even harder in her class the next semester to only fail the test again. This made the writer believe that she was not good at writing and she should stop trying so hard at something she wasn’t good at. She gave up and that had showed in her grades as well. The standardized test made her love for writing vanish.
If you were Mrs. Brown, the author’s English teacher, what would you say when the author asked: “How can I get A’s in all my English classes but fail the writing part of the proficiency test twice?”
If I was her teacher I would have told her that it was okay, everyone fails in their life once or twice. She was obviously a good student since she managed to get an A in class. She shouldn’t let the test discourage her and her love for writing.
Has there been a time in your life when you doubted your abilities as a writer or in general? Explain.
Yes, absolutely! I always doubted my writing skills and I still do. Writing is not my best subject. I struggle with grammar punctuation and tone. When reading others work I always look to see how I can improve my work as a writer. In high school I never liked to present my work because I felt as if it was never good enough as the other students. My love for school and writing went away in high school when I stopped trying so hard in school.
How do you feel about your writing abilities?
As I said in the previous question I struggle with grammar, punctuation and tone. I feel as I write to informal and that is a skill I can improve on. I also would like to increase my vocabulary as the helps excels your writing. Spelling is also not my best ability. Especially since we are always using technology so we always have auto correct helping us spell words.