Nicholas McAndrew

Jan Rieman

March 2, 2010

English 1101 X

Mid-term Reflection

Going into college English my spring semester I didn’t know what to think. In high

school English had always been my favorite subject. I have always thoroughly enjoyed reading

and writing, but college English sounded intense. Throughout the class I have learned to become

a better writer through writing in my day book. I have also learned to become a better reader by

learning the importance of re-reading. Although I have been faced with many challenges

throughout the semester I feel that ultimately I have overcome them and learned from the

challenges.

When I first read the syllabus and found out we had daybooks I couldn’t wait to write in

them and learn how to become a better writer. At first my daybook entries were short and sweet,

but as time went on I saw my entries got progressively longer and were more thought out. The

day book eventually taught me how to form my thoughts into a well versed entry that had a lot of

depth and flow. The daybook entries were a way of helping me mold and create my papers. I

feel that without them my papers would not have been as good.

Another thing about this class that I liked is I felt it would challenge me in a way that no

other English class has. It would force me to constantly reflect and re-read to get the total goal of

the assignment. This I knew would be a challenge for me. Among the many challenges for me
was the peer reviewing that we were supposed to perform in class. I have always found in the

past that peer reviewing was a bit pointless due to the lack of eagerness and knowledge of

writing that my peers had. The first time that we got in our peer review groups I felt a new sense

of desire to check my peer’s papers and for them to check mine. After the fact I really learned

how to really tell my peer what should be fixed and gave suggestions for a better paper. I also

felt that my peer’s were a very big help in the sculpting of my paper. I really feel that peer

reviewing helped my papers.

Another thing I learned during the course of this year is the importance of re-reading.

When the Jean Anyon article was first assigned I felt at first glance and a quick reading through

anyone would instantly say that this article is biased toward the lower class and dooms them for

life. The first time reading the article this was my initial thought. When told to re-read it, I was

skeptical at first but I did the assignment regardless. I discovered that Anyon wasn’t downing the

lower class; she was trying to convey that there is a problem with the schooling that they were

getting at the time and it is something we as a society have to do about it. After that assignment I

finally found the importance of re-reading and reading above plot level to get the main point that

the author is trying to make. I now apply this to my literature and culture class this semester and

I honestly feel like I understand each story much better than most of the other students in the

class. I feel this is an attribute I can carry with me throughout my college career and on.

So far, I see my future writing advancing due to this class. Through many of the

challenging assignments and writing methods I can truly benefit from the class. I know if I set

my goals high in this class, I can not only get a good grade, but walk away with these things that

I’ve learned and apply them to everyday things.