Maps have become my new enemy. I know this may sound dramatic, but I really just can't seem to like them. As an artist who loves anything related to colors and drawings, you'd think a map of all things would be right up my alley, but you'd definitely be wrong. The feeling of facing your adversary is like no other- this desperate thirst to defeat them, dying to be quenched. And so it begins...
The day before the exam, we played "Squardle," but the joy it gave us upon completion was short-lived as it was replaced by the impending atmosphere of doom looming above us. I felt a pit in my stomach when I walked into the classroom the next morning. But I was prepared...or so I had thought.
I only managed to score 87%, which in reality was actually a 77% because Miss Disa added 10 points to help bump up our grades. I barely passed really, but that doesn't matter now. When I had finished taking the exam, all I could think of was that it was finally over. I could relax and I did just that.
As soon as everyone was done fighting their battles, we separated into two groups to play a game of who can make the longest word using a set amount of letters given to us. I was grouped with Leo, Julia, Naboni, and Kirani. However, round after round, it was no use for we could not win against the other team. We were always either one letter short of the longest word or it simply broke into a tie. But, better luck next time, right?
The following week we played "Conexo" (another form of "Connections") and went over our corrected exams. Each of us were assigned to go up on the board, write a mistake that we made, correct it, then explain the improvement that should've been made. I was the fifth person to go up on the board and honestly, it was a bit tricky coming up with a mistake different from the ones that had already been said. I guess we all think alike in our class. Haha!
For me, I feel that map writing is more subjective than the other IELTS maps we've written. It's not as straight-forward to me as numbers or processes because those are sure things. Meanwhile, with maps, you have to know the specific vocabulary and be knowledgeable about a lot of places- a skill I do not have. Maps are more like abstract art in the sense that it depends on the viewer's perspective. I might say that the restaurant constructed is in the far west side of the island, whereas someone else may say it's just a little left to the center of the island. And if there's a key to show distances, how exact does the grading system want it? I might say that the beach is only 200 meters from the center of the island, while the person grading my essay thinks it's 250 meters away. So, in my opinion, I think that maps are harder to write about because they all depend on the person grading them and adapting to their likes. I prefer wording it like this or I think it's better to replace the word with that or I feel that this part is not clear, etc.
Plus, our school is more science-based. I guess this explains why I took better to writing about processes back in term two since we use them all the time in our research assignments. However, I can't say the same for maps as we barely see or even use them in school.
It's just a lot harder for me to wrap my head around them. So, for the example I chose to write, I wanted something simple and sweet. Instead of "people," I should've written "tourists" and to replace "bring," it should've been "transport." Honestly, I've been trained to always paraphrase or use a synonym every time it's too close to the same word being used. It's what I've always known when writing English and the skill has been practically drilled into me, so it feels weird to keep repeating the same words every time. However, it appears to me that writing about maps wants me to do this for I keep repeating this mistake every single time.
This is going to be a hard habit for me to change and that partially explains why I dislike writing about maps. It just doesn't seem to want to click me with me and that makes me feel discouraged every time I write one. It's also very confusing, especially when it comes to using directions in sentences because they always make the sentences feel too wordy. For example, "In the northwest corner, there lies a beach south of the restaurant to the left of the spa area." Doesn't that sound confusing? And please don't get me started on the changing of the roads and movement of the plants.
In the exam, there was actually one palm tree that was removed from the entire map. However, in maps, you can't take that to mean that one palm tree was removed so you can either leave that detail out because it's not that significant or shoot your shot and say that a very small grove of them was "cleared."
Hopefully in the coming weeks I get used to this beast of an essay and conquer it in the end. My new goal is to get a 95% at least. The journey may be tough and the road to success (See what I did there?) challenging, but I shall not admit defeat to my enemy. Not yet at least. So, prepare, map essays, for you shall breathe your last breath by the mercy of my hands...literally! Mwhahahaha!
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