Reflective Letter
Dear Mom,
As I sit here in class and write this letter to you, I find myself thinking about how this course has affected me so far. One of the readings that really stuck out to me was “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life” by Anne Lamott. We read this article towards the beginning of the semester, and I came into class not exactly knowing what English Composition was actually going to be about. After reading this article, it made me feel a lot more comfortable while composing my stories. Anne really throws out there that you don’t need to be perfect on any of your drafts. This was definitely a sigh of relief for me, knowing that not every thought I’d write down had to be perfect.
Another reading I found quite compelling was “Everyone Knew I Was Gay, Except My Brother” by Brian Kennedy. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this piece of writing. My Professor explained to us what contrast was in class. After reading the article I found sentences where I would identify contrast without even knowing the meaning of the term, something just stuck out to me. This could definitely affect myself as a writer, noticing slight details such as this.
A video we watched in class called “The Truth Project” definitely had my mind running in circles. This video started off interviewing normal people out in the city, asking them “What is your truth?” The answers given pretty light, such as “being happy” or “being successful”. Eventually this video continued to interview religious scientist. I had no idea this video was taking this much of a turn. I found it completely disturbing that these people were trying to convince the viewers that “God is Truth”. It’s almost as if you’re walking through the mall, and one of those people that work the stands in the middle of the aisle way run after you, yelling in your ear, telling you to come try this hand lotion that you obviously want nothing to do with. You have the right to any religion you want to follow, but throwing your religion down someone else’s throat is completely disgusting and disrespectful. This video is almost a slight preview of how bad I believe people can really be when it comes to this topic.
After using my blog thus far I’ve come to realize why my Professor has the class doing weekly reflections. When we were assigned our first blog assignment, I didn’t completely understand where the blog assignments would be going. Once we got further into class, did the readings, and assignments I realized that the reflections were so beneficial to me. They helped me actually grasp the concepts that we covered in class, and kind of review and understand them on my own time.
I really enjoyed learning the showing and telling scenes while composing. The first time our Professor gave us a lesson on them, I thought I had it down completely and had no questions to ask. After another lesson on these scenes I became confused and lost the grasp I thought I had. Eventually once Professor Sabatino explained it a bit more, and had us do a “Showing Scene” blog post, I felt comfortable again. I put myself in an exact situation, I could feel the air, smell the fall leaves, and hear the birds. Writing this showing scenes for myself took a lot of time. I didn’t type them out until I had them perfectly thought out in my mind.
Love,
Alexis