Quarter One Reflection

Barbara W. Tuchman stated, “Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.” Literature carries all the things that make up our lives and without it, life may just cease to exist. It has lasted all thourghout our existance, allowing us to connect to the past. Literature is the broadest form/idea that reaches everyone in the world and keeps us connected to one another. It allows everyone to reach the same level of understanding and to reach new thinking heights. It allows us to break out of the box and discover something new. By studyig literature, you're allowed to discover these new heights and expand your thinking capbablity. It will help you connect to everyone in everyday life. Literature allows everyone who reads and studies it to wonder into thier own little world, shielding them from everyone thing going on around them. It's an escape that you enjoy and want to wonder into again and again.

Reading takes an enormous roll in studying literature. I enjoy reading when the writing appeals to me and so far it has in my AP Lit class. My strength in reading is using reading techniques to understand the text, but my weakness is finding the overall theme the author wants me to understand. I find this especially difficult when reading a work I don't find interesting at all. My goal for reading next quarter is to learn new techniques that will help me defeat my weakness. The texts that we are reading in class most suprise me. Before in past years, the writings I was asked to read didn't interest me at all or challenge my thinking methods. But this year, the writings address more provocative subjects that really get my mind racing and I it makes me more and more excited about the next writing to read.

I have never exprienced as much writing as I have exprienced this year, but I'm enjoying it. The class is really helping me become more comfortable with writing such as with the Pancake Paper assingment. I'm finding out as I write more and more that my strength in writing is organizing my thoughts. My weaknesses are providing commentary on my claims and writing a clear thesis. Writing the "Sestina" paper allowed me to uncover my strengths and weaknesses, while the Pancake Paper allowed me to work on my weaknesses and better my strengths. I made the most growh in my writing when consructing the pancake paper because I had to break down the paper in different layers, which allowed me to examine each part of my writing seperately. By doing this I realized the need for more commentary and was able to write more in the paper. My writing goal for next quarter is to write a paper that suprises Ms.Ahearn.