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Tal Eskinazi

Professor Batty

English 102

11 December 2019

Reflections on English 102

I’ve always prided myself on my ability to write well. Not knowing English at young age

pushed me to learn as much as I can since I was a child. I first learned English through American

movies and television, eventually making my way into literature and dramas. Since an early age

I’ve learned the value of critical thinking, reading comprehension, and writing because of my

lack thereof. However, I still find myself constantly learning ways in which to improve my

writing and critical thinking skills, such as I have in this semester of English 102. Although I

have always thought of myself as a good writer, this class has helped me hone in my critical

thinking skills through multiple exercises in applying critical theory, and has sharpened my

writing skills both academically and creatively, with projects such as the graphic novel and other

essays.

One of the many things that really stood out to me in this class was the power of revision.

Never have I had a teacher so keen on the revision process and I will now be forever grateful for

it. I have done peer review in the past, but nothing on this level. It truly helped me see the power

in editing and how much of an impact in can have in clarifying your arguments, as well as

crafting stories. Your comments were very insightful and really helped me better develop my

arguments. I have very bad habit of procrastinating which your class has helped me to curb. My

home life is very hectic and that gets in the way but is no excuse to not get assignments

completed and turned in on time. One aspect that I didn’t like about the essays was the lack of
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choice in essay topics, but I understand the need to introduce certain literary lenses for analysis.

However, the lectures on each of the literary theories were very informative and taught me a lot

about things that I otherwise would have probably never known about, such as Lacan, or Tony

Kushner.

Although much of what was taught in the class I already knew from previous classes or

my own personal studies, I found it to be a very useful refresher. One of my favorite assignments

was the comic book. I’ve always loved the medium as well as film and really connected with that

assignment. I would have liked for it to have been a solo project, but I think our groups book

overall turned out well. The monster novel essay was also a very interesting topic that made me

really think about the source material that I had known so well before I had even taken this class.

I really enjoyed rereading War of the Worlds as its one of my favorite books and found myself

finding new pieces I had missed in my first reading. I now want to reread both Dracula and Do

Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, to see if they too have things that I may have missed when I

was younger. I also really enjoyed having a Graphic novel as one of the texts. The comics

medium has always been one of my favorites and was very excited to find a new great graphic

novel I probably would have never found on my own.

Overall, this semester in English 102 taught me a great deal about critical thinking and

scholarly writing. From the graphic novel project to any one of the three literary analysis essays,

all the assignments given in this class have helped strengthen my writing and critical thinking

skills. I hope to utilize all the lessons I’ve learned in both my future academic endeavors and

career. From not knowing any English, to being able to write full academic essays and even two

full screenplays, I have come a long way. Ever since I was a child, being a screenwriter and

director has been a dream of mine and I will use these tools if, and or when, I ever get the chance
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to make my first real movie. This class has truly helped strengthen me as writer and for that I

will be forever grateful. Thank you so much for an amazing semester.