Summation+(Harrison)


 * __Summation __**

The grotesquely smiling monster in the back of your mind. Of course I am talking about the ILP. All throughout the entire project, I was cursing the school, the inventor, and the ILP itself. A project taught in one lesson and then just to say, “Go.” It’s insanity! But now that this horrid thing is over with and done, I realize it wasn’t that bad. Of course that is only mind playing tricks on me, making me remember only the good parts—though there were few. But, tricks or no tricks, I believe the ILP was the most important thing of this school year. I now understand that individual work with barely any guidance was the best thing to do. I have grown, rather reluctantly and painfully, from this project and am prepared for high school. And though I wouldn’t like it, I am ready to take on the ILP again. The introduction: The start of the ILP. But how do you start the start of the ILP? I found this one of the hardest parts. I spent a long time on my introduction, erasing and deleting right after I had typed something. I did not like my first part at all, but I feel that my second was better. But overall, I do feel like I did my best on my introduction. Then came the original poem. It took me a while to finally get it, but when it was done I didn’t have that good feeling of satisfaction. Despite most telling me it was good and fine, I never really connected with my poem. The short story I really enjoyed. I found it incredibly easy, probably do to the fact I loved my main character: Mary Ann Graves. When researching, I liked reading about her and it was easy for me to weave her into my narrative. I had no problem at all, besides the thought over a title. And then…the beast of my poem analysis. When I stumbled upon “Darkness,” it was only a tiny fragment and I thought it was a perfect fit for my ILP. I was right about the latter, but what I didn’t know was the poem was a whole whopping eighty-two lines. But nonetheless, I was unable to part from the perfect fit of a poem and I kept it. The rough draft of the analysis all together took me four hours and succeeded in turning my brain to mush. And then I went back and crossed out my whole conclusion and introduction to redo, as well as many changes to the many body paragraphs. I feel like I put my best into my analysis and could not have done any better. The art analysis was fairly simple once I found out how to start the thing. I found my painting, “American Progress” by John Gast, early so I never had that hanging over my head. This was one of the little parts of the ILP I liked. It was easy for me and due to many Art Talks and teachers telling me there is a meaning for everything while I just stated the obvious rather stubbornly, I was able to analysis the painting without pulling my hair out. The compare and contrast was one of the most unenjoyable, unintriguing, head-banging-on-wall, burn-my-articles-in-the-fire part of the ILP. I found one of my articles quickly and easily. Because of this, despite was everyone had told me, I was under the false impression that finding the second article would be just as simple. I was wrong in so many ways. It took me two days to find the second one. At one point, after searching the web for one and a half hours straight, I shut down my computer and tried to fall asleep because I was so tired, but I couldn’t because my eyes were still on fire from staring at the computer screen. Once I found my article, I had no idea how to start the essay. I knew what I wanted to say, I just couldn’t put it into words. I totally bombed the intro and moved on to the body paragraphs. I didn’t even put in a conclusion at the end of the rough draft. After much editing, I finally got a decent enough intro and wrote a brisk conclusion. I read it over; hole-punched it, placed it in my binder, and hoped I would never have to see it again. The speech was child’s play, if you don’t mind me using a cliché, compared to everything else. All I needed was a draft so a draft I gave. I knew at some parts, probably most, it was horribly ugly, but I didn’t care. I would edit it later. The speech I was not worried about. And now to fully complete the infamous ILP, I have my summation. I do feel like I put all my best effort into all my ILP, besides the speech, and I am glad I did not procrastinate. And before I end this summation, the ending, I would like to say one last thing: Thank all that is holy this thing is over.