Heather Baskins
Cline
English 102
October 19, 2011
Ms. Cline,
Consider this my mid-term check in letter. It’s been an interesting ride so far. I have so far been able to complete all of my Yavapai College education online and been happy with the results and the quality of education I am receiving.
This class has proven to be a challenge for me in a couple of different areas. First, reading poetry. Poetry has never been one of my favorite types of reading but I believe you have to experience new things in order to learn. It was a challenge to look at the poetry and try to decipher the real meaning without doing any research on the author, the subject or the time period. It took me out of my comfort zone and I had to depend upon my own imagination and ideas. It’s been difficult but I am beginning to enjoy it.
The second challenge was Frankenstein. I’ll admit- I am not the biggest fan of that book. It was hard to get into and then I just felt it was difficult to read at times. Call me too realistic I guess, but I didn’t fall for the dramatic, timeless appeal of it all. But, that’s what makes people different. I got through the reading and actually enjoyed the summaries at the end of the book and reading what others thought and were able to critique in it.
Literary analysis is a different form of writing than I have done to date at Yavapai College. I’m finding I have a thought to write but then figuring out how to make it all make sense with sources is what I spend the most time getting out and straight on paper for people to understand.
My goals for the second half of the semester are to continue with the blog posting, reading more of a variety of my class-mates posts and comments, and really figuring out how to make my Final Project make sense without too much summary.
It’s going to be an interesting remainder of the semester, but I am up for the challenge! Thanks for the feedback each week.
Sincerely,
Heather Baskins
Dear Heather,
ReplyDeleteI really liked you letter to the teacher and appreciated you being honest about your feelings with the class and the book. I can relate when you spoke about Frankenstein being a difficult book to get into and read at some points. I felt like her writing style was beautiful but took a few times to re-read to finally understand the point she was trying to convey. You spoke about how reading poetry "took you out of your comfort zone" and i can understand how it could do that. If you are the type of person to read novels reading poetry is a big change. Trying to understand the flow and tone of the poem is always the one thing that is hard for me to personally get into. Reading is like a dance and there are many different styles. Good job!
I also enjoyed your letter. Actually, I have enjoyed all of your writings that I have read. You have a very smooth style. You articulate your thoughts very well and it all seems to flow. I have felt the same about Frankenstein. I did enjoy reading it but, it had those moments where I just skimmed it trying to get to an interesting part. I enjoyed the analytical reading about it too.
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