Post #5-Jimmy McGuire

Coming into this class I felt very confident in my writing, and I didn’t expect many difficulties. I had taken Honors and AP English all throughout high school and had always done well, so I thought that would translate to this course. What I had overlooked, though, is that this is my second year at Ohio State and up until this class I had only written pretty much 2 or 3 very short papers. Essentially I have simply lucked out with the professors I have had, because none of them made long essays a part of their curriculum. So I’ve gone a full year and a half without doing any kind of analytical writing, which showed at the beginning of this class.

I had not done as well as I would have liked on our first paper, because I think I actually forgot how to write good essays. I didn’t go into great detail on most of the points I was analyzing, and I suppose I simply did not analyze my subject as in depth as I should have. Plus, writing about gender and sexuality in American cartoons is a difficult subject in my opinion because it is not something we think about in our everyday lives, and requires some deep thought.

I think I eventually started to improve my writing though once the Secondary Source Analysis rolled around. I detailed my arguments much more and went into greater depth on the topic, and I connected my individual ideas much better than before. I had also received a much better grade, which is a plus. Once my commonplace manuscript was due, I felt I had written even better than before, and once again my grade had improved.

Ultimately, I think I not only “remembered” how to write good papers in general, but I think I improved to a higher mark than I ever reached before. Each successive assignment earned a higher grade than the one before it, so I think my writing improvement is especially evident there. I would attribute much of this to being forced to think analytically about our course theme, because again it is not something I had given much thought to beforehand, and so it resulted in better papers in the end. I’m happy with my performance in this class, and hopefully my writing will continue to grow in future classes.

Blog #5: Molly Hopkins

Before this class, I really did not enjoy English. I would much rather be in a Math class than an English class and I have never really enjoyed writing. However, this class definitely changed my opinions about English class. Before, I would dread writing papers, and while this class did not make me love writing papers, I feel that it did make me a better writer as well as made writing easier for me.

I really liked the structure of the class, especially how we wrote the primary source analysis before we even looked at any secondary sources. That definitely made tackling the larger, six to seven page research paper easier for me. It also helped me to remain focused and to not get caught up in using too many outside sources. Having the primary source analysis definitely made sure that my own thoughts and ideas were the basis of my research paper and that I was only using the secondary sources to back up my claims.

Another thing about this class that I really was it was my first at Ohio State that was not a big lecture class, with the exception of my recitations. I loved how laid back the class was, but it was still structured enough that I learned a lot and got my work done.

I also really enjoyed how the class was given a theme, because while gender and sexuality in animated film would probably not have been the topic that I would have chosen to write my research paper on had we been given a free topic, it did make the decision a lot easier. Had it been a free topic, I most likely would have stressed for days over what to write my paper about, and consequently wasted a lot of time and stress over nothing.

Another specific aspect of this class that I enjoyed was definitely Commonplace. I really liked getting to not only write a paper about something that I actually cared about, I enjoyed getting to read some as well. While the one that I was assigned to peer review was not the most interesting, some of the examples that we read in class were very compelling and interesting to me.

While this class was a requirement and I was not expecting to enjoy it considering my past experiences with English classes, I surprisingly really enjoyed it! I would have to say that this was my favorite class this quarter, or at least the one that I dreaded going to the least.

Blog #5: Matthew York

When I first read in my course requirements that I had to take an introductory English class, I wasn't thrilled. I had taken an English class every year of my educational career and I really wasn't looking forward to continuing. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed this class very much. I've never really considered myself a very strong writer and aside from doing well on the writing portions of the ACT/SAT, I had never really achieved success when it came to writing. In my senior year Government class, I had written Op-Eds every quarter for extra credit and was never published in a newspaper or even considered for it. The expectations I had for myself in this class were relatively low. I knew that it was a class that every freshmen at OSU would take, so I knew it wasn't designed to hurt our GPA's. At the same time, I had struggled with English both junior and senior year, so I was worried that it may continue.

Overall, I surpassed my goals this quarter in almost every aspect. I enjoyed this course much more than I thought I would and I also enjoyed writing the papers more than first expected. Throughout high school, we had always been told what to write about and what to research, so when I was given the opportunity to choose my arguments with the primary and secondary analysis, I was ecstatic. Throughout this quarter I feel that I have developed not only as a writer, but also as an editor. This class gave us opportunities in many fields of composition. Not only were we given the job of writing papers and manuscripts, but we were also designated peer reviewers for both analysis papers as well as the commonplace manuscript. I enjoyed the fact that not every assignment was centered around the same idea. It was refreshing to switch things up every once in a while and get a different perspective on things.

In conclusion, I enjoyed my time in English 110 and hope that the skills I learned in this class will reflect toward my abilities to defend opinions as well as back up arguments with research. While the business field doesn't center around writing research papers and critiquing people's works, I know that at some point, my tools acquired in this class will aid me in my career field some day. As someone who wasn't excited to write papers, I can honestly say that I am glad I took English 110 and feel fortunate to have learned so much within a span of 10 weeks.

Blog Prompt #5 Jonathan Vignos

When I first walked into the class I was completely
dreading it. I am not a big fan of reading and writing and I thought this would
be the worst class ever. It is something that doesn’t sound fun to me and I
would rather find myself doing math then reading or writing. Now looking back on the class, I have completely enjoyed my time in this class. Even though I have learned many different things, such as people who wear crocs are mental, I have learned a lot about writing and how to improve my papers.

Though I have learned a great deal of things about writing,
there are two things that really stand out to me. The first thing that I
learned was when analyzing a video you can use The Method to help yourself.
When I first was observing the clips, I wasn’t really looking at the details
that much. I would notice the basics and that was it. After a while, I started
to look for repetitions, strands, binaries and anomalies. It’s something that I
have started doing even while watching any TV show or movie. This has helped me be more observant and read between the lines, instead of just looking at the basic things. Though we have only have observed and wrote about clips, this idea will help me when I need to observe other things and need to talk about them.

The next thing I learned, which I find the most
beneficial thing, is improving my thesis statements. This is really important
to me because a thesis statement can make or break your paper. Before the class I used to just write down a thesis and if it sounded good to me then I would use it. It’s something that would either work or completely fail for me. My writing of thesis statements has improved because I know how to look to see if I answer the questions of what, how, and why. This has completely improved my writing and it something that will help me throughout my whole writing career.

Lastly, I just wanted to say thank you Tory for
creating a class that I really enjoyed and am glad I was able to have you. You
made me thoroughly enjoy my time and actually enjoy writing, which is the first time I have ever said this. You managed to teach me a lot and actually make me laugh the whole time. Best of luck in your future and thank you.

Blog Post #5 - Casey Reinard

    All throughout high school, English class tends to be considered by most as the mandatory and least enjoyable class. I fell under the category of students who saw English class this way. I never wanted to go, and once I was sitting at my desk, all I could do was watch the clock tick away as class dragged on. However, I have to say that I did not feel this way about English 110.01 in the least. In fact, I felt almost the exact opposite way. Between the subject of "Gender and Sexuality Studies in Animated Film" and Tory teaching the class, I thoroughly enjoyed this freshman GEC course.
    When Tory introduced the topic of Gender and Sexuality Studies in Animated Film, I honestly didn't know what to expect, but I figured it would at least be interesting, and definitely different than what I am used to learning about in English class. For me, English class throughout high school consisted of composing a research paper, reading a book or two that had some significance to the history of America, and then a seemingly-unnecessarily review of elementary grammar. This was not the case at all, though, as Tory guided us through the "art" of dissecting classic cartoons, mainly from Disney, to truly understand what said cartoon's animators and creators want people to learn. These so-called "lessons" from cartoon creators include the projection of stereotypes into the innocent minds of young kids and teens.
    Lastly, I feel the need to say "thank you" to Tory, for making English 110.01, a stereotypically boring and unnecessary class, a fantastic learning experience and enjoyable class to be in. He was able to stay on topic and teach us more than what was expected of him, all the while creating a fun and joking atmosphere that was conducive to learning.

Blog #5 - Jordan Wamer

When I signed up for English 110 it was more of a sigh of relief. I never got around to taking it my first year, and kind of resented having to sign up. That all changed within the first few weeks. This wasn't a class that took an overbearing amount of work or concentration, but it did help my writing skills. I liked the combination of free writing and writing with a purpose. The Primary and Secondary source papers were both very good assignments. I feel like my writing skills improved from completing that. The biggest benefit was my creative thinking skills. I had to look past the obvious messages of a cartoon while looking for the not-so-obvious subliminal messages.

I've dabbled with blogs before, but it's nice to have to update it constantly. It feels good to put your opinion and thoughts out there. It’s not very often that people listen to what I say, so for those who have read it, I thank you. I also enjoyed the Commonplace assignment, the concept of students editing students work is fun. The class topic was unique, I enjoyed writing about something that I wouldn't have addressed else wise. It also made me look more into what I see on TV, looking for subliminal messages in cartoons and other media sources TOO.

This was my first class that wasn't in a large lecture hall. I really enjoyed the smaller class, discussion was much easier. I'd also like to thank Tory. He kept the class interesting, and unlike most professors I've had, would give you the time of day to talk about your work. He was also very good at contacting me back when needed. He also kept me very entertained with his fashion rants.

Prompt 5 - Steven Scherer

I really had no idea what I was getting myself into when I signed up for English 110.01. Others had told me that it was easy and required little effort. I don’t think I took it quite as seriously in the first two weeks because of what peers had told me. In fact, I resented the fact I even had to sign up. Coming into the Honors program here at OSU, most students have AP credit for English. Unfortunately, my high school was so small that we had essentially no college credit options of any kind. After basically having completed the class, I can now look back and say that others were right; it wasn’t too bad. This class did, however, take more thinking than I had expected. I must admit I was skeptical of the idea of any sort of themed college English class, but I’m a firm believer that it’s one of the few ways it can be made appealing to a wide variety of students.

When I consider what I have learned in English 110.01, I feel the most interesting thing I have gained an insight into is analyzing a fictional animated film for very much nonfictional examples. I have rarely considered examples of gender and sexuality in any sort of film before, but I now find myself picking things out here and there as I watch cartoon and non-cartoon media. Before English 110.01, I had never written a literary analysis over and media except novels. While in high school I authored a decent amount of informational reports and thesis papers that were often about nonfictional material. Never was I asked to analyze videos in a well-thought out manner, so I consider that as my area that has most improved.

Realistically, I don’t feel that English 110.01 has changed the style of my writing too much, but it has given me more analytical skills to put in my toolbox. While I could just ignore these skills, as a studying engineer I feel it is my duty to apply them to each and every situation they could be used in. There’s nothing wrong with being able to write a better technical document because I have gained analytical skills from thinking about animated films.

I have also come to appreciate the Commonplace component of English 110.01. Serious persuasive writing (other than straight-up thesis supporting) is something I haven’t done in quite awhile. It felt good to come up with an argument based on my beliefs and values and then support it with facts. Additionally, Commonplace has given me a chance to provide real feedback to a peer. I have always enjoyed giving well-thought out feedback when someone actually asked for it. I have never been asked to critique someone’s essay in such a professional and well thought-out manner, so this was a new experience for me as well.

All in all, I feel that English 110.01 has given me better analytical skills more than anything else. I consider myself to be a decent writer already, but the way I go about analyzing topics has definitely seen some sort of improvement.

Pei Chien Wu

Looking back on the whole quarter; I am surprised that it is almost the end of it. I have to say that I enjoy taking this class and I am so glad to have Tory with us. I was kind of worried about my writing skill and was so afraid that I couldn’t make it. Still remembered at the time I stepped into the classroom, I was thinking “What!!? Am I the only international student in this classroom!!!?” then I started to worry more… However, I definitely like the way Tory gave lecture and I totally agree that what he taught us was helpful and effective. The theme “Gender and Sexuality in Animated Film” was interesting. It discusses gender expectation, stereotype and gender equality in our culture and society. Without this class, I would never notice this kind of issue in any animated film, not to mention analyzing it.

Through this class, I learned how to analyze, how to find potential claim or argument and how to make them work. Moreover, giving evidence to support your argument is also critical. It will help to make your essay more persuasive and convincing. Everything was hard at the first; however, with Tory’s demonstration at class and help from tutorial, I got the directions towards my essay.

Now I am clearer about how to write an essay and how to find the resource o want. Moreover, I start analyzing things and start thinking deeper when I see things. What I learned from this class made me more aware of the things which surround me. It is interesting to find out that writing really helps thinking. Writing things down helps to organize my thoughts and opinions, and I like to see this change on myself.

Blog #5 Sara Campbell

English 110 is a requirement for pretty much all freshman. With the word "requirement" attached to it, I wasn't expecting to particularly enjoy the class. Now that the quarter is almost over and exams are coming up I can look back at the class and all that I have written in it and change my mind about my initial expectations.

English 110 turned out to be one of my favorite classes I took this quarter. The theme for the class surprised me because I had never thought about it before. It forced me to analyze something that I had never blinked an eye about and it has opened my eyes to see more than what is just directly in front of you. I learned many things in this class that I will still use even after the class is over. For one, whenever I watch something new, I try to figure out the subliminal message that they are trying to express. It makes whatever I am watching almost more entertaining. Secondly I learned to leave behind my comfort-zone of the standard five paragraph paper. Now I feel comfortable writing whatever I need to write and I don't focus on making it five paragraphs. Instead, I focus on getting my point across and saying what I need to say.

I think that the reason this class was so great, was because a lot of the classes I am taking this quarter and even this year, are larger classes with upwards of 200 students. Having a smaller class where the teacher is personable and easy to talk to makes a big difference. I think that Tory really made the class entertaining and easy going because he was straight forward and funny. He made time for us if we needed him and he was really good a responding to emails. Overall, I was surprised by how much I ended up liking the class and I really appreciate all that Tory taught me to improve my writing skills.

prompt #5 Lamaya

            My reflection of this class is that it was pretty laid back and very understandable. All the assignments that were given were a challenge but not that bad. This class helped improve my writing by expanding my knowledge of the different types of writings and the different ways to write a paper to appeal to a certain audience. Also with blogging, until this class I never read or wrote a blog, so that aspect of the class was new and interesting to me. The topic of the class coinciding with the assignments also opened my eyes to a lot of things that I didn’t pay attention to or just completely never noticed, like the presentation of gender roles in different types of movies and so forth.

I think that Tory himself also helped keep the class in such a laid back aura as well. I say this because he was straight forward with us and said what was on his mind. The way he interacted with the class and joked around with us while still carrying a serious manner is also a contribution to the class being easy going and not so tense. He kept the class fun and interesting at the same time. His video and other examples also made things easier to understand because we were able to see what type of thing we were looking for before just going and searching for random things and hoping we get lucky.

He was also helpful by making sure he returned, for me, all emails and being available and patient during office hours maybe even outside of office hours too. Over all I had a lot of fun in the class and it was a good experience for me because at first I was in a different English 110 class and I would go to class with a question mark and I would leave the class with a question mark, I don’t know why but the class was just hard for me to follow and it also interfered with other classes. So in the end I’m glad I switched into Tory’s class because things became much easier to balance and understand.      

Blog Post #5 Jake Wenstrup

Looking back on each of my papers this quarter sequentially, it is easy to see how drastically my writing has changed throughout this class. One of the most significant changes to my writing has been leaving the comfort zone of the five paragraph essay. Every incoming freshman has been writing five paragraph essays since middle school and can write one in their sleep. The important part of that, is that we can do it in our sleep. This year I learned that writing is really about thinking better. Although we all hate writing those papers that we have decided to save for 10pm on Sunday when they are due Monday morning, I honestly think that I can better understand many topics simply through writing about them. Writing about almost any current event requires some sort of minimal research from Wikipedia to Googling the topic. The research process then tailors itself to your own interests based on the way you search for things and how connect from one webpage to another.

In addition to forming new interests and forcing more critical thinking, writing in a blog format like we have done this quarter is an interesting way to gain a different insight into the way people think and speak. I personally enjoyed reading many of the blog posts because I never failed to find each post amusing, entertaining, or interesting in some way. Reading thoughts from other students in our class really opened my mind to a lot of other ideas and made me enjoy the blog format even more.

Overall, I'm glad we went about this class the way we did and look forward to improving my writing more in the future.

Blog #5 Rachel Dadas

When I first had to sign up for English 110.01 I wasn't looking forward to it from what I heard about it. I thought this class was going to be a rigorous writing course with a bunch of literature, but when I found out that our theme was "gender and sexuality in animated films" I had more hope. Another first impression was that it was going to be pretty easy, but I ended up finding it more of a challenge than what I expected.

The assignments that challenged me to put my full writing potential to the test was the Primary and Secondary source papers. I didn't have to write any papers or essays for my classes in the fall quarter, so my writing skills were a bit rusty from high school. This assignment really made me think and work hard to fully grasp the concept of the topic and how it related to my film clips. My primary source wasn't as good as it could have been, because I ended up choosing a film clip that was hard to relate to the topic of gender and sexuality, so I had to work extra hard on my secondary source. With the work we did in class, the help I received from Tory, and help from Writing Analytically, I ended up writing a strong Secondary Source paper.

One thing that I really liked about this class was our teacher Tory. He was very helpful and I loved that he was more of a chill teacher. All of my other professors haven't been really interesting or personable since I came to college, but Tory showed us his personality from day one. He was also really good about returning emails and being helpful on assignments outside of class as well. I'd have to say I learned a lot more and was more interested in the class than any of my other classes because our teacher was funny and passionate about the topic of our course.

Lastly, I also liked the blog assignments in this class because it showed us a different way of writing and allowed us to learn more about our peers and their personalities. I didn't mind that we were assigned different topics because we were still able to talk about our interests and be personal with the topic.

I learned a lot in this class and I feel that it is going to be very beneficial for me in the future. I enjoyed almost every aspect of the class and I found it to be very helpful and interesting since we had such a great teacher! :)

Prompt #5 Jackson Hart

This course has been very helpful to me in advancing my writing skills. I learned to move away from the standard "5 paragraph format" and I also learned a lot about improving my thesis sentence. Throughout high school I would have considered myself a fairly decent writer, this class has definitely helped me to think things through even more, especially when coming to the very important thesis.

Also, when I first scheduled this class I was dreading it because of the almost two hour time, especially having been used to only having classes that lasted 48 minutes in the previous quarter. It could have very easily been a boring class that I did not want to go to, but Tory did a great job in making it interesting and actually making the two hours go by fairly quickly.

The whole process of using my primary source and adding on to it with more details and sources to create the secondary source was something that I see as very useful for college writing. It was also a pretty interesting and unique topic that we got to write about. I had a few friends in the same course who were assigned topics on their research papers that seemed very boring and hard to write about. Also, I enjoyed this blog because it wasn't stressful and it was a cool way of writing my opinion about things and learning about other people's opinions. This class has definitely been helpful to me in advancing my writing ability.

Davis Haug--Prompt #5

I feel that this course has been very beneficial to me in many ways. Whenever I sign up for a Writing/English course, I never know what to expect. Some of them are extremely boring and then sometimes I get lucky, and the course is actually interesting and I look forward to attending. This course was interesting in my opinion. Although I feel I am a good writer already, I believe that this course has made me an even better writer.

First off, I really liked how Tory made this class interesting and fun. He didn’t make it boring and could be pretty funny at times. Also, Ifelt that he was very helpful. Whenever I needed help with anything, I would either email him or talk to him, and he would tell me exactly what I needed to do. For example, I emailed him my thesis statement, and he emailed me back within a day and told me what I could do to make it better. It is great to have a teacher that is willing to do that.

Secondly, I feel that the Secondary Analysis Paper was the assignment that was the most helpful in advancing my writing. This assignment really made me think outside of the box, especially dealing with the theme, gender and sexuality, which was not the easiest. It forced me to incorporate a previous paper into this one with the intention of making it better and longer. If I was able to write a 7-8 page paper on gender and sexuality, I feel I’ll be able to write on anything, and it will most likely be better.

The blog was also something I enjoyed. It was not stressful, and I was able to write my opinion on different topics. It was a great extra assignment, because on weeks that I wasn’t working on the paper, I was still keeping my writing skills and brain active for this class.

Lastly, my favorite part of the class was probably writing the Commonplace essay. It let me write about any topic that I wanted and feltinterested in. For the most part, I did not have to write the essay in a certain way. I was able to write in my own way, which is what I am best at.

Overall, I really enjoyed this class and felt like it definitely made me a better writer, and will help me out in the long run. It was a great opportunity.

Prompt #4 Roberto Valle

To be honest, I do not enjoy reading as much as I wish I would. My klife would be so much easier if I simply enjoyed sitting down for hours at a time and reading. I do some soft reading like magazines and web pages. I mostly enjoy Sports Illustrated because they cover not only the mainstream sport stories but others that you have not heard of.

I also enjoy reading through ESPN's internet page and Popular Mechanics Online for interesting articles on sports' personalities or innovations in technology. Also social reading is a part of my day like Twitter or Facebook. I used to be much more of an avid reader when I was younger. I used to spend hours at a time reading X-Men Comics that I would pick up while visiting my family in Florida. The Uncanny X-Men Used to be my favorite; maybe I'll pick it back up.

Blog 5: Jeffrey Jackson

English 110.01 has been one of the more interesting and fun classes of my Winter Quarter. I've learned a lot about the courses main topic, Gender and Sexuality in American Cartoons while also learning a lot about writing in general. At the beginning of the quarter, I wasn’t entirely sure what this class would be like and if it’d be interesting. However, we started watching Disney clips and right there I was pretty excited.  We must’ve watched the Gaston clip

from Beauty and the Beast at least ten times and I could repeat the entire song that day. Then, when we began to really analyze the clip, it got really interesting all the themes and topics hidden in the clip itself. I would’ve never thought about how Gaston could be seen as womanly when he talks about decorating or when he dances with Lefou. I thought those were just funny bits in the movie, but they were really also deeper themes of sexuality and gender in the movie. Then we explored gender and sexuality in other movies, like The Little Mermaid and Mulan. It blew my mind all the hints and subtle ideas in these Disney movies that are primarily targeted towards children who don’t even know anything about sexuality and gender. Also, thanks to Commonplace, I learned so much more about persuasive/argumentative writing. 

There is a lot that goes into successfully writing an essay that is interesting to your reader and also getting your point across with solid evidence. I’m going to try to make my own writing more timely, relevant, and compelling because it really does make reading and writing more interesting. Lastly, Tory has been a great teacher. He is always available to help and he conveys the course material in interesting manner. I got the feeling that he actually cares about the topics he teaches and it made this English class much more enjoyable. English 110.01 was a great class!

Prompt #5 - Garrett Cutting

As for me in high school, I really did not like English classes. Whenver I had to take an English class, it meant that I had to read a book, or part of one, and write a paper about it. I did not like reading books that I had no clue or interest in. In college, though, it was different. I really did not mind taking this class because I got to do a lot of things on my own, like pick what I wanted to write about. That was good for me because I always think that if you don't mind doing something, you'll do better at it. Also, having in class time to work on assignments was a big help, as well. In addition, having an interesting teacher who had a lot of good stories helped with the long class time.


My favorite paper that we had to write for this class was probably the Secondary Source Integration. Even though it was pretty long, I felt like it wasn't that bad to write, and it was a nice challenge to incorporate secondary sources into your Primary Source Analysis and have it flow. I thought that writing a paper about a clip on a Disney film was a cool idea for a paper, and having to analyze it was something new for me and a good experience. Also, I think the blog idea worked out well for the class because I had never done one before, and it got me interested in blogs. Finally, I really enjoyed our Commonplace essay as well. How we got to write about anything we wanted was nice, and trying to appeal to other people our age was a good variety. Overall, this class was a lot better than my high school classes, and it was a good experience.

Prompt #5: Lauren Schneider

Usually I do not like English classes at all, however this English class has been pretty easy and interesting for me. Going into my first college English class, I was worried I would be writing papers every week and stressing out. However, this class was very different from how I thought it would be. I definitely enjoyed it more than I thought I would!

In this class, the learning and teaching environment was very different from how it was at my high school. I was used to writing papers on books that we had read, and the research paper set up was also not the same. I feel like this class allowed me to learn how to write on my own without tons of directions and formats to follow. The class was not about little grammar mistakes and sentences, but more about the ideas within the papers.

This class has allowed me to feel like I have grown in my writing since high school and I am more confident with what I am doing. There was not a lot of reading for this class, which I also liked. The class environment was very comfortable to be in and helped me to focus more on writing.

My favorite part of the class was this blog. I have never written a blog before, but I found it to be fun and easy to do. I liked reading other classmate’s blogs and commenting on them as well! It is interesting to read what other classmate’s beliefs and thoughts are. Another part of the class that I liked was writing the analysis about an animated film clip that portrayed sexual or gender stereotypes. Many of the films that we talked about in class, I had never really thought about having sexual or gender stereotypes but after taking this class it is has opened my eyes to see what is really there.

Overall, this class was not stressful at all and I really enjoyed being able to take it!

Blog 5: Alex Cameron

English 110.01 has been a very beneficial and helpful class for me. Over the past 10 weeks I have learned a lot about myself and writing. Coming into this class writing was easily my least favorite class. I hated writing papers and would much rather do something else. However, my view on English classes has changed. I now enjoy English class and essay writing is no longer such a huge pain for me.

One thing I will be able to take away from this class is how to write an effective thesis statement. I learned how to answer the questions of what, how, and why I am writing the paper in my thesis statement. In addition to this, the secondary source analysis proved to be very helpful. It allowed me to think more in depth about animated films and why some characters look and act the way they do. Before this class I would have simply just watched the movie and only understood what was literally happening in the scene and not what the meaning of their actions were. It was also helpful to sit down with Tory and talk about the direction my secondary source analysis was taking. Although it was a very long paper that took a lot of time to work on, it was nice to feel accomplished when it was finished.

Along with this, the Commonplace essay made you really think in depth about something that was timely, relevant, and compelling. It helped you realize what was both good and bad in our society today and how it can be applied to us as college students. It also made me think about what can and must be done in order to fix these problems in our society.

Overall, I will take a lot away from this class that will benefit me throughout the rest of my college education. Most specifically, the correct way to write thesis statements and the critical thinking needed to write the primary source analysis, secondary source analysis, and Commonplace essay will become handy in writing future papers.