class response

Through out the semester and through each paper I wrote, I think I definetly grew as a thinker and a writer. I have had to do book reports and such in the past but have never had to write a paper focusing on a specific idea, quote, or panel. As I began the semester and as the semester ended, I saw improvements in my writing. I was able to create a thesis and base the rest of my paper on it. Looking back on my first paper my thoughts and ideas were scrambled around the paper, after taking into consideration the feedback on my papers, I was able to organize my thoughts and think deeper. The close reads challenged me the most, not only because they need a lot of thought, but they also are so free and open. In the past, I was assigned papers with outlines to follow or specific guidelines, but in the close reads I was asked to share my own thoughts and ideas and create my own interpretation. I connected with all the texts throughout the semester in one way or another. Having never read any graphic novels before, I took a certain liking to them. "Blankets" stood out to me the most this semester. On the other hand, Shakespeare is always going to be tough for me to read. I love all the stories, but actually reading them is different. I think it is mainly because of the language he uses. The story doesnt seem to make sense when i read it myself. The graphic novels at first were challenging. When we first read ABC they seemed intimidating. But once we started to read them, it became natural. I will defiantly continue reading them. I love the idea of blogging for this class. A couple reasons why: I get to see what other students are thinking, I can have access anytime i want,and it is alot better than handwritting. This class has helped me to be able to think critically about different kinds of texts. Without writing the close reads i think i would be lost on where to even begin.