Midterm Reflections

Ms. Cline,

I feel at this point in the term I am feeling very accomplished and fulfilled having met the challenges of a very demanding course schedule. I have, for the most part, met the challenges and received complementary marks for the effort. I don’t for the life of me know why I “bury” myself by choosing such a workload and then wondering why I get burned out. I have high expectations for what I believe I can accomplish and often deny that one might possibly get behind. Things happen, such is life and yet there is grace. One thing I can say is that I am very grateful for the “no questions asked” option for one assignment. You see there was one week early on where I found myself homeless and missed a full week’s coursework in all four of my classes. None gave grace but you Ms. Cline. None gave grace.

Now on to my reflections on the readings required by this class, loved Bartleby, initially hated Modest but quite surprisingly I fell in love with it. So much so that I took time to read it through again even after the assignment was finished! Let me expound on these individually.

I was drawn to Bartleby for two reasons initially, first was my love for Melville’s most popular work: “Moby Dick” and second by my interest in the legal profession. I am studying law as well as English this year and am even considering changing my major to Law entirely. I was delighted by the idiosyncrasies of the individual characters within the story. I found myself frustrated by the main characters constant response of “I prefer not to.” Much as the narrator must have been. But my delight and even frustration were short-lived as emotions which ultimately turned to sadness at the plight of this lost soul. I believe this was a great choice as a reading for this class Ms. Cline.

Now as to “A Modest Proposal” I was surprised by this work in the end. At the first reading I fought the work at every turn. I thought, “How disgusting”. I could not have been more adverse to the reading. I never thought in a million years that I would find the value in this piece. But by setting aside my personal bias and just looking at the mechanics used by the author I found my distaste give way to a greater understanding. Thank You.

My goal for the second half of the semester is to be less dogmatic and have more of an open mind toward all literary works. I will find the value within each. I will examine the rhetorical techniques and employ them within my own writing and determine which suit my very own style. Heck, some may even find my work initially “disgusting” but redeeming in some small way. I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us Ms. Cline!