I have learned so many things in this class; it has really challenged me and my writing skills. The last essay was extremely challenging for me, I struggled with it quite a bit and I hope I did well! This is my last required English class but it will be helpful to me in the future because I plan on minoring in psychology so I will be writing quite a few papers. I also think that this class has helped in my critical thinking skills, this will be important because in life you really do have to use critical thinking every day.
I have really enjoyed the readings in this class. I have learned a lot from them, even if it hasn’t shown through as well as I had hoped in my writing! I honestly did not know that much about the Vietnam War because of its unpopularity in our country it is hardly mentioned and I didn’t make it that far in history class, so it has really given me a new look at that time in our history. The play by Sean Huze was very eye opening. I have lots of friends who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan in all branches of military. The friends I have that served in the marines have come back different people and they do not want to talk to anyone about anything that happened over there so it was material that was very close to me. I plan on working for the Veterans Administration after college and these readings have really given me a new understanding about what our veterans have gone through and I know this will help me in the future.
I think I have achieved the learning outcomes that are listed in the syllabus only time will tell. I do think that I have improved my analytical skills through out the semester. I know that it has changed the way I write and the way I read. I am looking for things that I never used to pay attention to. It has developed those skills a lot for me. Honestly the biggest challenge that I have faced in this class so far is the last essay. I wrote it over and over and over again and I still hated my paper. I couldn’t get it to where I wanted it to be and that really bugs me. I hate to turn in something that I don’t like. I hope that I am just being over critical of myself but only time will tell. I hope that it isn’t as bad as I think it is. With hiccups aside I have really enjoyed this class and I know that I have grown from taking it.
Hi Noel,
ReplyDeleteLike you, I have learned quite a bit from this class as well. I am very happy to hear that you are minoring in Psychology, and plan on working with the VA once your studies are complete. I had to take my Father-in-law to the VA on an almost weekly basis while he was sick, and there were some great people that were very dedicated and caring, and others that were clearly just using the VA for educational purposes. You seem like a very compassionate person, and the VA needs more people like you. It sounds as if this course will definitely be helpful in your endeavors, as well as with talking to your friends returning from war.
There is one thing that I noticed that you need to address… run on sentences. For example:
“I honestly did not know that much about the Vietnam War because of its unpopularity in our country it is hardly mentioned and I didn’t make it that far in history class, so it has really given me a new look at that time in our history.”
You could change to (and expand upon by answering this thought):
“I honestly did not know that much about the Vietnam War. Because of its unpopularity in our country, it is hardly mentioned. (By whom? Society in general?) I also didn’t make it that far in history class, so it has really given me a new look at that time in our history.”
The rest of that paragraph has similar comma issues. You may want to go back and review the comma refresher that Laura Cline has posted for week seven (7).
I too had a really hard time with this last essay. For some reason it seemed harder to analyze the book and the play than it did the poems. I hope you end up with a paper you are proud of. It’s good that it bugs you; it shows that you care, and that it’s important to you. For those of us who tend to be perfectionists, we can be our own worst critics. You seem to be good at putting your thoughts on paper; you just need to work on a few little things mentioned above. I hope the hiccups have passed. Great post!
Shellie H.
P.S. You may want to re-think the font choice for the comments you receive on this blog. This font is really small, smushed together, and hard to read. Just FYI.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Shellie H.
I totally agree with you about the last essay. I'm not very happy that it was chosen to be the portfolio essay! It was a challenge to write and incorporate the secondary sources when I didn't feel it needed that many. I know this was supposed to be a challenge to push us to become better writers, but I don't think my grade stands a chance. Good luck on yours :)
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