Dear Laura Cline,

            I want to thank you for the opportunity to broaden my reading and writing skills this year. I was never very good with my English writing skills and rules, but I enjoy writing. When I was in high school I wanted to be a writer, but sad to say I never followed through. My favorite class was creative writing, we did analysis of television shows and song lyrics. I had no idea that was what we were doing then, it was just fun breaking the words down and writing our thoughts and opinions about them.

            Writing a blog and doing the introduction video was difficult for me. I have been working very hard the last couple of years at controlling my shyness and social anxieties. I usually keep my thoughts and opinions to myself, then again it was nice to learn a way to express my feelings through words. The video blog is still a challenge, but I never give up in defeat. I am grateful for the chance to step out of my comfort zone and learn new ways to communicate my opinions.

            “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift was definitely the hardest assignment I have had this year. It took several attempts to completely read the proposal: My stomach couldn’t handle the contents. I knew it was supposed to be satirical, but it didn’t change the descriptive content that I imagined. I may been affected more because I am a mother, soon to be grandmother, and an elementary school librarian. I see kids all the time, and the thought of the unspeakable disgusted me. Writing my essay, I tried to stay away from the main concept of cannibalism, which made it easier to come up with a thesis.  

            I am a perfectionist.  My writing has too many grammatical errors, that I have trouble finding on my own. I hope that the more I write, the better the writer I will become. My goal for the second half of English 102 is to continue working at improving my sentences. I am looking forward to reading White Noise by Don DeLillo. I just hope it doesn’t contain cannibalism. Thank you for your constructive criticism, challenging and sometimes perplexing analysis assignments, and instructing us to be the best writers than we can be.

Your Appreciative Student,

Leah Wade