Dear Tarah,

Taking this class has been very beneficial for me for several reasons. Some of the reasons being it has helped me to be able to learn more about how to answer essay topics with abstract themes and how to write a better thesis statements. A major component of this class to me was writing strong and concise thesis statements. In having to do this in all my essays, I have greatly improved my ability to do so.

To be completely honest, it was pretty hard for me to write the personal essay because of how many different ways you could interpret it. I find it really easy to write research papers, but when it comes to writing a story or like we had to, choose a theme with dual meanings, I find it really hard. When it comes to writing essays for school, I like structure and a clear prompt. There were just so many different ways I could go with that ideal. I ended up choosing noise. I know it's one of those common themes throughout life, but I really feel like I made it work. And if you’ve been to my house you'd know that my house is the definition of loud noises and chaos.

    Another essay that was kind of difficult for me write was the critical essay. Although providing the in-text evidence was easy for me to write, showing how the text has helped me understand home was another thing. The analysis portion was where I stumbled. My struggle is to write concisely about my evidence that I provided. Ideas are where I thrive and struggle to write descriptively. It was hard for me to know exactly what to put in there. So instead I just used the memories that best depicted the duality I was trying to prove.

Although the personal and critical essays were difficult for me to write, I found the rhetorical analysis to be more in my element. Last year I took Ap Literature at my high school, and we’d write rhetorical analysis papers about every 2 weeks. Because of these papers, this type of essays are fairly easy for me to write. Although I did notice that I was actually quoting incorrectly, and I found the PowerPoint you presented to be very helpful. It not only helped me fix my errors but learn all the specifics on how to quote statements in the middle of a sentence and more. This not only helped me for this class, but will be a gift that keeps on giving as it will help me in all future classes as well as writing in general.

I've also learned how to write better thesis statements. For me I've always felt like my thesis statements were too weak, and to be honest for a long time I’d just rephrase the question and use that. Although because of your class I feel like I've become better phrasing my thesis statements in a way that not only informs the reader about what they are going to read, but also in a way that hooks the reader into wanting to read more.

Additionally, in this class I've also tried to participate more. Usually I'm the nervous, shy person in the back, but I tried my hardest to be more outgoing and participate in every lecture. By participating in the class more I found myself to be more involved which made me feel better prepared for tasks presented in the class. By being more prepared I was able to do my work more effectively and better in all general aspects of the class. This has given me a great example to be more involved with my classes in the future as I have seen a trend that it has helped me learn and retain more information in the class. Overall, I have learned much from the class this year and enjoyed it thoroughly. In taking this class I feel I am more prepared for other similar classes I will take in my college career or in writing in general life aspects.

Respectfully,

Ellie Woolford