Mid Semester Check In

Instructor Cline,

            This semester in English has been an interesting and somewhat challenging one for me. Literary analysis is not new to me, but I have wrestled with the assignments because I am not used to having to connect in a personal way to literature that speaks basely about the emotions that most people strive hard to conceal and ignore. It is hard to write about a piece of literature like that and not be challenged personally by what it has to say, whether the feeling invokes something good or bad in you. It requires you to look at yourself and often times it invokes questions of yourself such as “why did I react that way?” or “why do I feel so drawn to this character’s plight?”

            In light of this, I will strive to improve my writing in a way that addresses the issues brought up within the literature in a more personal light rather than analyze it in a purely detached and apathetic light. I have learned also that though it is difficult to express the emotional response that one experiences without using “I” the paper flows better and seems more professional if you avoid the use of “I” or “you” and simply explain the emotional response as one outcome that could result from the reading of the particular piece of literature. This way you do not alienate the reader and you also don’t directly bring to the reader’s attention that this experience is a reaction of the author, who may look at it in a certain way due to his/her own personal biases.

            Therefore, I hope that my papers will steadily improve in these areas and be worthy on an A. I like to think that I am capable of writing good papers and so I will definitely work hard to keep that. I hope that you have enjoyed my papers as well and that the change in my papers will be apparent to you as well.

Sincerely,

Julie Holmes