My Letter to Laura Cline

October 23, 2011

Dear Laura,

    This class has been very interesting thus far! You have done an incredible job of helping me to think outside of the box. I have done things such as create a blog and post a video to U-Tube; those are both things that I have never attempted before beginning this class. During the first week of school, I must admit, I was not sure I was going to make it through the semester. I struggled with the assignments and found myself frustrated, however, once I took a minute to breath, I realized that the challenges presented had the potential to be fun.
    The biggest challenge in this class so far has been, by far, learning to write analysis. I am a very analytical person, and the type of abstract thinking that analysis takes does not come easy for me. By the end of this course I hope that I can develop a better sense of how to effectively read and write using critical thinking skills. I struggle with picking through poems and different writings to try and decipher what an author really meant to say or imply.
    Literary analysis is much different than any college writing I have done. In English 101 we learned persuasive writing, and in other courses we write things as they are. Approximately nine years ago I took a college critical reading course and even in that course I do not remember ever having to think so hard about an authors work as I do in this course.
    The readings in this course have been very interesting. I have never particularly enjoyed poetry, so writing an entire paper on a poem was truly a difficult task. I have however, learned that it is important to pay close attention to what you are reading and possibly take notes. To contradict my previous statement, I really enjoy the readings by Sean Nevin and Alison Hawthorn Deming. Perhaps I have just not explored the world of poetry in enough depth? That just might be a goal of mine for the coming years.  
    On-line classes are very interesting way to learn! I sometimes miss the lectures and environment of the class room setting, however, due to my schedule, my options are very limited. You have successfully created an on-line environment where I feel that I am actually able to learn things in ways other than just learning for my mistakes. I feel that all of the links and video posts have helped me to grasp the concepts in the course. I hope that by the close of the semester I will have greatly improved my analytical writing skills.
    I thank you for the great and positive learning environment. I feel that you provide very helpful constructive criticism that explains in detail the things that should be corrected and why. I am very excited to complete the remainder of this semester and hope that I will become a better writer in the process.

Respectfully,
Rebekah