Dear Laura

Dear Laura,
   
    So far I have enjoyed this course, far more than previous English classes.  I think this is because there seems to be more freedom in the writing process, which I did  not expect.  In the beginning of the semester, I was worried I wouldn’t do well at all because I tend to have a hard time writing about things unless I am very familiar with or have personal views on the subject, such as a personal essay.  At the beginning of the semester when I saw we had to set up a blog, I wasn’t looking forward to it at all.  I had never set up a blog of any kind and as it turns out, the blogs are one of the things I like best about the class.   
    
    When I bought the books for this class and saw they were about war, I was dreading it.  I’ve never been much of a history buff so you can understand where I was a bit concerned.  However, much to my surprise, I enjoyed the stories I read very much.  They were far easier to read than I thought they would be.  The fact that they touched something in me made it much easier for me to write about them.
   
    I’d have to say my biggest challenge to this point was the analysis.  I’ve never been very good at analyzing text, so this was good practice for me.  Analyzing a text is so different from other types of writing because you have to pick something out of the story to analyze.  That was quite difficult for me, which also surprised me.  I think it was because I agreed with so much of the text, plus how do you argue with what a person feels?  Once I started looking for a way to analyze why something happened or was done instead of looking for a way to contradict it, it became a bit easier to write the analysis.  It still would have been a nicer experience if I could have just analyzed Cinderella.  Okay, you’re right, this isn’t fourth grade.  All well, what are you gonna do?

    In this last half of the semester, I hope to improve my grade and my use of MLA format, or citation rather.  I still have to go back and check continuously to make sure I have cited things correctly, in the right order and so forth.  Repetition is the only way to make it stick, and if it still doesn’t, well there’s always my Little Brown.  Hopefully I won’t need it for citation after this semester.