I Was A Little Nervous

I have truly enjoyed writing for most of my life and after this class I will continue to enjoy writing hopefully with more skill. I have always viewed myself as a fairly strong writer and this class has reaffirmed that for me, but it has also shown weaknesses in my writing. As an introduction level class this has been one of my favorites; at some point I will take a higher level, even though it is not required for my major. Even though this class is almost over I am continuing to learn. I also love that this class will help me with literally ever other class in my college career. I am not a particularly strong reader, but as my writing skills improve so do the reading skills. While in this class I have learned a lot about everything from what I can improve, to subjects that interest me, and constructing a successful paper.

The approach to the reading of the novel would be varied. It is anticipated that the class study would begin with a shared reading of the opening chapter to foster students' interest. A prepared reading by the teacher is usually much more involving than a hesitant reading-around-the-class activity (Sykes, n.d.). The aim is to motivate each student to read the

In his piece entitled “ Disliking books” Gerald Graff, a professor of English and education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, tells his story of how with some helpful insights he shifted from disliking literature to enjoying reading and analyzing the texts. The author shares that during his early school years he developed an aversion to literature as well as most liberal arts disciplines for not being able to find their application in his daily life. Coming from a middle class family, it was expected that young Graff would go to college. Since no particular discipline really interested him and his family did not own a business to set him up on a successful business path, he decided to major

Poetry was my favorite part of AP Lit because I thoroughly enjoy creative writing even if I accidentally...forgot to join LitMag™. Learning to dissect a poem was interesting to me because it’s more than just reading and making a single

I hated the book because the language was in such a past time. For one of our projects we had to recite the famous Hamlet sioloquy “To be or not to be.” Although I’ve had a ton of positive reading expiernces lately. Three of my favorite books that I have read are The Fault in Our Stars, Divergent and The Hunger Games. The reason why I enjoyed these books is because the Authors are magnificent. John Green has inspired me to read so many more of his books. I read these fascinating books during the course of my high school career. I rather read for fun any day because when you read for fun, it can be any book you choose. On the other hand, when you read for school you can be assigned a book that isn’t particularly interesting to

During these past three weeks I have realized that college is going to be very challenging, it is not what I expected it to be like. This class has helped with my reading and writing experience and has contributed to my understanding of expectations for college and goals for my future. It has helped me with preparing and planning my work ahead of time. Dr. Sariscany has helped me with becoming a better writer and helped me prepare for college level work. She has showed me that college is not going to be easy and we should get used to it and put in all our effort and time into everything we turn in.

I entered my AP English Literature course feeling fully prepared for what was to come, since I learned so much in English during my junior year. I underestimated how much work it was actually going to entail, as I had to balance that class with 4 other AP classes, but to this day I truly believe I made the right decision by challenging myself in that way. My English teacher that year was somewhat intimidating: she completed her bachelor’s degree at the prestigious Columbia University on a full scholarship and also completed her doctorate degree in English, meaning that she was a master in studying and comprehending the literary world. I knew that I would learn a great deal of information from her, and she ended up being one of the only teachers I’ve ever had that have actually altered my negative perceptions of English

I noticed that most of them read the usual fiction books that they were accustomed to reading. There were although those few students to my surprise picked up some nonfiction books about helicopters, fish, and lions. As I was observing these students reading their books I could tell that they were interested in the topic being discussed in the book. Tony Stead says, “students get disengaged when reading informational text with unfamiliar words.” I liked.

Reading has the power to broaden my perspective, expand my mind, and take me on an adventure far away from reality. Unsurprisingly, I am very enthusiastic about reading and it has earned its title as my favorite pastime. Admittedly, before this class, I usually chose to read my favorite genre, fictional novels, and would only read nonfiction books on occasion. This was due to my illusory belief that only a work of fiction would have the power to whisk me off into another world and evoke powerful emotions. However, after the first three lessons, I was challenged to read literature from all kinds of different genres, including speeches. I was astounded by how much I enjoyed all of the different works of literature. They were able to take me on an adventure, regardless of the genre.

It had been the third day in a row that I was stuck in there with those two, watching my friends have a great time with a book shoved in my face. It just got drilled into my head that reading meant I had done something wrong. This distaste for reading continued through my life, faking my way through reading log descriptions and forging my parents’ signatures, up until about seventh grade. I was a bit angsty in middle school. I got into some trouble and veered off course a bit. Mrs. Caudill, though, saw the good in me and didn’t give up on my character. She offered new and creative ways to express ourselves, and it renewed my interest in English in a big way. I remember the first book I had read since elementary was a recommendation from her, Unwind. I fell in love with that book immediately. I actually read it a few more times later in high school. It just changed my entire perception of reading. Instead of using it as an escape from my life, I used it as an example of how my life could be worse. I think that’s why I enjoy the horror

Ripp points out in this article is the importance of keeping the students interested and engaged in books. For any number of reasons, such as trying to fit in or juggling priorities in general, students often completely give up on reading for enjoyment, and, as Mrs. Ripp mentions, “There is no year that we cannot lose a reader.” In essence, the point she is trying to get across is that students of any age are prone to developing a negative attitude or outlook towards reading. For some students, this might come as a result of being a struggling reader, while for others it may be as simple as not knowing how or what to read for pleasure. Where these issues are concerned, Mrs. Ripp has taken it upon herself to instill a new – or renewed – love and passion for diving into a good

My expectations for this class were that it would be easy for me and that I probably would not learn much from it. I already considered myself a strong writer, but I was required to take this class for one of my majors. However, I ended up learning more than I thought I would over the course of the semester.

Throughout the many years I’ve attended classes, I’ve always been taught to find the purpose of the writing or the theme of the literature. Much like Francine Prose,whose aptly named, I disagree with this method of thought and teaching. Breaking down complicated works of art to an easy-to-understand sentence takes away from the author’s intent.

Over the year in English, what went well for me were the short stories. Normally, when reading short stories, I don't understand the meaning behind them, but this year I was able to piece things together, and I enjoyed talking about them afterwards. What didn't go well for me is reading the Wes Moore book. When reading it, I was constantly lost and never knew what was going on or which Wes was which. Even after discussing the book in class, I could never seem to figure out what was going on, and I always dreaded having to read the book because of that.

1.      Think of your past experience with reading and fictional analysis - what do you love about reading and debating a good story - what don 't you like - how do you think this class will hone your reading and thinking skills.