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Vietnamese Class
I remember as a little girl sitting in the porch with a notebook and pencil in hand while my grandparents read aloud from a Vietnamese booklet. This was to sharpen our understanding of my mother tongue as well as work on vocabulary and spelling. -
Poetry
I remember everyday in the first grade my English teacher would randomly flip to a page in her poetry book and read aloud the poem for the day. It opened my eyes to powerful description within a few poetic lines. -
Low Risk, High Reward
In the second grade I vaguely remember being assigned my very first big essay. Everyday for a week I worked tirelessly to give Mrs. Sutton the most dazzling essay ever created. In the end, after she graded all of the essays she pulled me aside and sent me to the 4th grade teacher and praised me for my literary masterpiece. My smile was through the roof and I could not fathom that a simple essay could find me such praise. -
Mrs. Rawden
In my third grade class, Mrs. Rawden, had assigned a CER (cite, evidence, and reasoning) based on our favorite season. Since, I could remember mine had been autumn and I wanted to share as much as possible with my teacher. In the end, when she revised my points she marked almost everything in her bright red pen replacing my descriptive tones with bland statements. I began to second guess my writing yet later found that one moment does not define my purpose. -
Jolly Ranchers
In middle school I remember every once in a while another teacher would come into the classroom and ask us questions on literary topics or analyze other pieces of literature. After a while she would then ask questions on it, one day when I was confident with my answer I raised my hand and I got it correct. She then tossed the blue raspberry candy across the room for me to enjoy later. This day boosted my confidence in my ability to probe at literature and find its hidden meanings. -
MLA Format
Throughout middle school we learned bits and pieces of MLA format, however, it wasn't until freshman English class where I began my first large essay. It was on how history impacted literature and I found myself struggling to find the words. After recapturing my main points and perfecting my format I got a good grade on my essay, starting the year off with an A. -
Animal Farm
During freshmen year English one of the last novels assigned to the curriculum was Animal Farm. The content depicted the unstable Soviet Union on a farm and people were fighting over the type of government to be established. The last line however was the most shocking and mind altering I had ever read, it states, " "The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which". -
The Perfect Storm
The most recent book I was assigned was for AP Language and Composition. I decided to choose the book The Perfect Storm and found multiple perspectives of different sailors and their experiences out at sea. I was opened to the rough storms of the sea and the extreme dangers of high knots, unsafe practices, and companionship between friends and family.