Malik Snyder-McGee                                            English

Date: 6/15/15                                                                    Period 4

Final Exam

Context & Reflection       

The writing assignment I chose to fix was a Slice of Life which is when I checked my bracket for the NCAA Basketball Tournament, the results from the bracket and how I felt about it.The assignment is called, “My Destroyed Bracket” which in my original piece I didn’t have many details, also I just told the reader what was happening other than doing the story in a third person point of view.

I chose the piece of writing because I felt like I should do a reflected slice of life about sports and this was the only one I had. I also wanted to revise this because tons of people where talking about how their own bracket was ruined too. I want to show off my editing skills and how I have gotten better in explaining, giving greater details as well as my improved ability of writing in third person.

The Piece:

My Destroyed Bracket

One night I check my bracket on the ESPN App, I can’t wait to see how my favorite team is doing, I am so anxious and the internet is very slow. But no need for being anxious because when it finally loads I see the terror of my bracket getting ripped into shreds. All the teams I voted that were going to win ended up losing. I am very angry hearing that the night before Kentucky beats West Virginia, 78 to 39. I was angry because I was really confident that they could beat Kentucky so it would be much easier for Duke to win the Championship game. Duke winning the championship game was what I wanted most of all. West Virginia reminded me of the Yankees or the Union in the Civil War becuase they said so many things about the confederates and how they are going to win, but  they lost. Literally the same thing happened with West Virginia. I scroll down the list of my bracket and here I find another loss where North Carolina loses to Wisconsin by 7 points. After hearing these two losses  I pray that there will not be anymore wrong choices in my bracket. It is 8:30pm, 30 minutes before I got to bed I am scrolling anxiously when I realize that one of the teams I wanted to win, won and moved on to the next game. It was Witchita, they beat Kansas which was really surprising because Witchita is in 7th place in the conference and Kansas is 2nd place in the conference. I wasn’t angry or mad anymore knowing now I have a team that could advance to next place in the tournament, I said “ all I can do now is to hope my favorite team, Duke wins”. After a long 30 minutes of looking at my bracket I hop into bed thinking about the next game and wondering what will happen.

About the Author

My name is Malik Snyder-McGee and I am currently completing 7th grade at Dewitt Middle School. Member of the National Junior Honor Society I pride myself on consistently working hard whether it be at school or in sports. I have always enjoyed school and many times my classes will come easily to me; however I have always struggled with English. Although I may do well with grades getting into deep details is something that has been hard. Last year I would write how I talk which tends to be direct and to the point. This year I have worked hard at giving details so that the person that is reading can imagine the story in their mind. I look forward to continuing to grow as an all around student.