Dear Incoming AP English Literature Student, It’s been a long journey for me, but it must end with the cycle beginning anew with you. Throughout this course, the most difficult challenges were dealing with presentation nerves and writing numerous thoughtful essays past midnight. Yet it always felt so rewarding afterward. The applause that came with presenting and feeling as if I wrote something special felt satisfying. Although, I would not recommend procrastinating, because of the abundance of homework. Also, Ms. Goodrum seems to have designed this course around preparing us for the future, not only academically, but to discover who we are as a person as we turn to adults. The books we read such as Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Hamlet, Beloved, all follow the growth of a character and deals with the theme of independence. In addition, it becomes more apparent at the end when we watched The Dead Poet’s Society and did Show and Tell. Originally, my plans for the future were focused on simply going to college and getting a job, but the course gave me a new perspective on pursuing …show more content…
We had less than a week to boot camp for the exam, whereas for my other AP classes we spent nearly a month on preparing. I knew we were preparing for the exam slowly throughout the course by reading and writing papers, but for some reason, I hadn’t felt as if I was prepared enough. After taking several multiple-choice practice exams in class and at home, my score was barely improving. Even though I studied the vocabulary of the test a few days before, I wish we would have learned in it in class because I didn’t understand some of the contexts behind the vocabulary words and how they would be used. In addition, a mock exam was planned but never happened, which would have been very useful because the time constraints are very strict on the test. As for the real exam, I’m not confident in my performance, and I am hoping for a
In fact, I began this semester with plans to accomplish skills that would eventually bring me to an understanding of what a great writer is. During the summer I attended an English mini course which proved to be just a quick version of some high school rules on writing, that did not require much thinking or writing tasks, but it did provide an understanding of what was going to be expected in colle...
Throughout my high school years the course that made the largest and longest lasting impression on me was Honors British Literature. Not only did the course impact me, but the teacher, Mrs. Cohen, was a tremendous inspiration to me. Throughout the course I was encouraged to express and exercise creativity while also recognizing when to stay professional and use academic language. My confidence in my writing and general abilities improved immensely. Mrs.Cohen would sit with us and casually chat with us when finished with our work and share her experiences and let us voice our concerns while giving advice.
In this semester, I had to take the English 1301 course. However, I did not see myself liking this course and did not have the best attitude towards it. This course changed my overall experience with writing. In the course I gained so much knowledge that I did not see myself learning. This essay will help analyze my experience throughout the entire journey. It will help understand how I became the writer I am today. Over the last several weeks, I have grown into a great writer that I did not see myself as.
During my first semester of college, I felt like this course overshadowed all the others. I faced many challenges, gained better habits, and even increased the value of myself as a scholar. Not only did my professor provide her students with the course material she built a confidence inside of us that will allow us to be able to tackle any task, especially pertaining to any written compositions. The things that I have learned from this course could and will be applied to any and everything I do from here on out, whether that writing an essay or even taking a test. Again, the journey was long, but I will be forever grateful for the things that I, and all of my peers have gained from this
One thing that I learned from this course is to follow directions. In the first assignment, we were told to write a personal story of what shaped you as a whole. At first, I had a difficult time thinking of a topic to write about, but after viewing other students’ essays, I finally understand what the professor was asking for, and I came up with an idea of writing how I got my cats and wanted to become a veterinarian. Writing this type of essay was difficult because I am not good at expressing myself. Therefore, I always did a bad job in describing my feelings, my thoughts, and etc. Since English is my second language, I know I have a lot of mistakes with my writing. Thus, I went to the Writing Center to ask for professional help. The tutors are very nice and willing to give you academic advices. After going to the writing center, the essay turned out to be my favorite essay that I have even written. However, the assignment was not asking to tell the story, the main theme is to write what shaped you as a whole. As a result, I got a poor grade and realized that this college level course was not the same as a high school writing course. In high school, I was only satisfied in completing the essay and receiving an A. What really ...
For my Final Reflection Essay I attempted to focus on the most obvious adjustments I made from writing high school papers to producing college level essays. This approach compelled me to examine a few of the papers I submitted in high school and look back on the steps I took to write them. By reviewing my previous work I realized that during Dr. Kennedys English 111 class I have effectively learned how to apply an outline, utilize research, and incorporate that research into my final paper. English 111 has helped me to understand the importance of the multiple steps of writing a great college level essay by forcing me to complete each step individually. My overall performance in this class has been above average and I have really demonstrated dedication to improvement.
English 102 taught me a variety of important lessons. In one aspect, I learned how to work better with others. Similarly, the literary research paper deepened my understanding of other cultures. Lastly, my writing abilities have improved. The assignments and projects were an effective means of providing learning and growth.
As the semester finally approaches the finish line, I revisit my past work to compare and contrast how this class has developed me into a successful writer at the college level. Throughout the year my writing style has developed and become broader as I have learned how to incorporate more of my personal views as well as reliable, unbiased information. This portfolio is a representation of how many things I have learned along the way while being an English 102 student.
My Growth as a Writer Most of us write in some form every day, so you would expect that most of us would be well practiced and pretty good at writing. I read and write all the time; I have taken several college courses and nearly all of them require writing in some form. However, before taking this class, not only was I not a good writer, I knew I wasn’t a good writer. Now I am not saying that I am ready to write my first novel, but I am certainly more confident in turning in my college papers. The content of this course and the style of teaching was incredibly beneficial to me.
I was taking AP World History, my first AP class. Keeping up my grades in the class was one of my biggest concerns, but surprisingly, it turned out to be a relatively laid-back class without much homework. Throughout the year, the class was mainly notes and document analysis. The only difficult part of the class was the tests. They were long and arduous with several vague questions based on specific parts of the curriculum that we had only gone over lightly. The course became more vigorous as the exam date drew closer; we began writing more essays, the tests we took grew longer, there were after school study sessions, and even a mock
Salman Rushdie once said, “Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in human society and in the human spirit, where I hope to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination and of the heart”. Throughout the years, people all over the world have learned to express themselves through literature. Literature played a key role throughout history and still has a major impact on us today. There are many different types of literature as there are people writing it. Authors all over the world have created devices to find the most efficient way to write literature. These devices influence and emphasize the meaning of the literature to the readers and give insight into these cultures. For example,
I have grown as a student in the area of academic skills. American Literature is a very difficult class, especially with Mrs. Mohr. This class is no joke, reading points matter, there is a lot of essays, and Mrs. Mohr expects a lot from you. I am a junior I have one more year of high school and then I will be headed to college. Honestly I am so scared because all my life I have grown and relied with Vaughn but in 1 year everything will be different,
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is one of my favorite poems for many reasons, but recently it has started to gain new meaning as I face graduation. I have started to wonder how different my life would be if I had only chosen to travel down one road instead of sprinting down both roads at the same time. When I declared my biology major, my dad expressed concern that I was choosing one possible life and career over another possibility. He said he knew how happy writing made me and he wondered if I was doing the right thing in not pursuing that. He spoke the words I had not yet spoken out loud for myself. “You shouldn’t enter college worried about what you will do when you exit,” said David Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group, at a World Economic Forum panel discussion last week on the state of the humanities. Rubenstein’s words are true now and they were true then: I should not have worried about choosing so soon. After I arrived at Columbia College, I began taking English courses because I could not take biology courses without at least trying to explore my passion for literature and creative writing. Thanks to time at Columbia College, I started to see the value the required courses of the WPDM major more because of what they taught me about myself than what they taught me about the subject matter. Combined with my classes, my internship experiences have confirmed that I am indeed heading in the right direction. I could not become a successful writer and biologist without the valuable set of skills that I have gained through my time at Columbia College. I believe I made the right choice by choosing both roads.
This February, I had the opportunity to chair a Valentine’s cards service project for the nursing home residents in my community. The main purpose behind this was to spread love to those who may need it. While I was in my Medical Assisting program at school, I was able to do my externship at an Internal Medicine office and work with a lot of elderly patients. Many of them garnered so much joy by just being greeted politely and acknowledged, even during a doctor’s visit. With two other members of National Honor Society, we were able to deliver the cards directly to residents during their entertainment. It gave me such a feeling of joy to be able to do something so simple, to bring happiness and love into someone else’s life.
My parents arrived in the United States hoping for a better future not for themselves, but for the baby they carried in their arms. We would often move from relatives ' houses since my parents couldn’t afford renting an apartment themselves. We were fortunate enough to have caring relatives who didn 't mind us living with them since they knew the hardships we were going through. I grew up in a household where only Spanish was spoken given that both my parents didn’t speak any English at all. When I was in kindergarten, my teacher was afraid that I would be behind the rest of my classmates, given that I only spoke Spanish fluently. I was fortunate to receive free tutoring from my kindergarten teacher. We would often read books together until