Reflective Essay: The Shadow Hero

If exceptional grades and numerous excellence awards are to indicate anything, I have succeeded academically thus far. However, such achievements are only possible because of my work ethic and determination. I pride myself on submitting my best work, pitting myself against my past performances. I remember my tenth grade English class; I was writing essays every week. I took every critique from my teacher and considered it for the next piece. Experience I gained from that class carried over into eleventh grade, where I achieved the highest English grade I have ever made. Even now, I look back at my older essays to help me write, so I know what works and what to avoid. Perseverance through school and desire to improve have carried me well, even through activities outside of my education.

Immigration has been a controversial issue in America throughout history. Immigrants were seen as people who took jobs from Americans,and to top it off didn’t appreciate American culture. Foreigners through the decades have had difficult times fitting in with American society and are often met with hostility around the country. Going into the interview with my Chinese teacher, I believed I would hear a story along the lines of this, shedding the light on the ignorance in America, but I received the complete opposite. This interview opened my eyes to a different perspectives of the immigrant experience, and that all aren’t necessarily negative.

Shadow Jumper by J.M. Forster is a nonfiction novel about a young boy named Jack who struggles to live a normal teenage-life, but can't due to his illness. Jack’s disease prevents him from being able to go in the sunlight. Jack’s inability to go into the sunlight prevents him from being a normal boy; playing outside and developing friendships like other kids his age. Early in the book, Jack’s dad leaves him and his mom which causes Jack’s illness to get worse. In order to get his mind off of his miserable life jack entertains himself by shadow jumping. Shadow Jumper is about Jack’s adventures as he tries to escape his loneliness from his illness and the loss of his dad.

Near the end of the 19th century, the United States went through a transformative period marked by the pursuit of “Manifest Destiny,” characterized by the United States ambition to become a global power. Not only with means of territorial expansion, but also to put themselves as the “saviors” of oppressed groups that searched for “enlightenment.” However, the truth was no more distant than what the United States promised. During this time, different voices were raised to challenge the idealized narrative of American pursuit of expansionism, unrevealing the dark reality of American expansionism. In document 1 “Tragedy of wounded knee” (1890), Red Cloud’s speech provides a critique of the treatment received by the US government toward the Native

they had it. They have nobody but themselves which leads to nothing but evil. Isabelle-Marie

I began writing with basic vocabulary and barely any sentence variety. As the year progressed, I learned to advance my vocabulary and word choice in addition to incorporating a diversity of sentence structure. Nearing the end of the school year, I acknowledge that I have grown and learned more about writing. I anticipate that I will receive even more arduous writing assignments that require more research and time. Although it will be challenging, I feel confident that I will do well because I feel well prepared from all I’ve done this year. As I grow older, I will have to continue to write. I know I can take the knowledge I’ve learned this year and apply it to future papers for years to

Being human, there are days where I give in and do not try as much as I should, but overall, I give school my all. My commitment to doing well in school is evident in my grades, alike to how the ability to be a hard worker is seen through both my involvement in theater and devotion to God. I refuse to blow off assignments and tend to spend as much time on each one as I require, which may need to be adjusted as school increases in difficulty, but nonetheless represents the willingness to work hard and contribute. This school year, I chose to do the Personal Project and decided to write a novelette. Writing has always been a passion of mine but I soon discovered the amount of work and time put into the largest amount of writing I have ever done. I completed the project on time because I was able to discipline myself to work, and for that I am proud. Particularly, my life at school represents the amount of work I contribute to that of which I am passionate and would be able to contribute to OIAIS’s

There comes a time in life where we see an impossible obstacle, and do the best that we can to overcome it. For me, this was my AP English Language class in high school during senior year. The time was now, summer is nearly over. I analyzed my strengths and weaknesses, giving a full re-evaluation of myself. In the end, I consider myself an average writer. There have been times in the past when I’ve written letters or personal stories. However, those have never been my strongest set of skills. While I have been serious with my writing, I never recognized the unbelievable advantages that good writing has. Therefore, I’ve made it my goal to improve my literal skills and become a great writer. Maybe this new class will assist me in becoming that

Everyone on the planet has a goal set in life, but only a handful attempt to improve to obtain their goal by studying the subject their goal is in. In my English class, English 101 this quarter I was astonished by how much I had progressed as a writer sharpening my writing skills and also learned a lot about writing that I hadn’t learned before. In my writing portfolio for this quarter I had to write an autobiography essay, a research essay, and this reflection essay to develop my writing skills better. The writing assignments were fun to do because it challenged me to work on essays of different styles that were new to me. The essay assignments helped me grow as a better writer that gave me the self-confidence and skills to take on the world on my own.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground (1864/2008) comes across as a diary penned by a self-described “spiteful” and “unattractive” anonymous narrator (p. 7). The narrator’s own self-loathing characterized by self-alienation is so obvious, that he is often referred to by critics as the Underground Man (Frank 1961, p. 1). Yet this Underground Man is the central character of Dostoyevsky’s novel and represents a subversion of the typical courageous hero. In this regard, the Underground man is an anti-hero, since as a protagonist he not only challenges the typical literary version of a hero, but also challenges conventional thinking (Brombert 1999, p. 1).

How much money does a typical college student spend, borrow, or take out in loans? How does a class that would help student manage their money better sound? Say a personal finance class, or money management class? In order for college student to thrive in the world and economy we live in today, they must know how to manage their money and expenses. Personal Finance classes should be required for all college students to take to help them learn to balance checkbooks, help them better manage spending and budgeting, how to open a savings account, and also how to get and pay off student loans.

Now that I have completed the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth course Crafting the Essay, I feel I have tremendously grown as a writer. Even after submitting the first assignment, I looked back at a position paper I wrote for school that I received an A+ on, yet I saw several flaws I wished I had changed.

What is heroism? Things preformed Superman, Batman, or The Flash? This is what most people think about when they hear the word hero or heroism. Although these characters show heroism, the definition of heroism does not have to be narrowed to the stereotypical hero. Many people have different concepts on heroism. A hero can be a ordinary person like a firefighter or cop. Heroism is a attribute that a person can obtain but they have to choose actions that help others like a fearless firefighter or cop helping others. Heroism also does not call for a reward for being heroic. Heroism is a quality or an act in all of us that a person uses to benefit for the good of other people even if there is a risk.

As the year draws to a close, I reflect on what I have accomplished in my first semester of college. Not only have I grown as a writer but also as a person. This year was full of changes but I am glad that I remained steadfast in my beliefs and skills. While I learned things about myself in this course I also gained important writing and research skills.

What is a hero? In my view a hero is someone that you admire. You may