great works ii – 2850 jta 12:25-2:05: love letters from the world

Your Responses on May 19: Assessment of Your Work

A few of you said you have become more used to abstraction in texts (great!) Many still feel they need to become much more detailed (yes, this gives your writing and communication more authenticity). Others feel they want to learn to be more comfortable with public speaking. This is a question of practice, so do so whenever you get the opportunity. It will help you greatly in interviews and then later in your careers. Others said that the hybridity of the course helped to make them more organized and responsible, and this is a great by-product of a hybrid course, I think . Some said they appreciated the different perspectives that people had for each text, and that this helped this broaden their way of thinking (and that makes me very happy!). Jacqueline mentions that she feels she has more writing in her other courses now (and I think this trend will continue) so this will help everyone’s writing overall. To be an effective communicator, whether in writing or orally, is really a question of practice.

As for me, I feel I’ve learned that I need to give everyone more time for free writing exercises (and think some of you felt rushed). I also am going to rethink the longer in-class writing assignments. I also want to devote even more time to close reading of the text during f2f time together.

Thank-you all for a lovely semester, and I wish you all the very best!

(And don’t forget, the final exam is due by May 22, 12 pm, noon)

Jeanne

I developed a lot my critical thinking. I believe I am now much more specific when discussing something in particular. What helped me the most to improve this was the structure of my paragraphs with quotations and the support. I think it was after the mid-term and first essay that I started realizing and really understanding how to be as clear and specific as possible. I still have a long way to go and a lot of space for improvement. Word choice is something I constantly try to work on. I am trying to start using more and different words so I do not sound too repetitive or monotonous when I am trying to explain something. Our group work presentation was very good and creative, I would have liked for us to be more detailed in our explanations and dig a little bit deeper in our reasoning. All in all I feel it was a very productive course for me, it allowed me to improve and most important it showed me areas I still need to keep on working.
Joaquin Azcue

This course motivated me to become a better writer, and an active participator in class. I believe my writing skills improved by taking this course; I also believe my critical thinking skills improved through analyzing texts during class. I believe I still need to work on my time management skills, I often procrastinate when it comes to school work however I’m trying to change that. Although my writing improved this semester, I noticed sometimes my thoughts appear to be scattered whereas I want to be able to keep my thoughts concise and to the point. I enjoyed the group work in this class whereas in
other classes I would have rather worked alone. I also enjoyed the creative aspect of this class, for an example I found writing the final essay a lot of fun because there was a creative portion to the project. Lastly I enjoyed free writing during this semester, and then being able to share my thoughts with the class.
Katarina Stojanovic

This semester I’ve developed some new skills as well as recognized a few areas that need improvement. Overall I think my quality of writing has gone up, I don’t know by how much but I do see a difference in my approach and how to develop on a topic. I know that’s going to be useful in the long run. I felt more confident in being able to speak in front of people. I feel better at how I analyze works of literature. It just may take a few times reading over and over again, such as The Endgame. I had to reread a few parts because I couldn’t get into the book. I have trouble connecting with some of the stories which made it a little bit more of a challenge for me. Overall it was progress from the moment I started this class. I feel more confident in my writing.
Onu Mezbah

Reflecting back on the semester, I’ve noticed strong improvement in many different areas, but specifically my reading and analytical skills. This is primarily due to the many short stories that I’ve read over the semester. In fact I was never really engaged in reading novels in grade school mainly because it didn’t interest me. However it wasn’t only reading that was the cause for my improvement. But being able to share one’s thoughts and discuss one another’s opinion helped as well. However I’ve come to realize that I lack sufficient writing skills. In other words, I find writing with a narrow focus is quite difficult considering the amount of workload some papers require. As for my peers however, they seem to also have the same weakness. Katarina mentioned that her thoughts are sometimes scattered instead of keeping it concise and to the point while Joaquin mentioned attempting to use the right vocabulary to avoid repetitiveness. I believe this can both be accomplished by simply having someone else other than yourself to proofread the paper. I found that with this, not only is a second opinion essential in a successful paper, but it gives the writer the ability to understand his or her readers opinions.
Farhan Zaman

It was very interesting to read my classmates reviews of the year because I had some of the same struggles and at the same time I feel like we all improved together. The class was extremely engaging and this interaction helped us get better. Regarding Kat and her having difficulties to concise thoughts I would tell her to think about the main idea and develop it but without deviating of that main point of interest. Onu, I really think you improved a lot analyzing works, there is a very clear difference in your posts week after week. I believe there is a much more deeper analysis now than the beginning of the semester. I completely agree with Farhan, it was very difficult for me to narrow the focus when writing because some of our topics and themes were very broad. What helped me was to focus in just one small part, something detailed and try to explain that specific part without leaving the subject. All in all, I think we all did a great job, we worked together very good and we all improved a lot.
Joaquin Azcue

Rebecca:

Over the course of this semester, I have learned, and gained a lot from this class. I have worked on my writing skills, oral presentation skills, and on teamwork and deadlines. Going about this semester differently, I would have ran through the presentation with the Professor before presenting, so we could have known what she was expecting specifically. I really like the way the class gives feedback to our classmates, because it’s helped be more open to others and open to other’s opinions. I think that I improved the most on my analytical skills, and specifically in comparing two works, or a work to a myth/allegory. I still find it difficult to sit through and read long, and sometimes quite boring, works. I also need to work on working ahead of deadlines.

Michelle:

Throughout this semester I’ve grown as a English student. One of the major things I’ve improved on is submitting my work on time and doing better on the quizzes. I also increasingly participated in class whenever questions were asked as well as commented on presentations. One thing I wish I could’ve done differently was submitted the paper I didn’t submit and done better on the midterm. I completely flunked that which I did study for but apparently not enough. Whenever we did free writes in class, it would expand my mind to write freely which was one of my favorite things. I could improve on writing essays more, I still struggle with writing thesis statements on essays because I feel as if they’re not specific enough.

Songun:
Through our English class i have learned about a lot of valuable topics which have helped increased my knowledge about world literature. Sometimes i am not very active in the class discussion, that is the one i need to continue improve and increased confidence in the oral presentation of ideas. Speaking up in class and trying to get yourself to speak up more will actually help to improve confidence level when speaking in front of others. The writing process of paragraph form of four steps helped to organize my ideas so i was able to write in a more clearly and effective manner. I also studied working to understand the difference between summary and analysis, working on narrowing focus on larger writing assignments. Thankthis semester, thank you class.

It is now the end of the semester and compared to the midterm is see an interesting change. I felt that as the stories we were ask to read got more abstract and were more open to many interpretation, I found that I would get more invested to the story being that I had come up with the endings myself due to their abstractness. Emphasis of the course turned more too comprehensive as opposed to writing which I enjoyed for I already had a grasp on writing and wanted a better understanding on how to interpret a text and its meaning, and I did.

Over the course of this class, I believe that I approved in many areas. By the midpoint of the semester, I still needed to improve in participation and being more detailed in my writing. By the end of the semester, I think I have made an effort to participate more and also outline my papers so I can explore into detail my arguments and quotes more. I still need to work on my oral presentation skills as I get very anxious and sometimes forget what I am to say, however I think with more practice I will feel more comfortable standing up there in front of a crowd.

Throughout the course of this semester, I definitely learned a couple things about myself and my capabilities. I definitely think that writing essays are my stronger suit (as opposed to being timely with assignments, or reading— which I do enjoy, but still). I also thought that I had a decent level of understanding when it comes to analyzing the texts that we’re reading. However, when it came to Endgame, I found myself utterly confused the first couple of times that I ran through the reading. I think this means that I need to improve on abstract thinking. I also found that I have a different way of interpreting texts than the majority of people— which I don’t consider to be a strength or a weakness— but I need to be more openminded in what other’s opinions are and maybe that will also improve my analytical capabilities.

-Aly Yoon

Reflecting back to the entire semester, I felt that there are still some areas where I can improve to better my writing. One of the things I could work on is my research. As I was writing my final paper, I noticed that there were times when I felt a bit lost as to what or where I was looking to get a valuable secondary source. Maybe it was the fact that I hadn’t written a paper in a couple of semesters or that the topic I was researching was a bit hard but nonetheless, researching is something that I need to improve on. One other area that I noticed I need a bit of improving on is trying to analyze the text a bit better. During the play of Endgame, I found myself a bit lost with the text. As far as all my other strengths go, I feel like I maintained the same strengths that I had written during the midterm weeks of school.

-Jorge Moreno

Looking back on this course, I definitely feel like I’ve improved on many different things, specifically, the way that I interpret texts and my ability to analyze stories from many different perspectives instead of just one. Whether it was our face to face discussions, or our online work, I realized just how many different perspectives there can be to a story. Certain viewpoints that I had never considered all of a sudden became so much clear after hearing from my classmates and listening to their point of view on stories that we read. Furthermore, I think that the free writings that we would do during class helped me improve my writing skills. It taught me that sometimes it is better not to overthink too much and really just focus in on a particular topic and write about it. I think that one aspect that I still need to improve on is my communication skills. I don’t think I was as active in our class discussions as I should’ve been so that is something I’m looking to improve upon in the future.

-Muneeb Khan

As the semester progressed, i think that my writing ability improved. Even though it can definitely use some work it sounds a lot better than at the beginning of the semester. Being able to free write before speaking or before writing something was a good way to get your thoughts together before doing the assignment. The group blogs every week, even if it had its downfalls at some points, was a good way to communicate with the students of the class as well as the professor. The quizzes every week were a good way to make the students read since without the quizzes many will decide not to read the assigned stories. I still need to improve on oral presentation for the future. This includes participating more in class discussions as well as presenting in front of the class. This was my goal at the midpoint of the semester. I think i progressed a little bit but definitely not as much as i wanted to. Hopefully in the future i will be able to build on this skill.-Joseph Morreale

Now that it is the end of the semester I believe that in some areas I have improved and others I still need to work on. Such as oral skills; class discussions and presentations. However, I did improve my writing which was also part of my goals. With the various of stories, we read it not only help broaden my vocabulary but also helped with critical thinking skills. -Keauna

Throughout the semester I feel like I have definitely grew as a writer and at analyzing texts better. I’ve learned a new paragraph structure from, which makes it easier for me to write essays. I have also improved in formulating thesis statements , since I struggled with that earlier in the class. As for group work I think this class has increased my participation online with peers. Some things I still struggle with is participating in class discussions and class exercises. Overall if I had to do it again I would definitely participate more often in class as I did online. –Bintou

Over the course of the year I have truly developed a capacity to see a variety of viewpoints in a particular story. I think its valuable to be able to have an open and ready outlook when you go into a reading as many people may see the story line differently. There isn’t always a right or wrong answer. Instead we are simply expected to explain our viewpoint no matter how odd or different it may be. The fact that anything goes does sometimes irritate me considering the fact it is so counterintuitive. Sometimes we need black and white answers but in arts and literature that is not necessary.  Story allows one to explore thoughts and ideas in a way many other forums may not allow.

I strongly believe that I have improved in many different things. I really do believe that most of my improvements came from reading all of the stories and sharing what I thought about them for our post every week. Also, I do think also think  I improved when it comes to speaking in our circle sessions in class. Even though I could improve a little more when it comes to that. Another, is that I do believe I improved when it comes to citing in my essay and keeping my essay well organized with transitions. Overall, I do believe I improved in many different parts. When we first started in the beginning of the semester I was way more shy but as the semester continued I wasn’t as shy. One thing that I do believe i still need to work on is when it comes time to free write. It could get difficult for me to think in such a fast pace and to be able to make it all make sense at the end.