This year in Review

         As this is my last blog as an AP lit student, I would like to discuss some of my favorite experiences in out class. First though, I must say that the skills and writing experience that I have acquired through taking AP lit are things that I know will come in handy in college. Following my junior year, I had thought that the level fo my writing had peaked especially concerning writing about literature. From sophomore year to junior year, I received consistent A's on my writing and thought that i had reached a level of writing that I was stuck at. However, from my first writing assignment in AP lit (I think this was the Frankenstein open question time writing) I quickly realized that I had a lot to learn and needed to improve a lot. I have found that before I was in AP lit that I was not able to read at the level an AP lit student needs to in order to write intellectual and academic papers on these novel that we have read. However, gradually, through the intensive writing processes and demand that we read closely, I feel so confident in my reading skills now. I notice now that when I read, I pay so much attention to every aspect and symbol and allusion. It gives me a lot of satisfaction that I notice so many different themes and motifs when reading now that I would have not even recognized a year before now. This is one of the many great things about AP lit. I think what many students misunderstand is the purpose of the intensity of this course. Through all the wirting and readinig assignment we have, I think many students can't see the forest through the trees. A lot of times, when bogged down with a lot of work, lit assignments can lose their purpose. However, I think that once everyone has gotten to the end of the year, I truly feel that I have acquired so many skills in writing and reading and have advanced my level of analysis in my writing and reading over the course of this year. It is kind of funny that just like Mrs. Clinch said at the beginning of the year, I cannot help but apply literary analysis to so many aspects fo my everyday life. I find now that as I watch Grey's Anatomy, I am also trying to pin point to meaning of the mug that sits on Derek's desk and why it is half empty versus full! I even think that my vocabulary has advanced substantially from all of the reading we have done. All in all, now that I have basically reached the end of my term in this course, I do not regret in the least bit taking this class despite warnings from previous seniors about the work load. For someone who usually does not read for fun, I am glad that I have been exposed to so many great works of literature through this course.