Quarter one reflection

When I read Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations, I got lost in the story—the characters, setting, and story line—so much that a long time after I read it, I still pondered about it. I imagined myself living in those times, I unconsciously spoke with a British accent, and I even wrote a paper comparing myself to Pip, the protagonist of the story. This, to me, is why we should study literature. We sometimes need to get away from the continuous humdrum of our everyday lives. Literature provides that escape. One can explore 19^th century London in Oliver Twist, experience love and the class system in Pride and Prejudice, or go down to the depths of hell in Inferno. Studying literature enables us to escape our everyday lives and increase our capacities of imagination, making us livelier and better people.

My strengths are that I read fast and when I start reading a story, I don’t stop until I am done, especially if the story is very interesting. My weakness is that it is sometimes difficult for me to pick out patterns or symbols when I read. Thankfully, I am improving on that by annotating when I read. Next quarter, my goals are to become a more sensitive reader and improve on my weaknesses. I also want to read other works on my own, especially Dante’s Inferno and Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones. When I was reading Fences, I hated the story at first. I wondered why we had to read literature in “ghetto” language; it reminded me of the disruptive kids in the hallways. However, as I read on, I understood Troy’s plight, and the friendships and family relationships in the play. The story became more than slang words. I was really surprised about how much I liked it after I finished reading it. What stuck out about my reading was the idea of a fence representing the American Dream, and how African Americans tried to live that dream. Today, a lot of African Americans don’t understand what their ancestors did to get them where they are today. They just destroy their lives and their opportunities, and that really makes me angry.

My writing strengths are that I have good grammar skills and my work is understandable. My weaknesses are that I am not as good as I would like at analyzing literature or poetry. My papers are more like summaries of the stories than analyses. When Ms. Ahearn graded my “Sestina” paper, she said I had good structure, but I have to work on my analysis. That is my goal for the next quarter. I will become a better analyst. I got better at proofreading my writing. Last year, Ms. Partridge always told me to proofread, proofread, proofread, but I always had some mistakes. This year, I make sure I have no errors in my writing. I am looking forward to reading new books and improving my writing skills.