Kayla
is an extremely particular writer. Conditions must be perfect for her creative processes
to begin. And, her high school Advanced Placement Literature class has
instilled in her a false sense of security. Although she did manage to learn a
lot in this class about literary dialogue and criticism, it was also 4 years
ago. The English classes she has taken up until this point have been “back to
the basics” and, because of this, Kayla managed to excel. Now, with higher
expectations, higher reading levels, and more intense grading, she feels
overwhelmed by the prospects of a literary criticism. Out of practice and
suffering from intense perfectionism, it is sometimes difficult for Kayla to
even write a sentence because the fear of using a less than perfect word or
phrase is debilitating.
It
has been so long since her last literary criticism that Kayla can’t even
remember what it was about. (Though, from experience, she can promise that it
was written extremely last minute and probably required an all-nighter.) What
she does remember, however, is her weaknesses.
·
She focuses on overall story rather than
studying and criticizing themes and literary devices.
·
She struggles to bring an idea into depth
at times. She often feels redundant when focusing on certain themes in an
essay.
·
She often wants to use an excited and
lively voice for her analysis.
This
class will be an opportunity for Kayla to strengthen her writing and broaden
her abilities when it comes to analysis. She hopes to experience literature in
a new way and learn from her classmates. She will search for depth and meaning
within the texts she encounters. It is Kayla’s hope to become a better writer
because of this class.
Kayla, I totally understand what you mean. I had the hardest time trying to remember my last analysis because the last one I did was back in high school, too. I loved how you said that the AP class had given you a false sense of security. That was a really clever way of wording it!
ReplyDeleteI agree that high school has also given me a false sense of security. For all of my high school years I had excelled in all of my classes. Coming to BYU though, it has been a wake up call. We aren't in Kansas anymore ToTo haha. It's good to know your weaknesses and where you are starting from so that you can improve and know where you are going!
ReplyDeleteAre excited and lively voices not okay for analyses? I must have missed the memo! But seriously, most of what you've written as "weaknesses" seem to me to be things that are just as good in other ways. Of course, you don't ALWAYS want to be super chirpy in an analysis (like, if you were talking about "Dulce et Decorum Est" or something), but there's nothing to say that that is a straight up WEAKNESS. You do seem very self-observant, however!
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