Midterm Assignment

Dear Friend,

I’m writing to let you know all I have learned so far this semester in English 1102. Coming in to this semester, I was frustrated. I was supposed to be in the English 1103 class last semester but it filled up so I had to take English 1101, which meant I would also have to take English 1102. I have always done well in my English classes and felt like it was unnecessary for me to take two English classes; however, I am really starting get a lot out of the two English classes I have taken so far. I can honestly say I am learning a lot this semester and enjoying it – it isn’t just a pointless review of English 1101 at all! I guess the fact that I came in to this semester with a closed mind and the mindset that I would just get through this class and be done with English kind of started me off on the wrong foot. I had already made up my mind that I would just do what was needed to pass this class with a good grade. However, one of the first things I learned this semester is the importance of inquiring and digging deeper. I learned about how writers are in a constant conversation with one another and I began to become intrigued. Our thematic question for the semester is: what does it mean to be healthy? I figured we would write a paper on this topic and how exercise is important, but this question was opened up on a broader scale. We discussed all sorts of topics in class anywhere from yoga, to mental health, to optimism, and to organic foods. I began to wonder how there are many topics out there that can be analyzed and made broader just like the topic of being healthy. This semester I have also learned how to truly do research. Rather than just Google searching my topic, I have learned how to really dig deep in to a topic and find sources from all over. By using the school’s database and taking trips to the library (which I had never done before), I discovered a whole new world out there of interesting and reliable sources. I learned how to take a source and use the sources from that source to find new sources. I also learned how to pull out key words from one source and create a new search for sources with those words. I learned that a source can come in every form: videos, magazines, comments on a website, and from people knowledgeable on the subject. Along with research, I learned a lot more about MLA format and how to be able to cite a source without using some website online. This will definitely benefit me throughout all my college years. It was nice to actually be taught this for once! One more thing I have been learning is how to do peer review effectively. Rather than just giving my friends superficial compliments about their work, I have learned to open up and be honest and give critical comments and meaningful suggestions. Lastly, one of the most important things I learned this semester is about myself. I learned that I need to reflect on the work I have done in order to be able to see how I am growing and what I need to work on. By creating a Blog online, I really was able to track my thought process and changes along the way and looking back this really helped me a lot. Overall, English 1102 has been an amazing journey so far. I am finally open to the idea of learning and engaging in this class and I am excited to see what I learn next.

Best of luck,

Kirsten Price

A major assignment that I have done so far in this semester is a reflective personal paper answering the question “what’s it like to be you?” This question was taken from the book Peace, Butter and Jelly – a book written by David Seidel about his family history, life story, and healthy recipes. I was having a hard time at first trying to figure out how to analyze what it’s like to be me and how I have become who I am. I wanted to explain everything in a formal essay style paper and have some sort of conclusion at the end. I soon realized that this would be impossible because life is not like this. There are twists and turns along the way and those are the moments that a person’s true self is defined. I really opened up for this piece and was completely honest. I expressed my fears, my flaws, my weaknesses, my strengths, things I liked, didn’t like, and everything else about me. The audience for this paper was my peers and this scared me at first because this paper was so personal and I didn’t really want everyone to know everything about me. I held back on my first draft. I kept a lot of things secret and did the bare minimum to finish this paper. However, I realized my paper meant nothing. It had no meaning to me and I was taking no risks in my writing. I began revising and ended up adding a poem right in the middle of my essay. I really poured my heart in to this paper and made it something worth reading – something important and meaningful. I even learned a lot about myself through writing this paper. Its ironic how an assignment that calls for writing about yourself really challenges you to dig deep and in a way, find yourself. I hope that the readers of this essay will learn more about me too and that they will see how I have become who I am and appreciate the small things that make me, me. I expect that I will revise this essay a final time and try to open up even more. For my last revision I plan on moving things around in this paper and placing things in the spot that will make them the most meaningful. I am really proud of the progress I have made this far and look forward to pushing myself even harder to make this paper perfect.

Peace, Butter and Jelly was an amazing book. It was not what I expected at all and was different then anything I have ever read. It related to the theme of being healthy but was also a great story that included recipes and meaningful poems. It really got me thinking about what it means to be healthy on a broader scale and helped me to appreciate my family history more. It was also really awesome being able to meet David. He is such a unique person and spending time with him was such a treat. He was so honest and genuine and humble about all he has done. I feel like I have known him all my life. I would definitely suggest having other classes read his book as well. It was honestly one those books that I will continue to go back to and read over again because it was so unique and unlike anything I have ever read before. David was so honest in his book and seemed so at peace, like he has it all figured out.

Haiku:

My research question
Is really interesting
I hope to learn more.