10-18-2011
Dear Prof. Cline, (And all of you who will read this!)
Working in English 102 has been not only instructive, but perhaps even entertaining. Of course there have been challenges and hurdles, but there has also been great success and satisfaction. I am looking forward to the rest of the semester, but I find it also important to look behind, to assignments accomplished and projects completed.
My biggest challenge in this class so far has been working outside of blackboard. I am not what I would consider “computer savvy”. Sure, I know my way around file systems and can do some basic problem solving and have even dabbled in other operating systems like Linux, but the realm of social networking is quite foreign. I was surprised and pleased by the ease of Blogger and its user friendly style. Even uploading video to Youtube was not nearly as hard as I imagined. My biggest success therefore has been the ability to use these avenues for communication in a whole new way. It has been both exciting and frustrating at times, but on the whole it has been and excellent experience.
The tech work has not been the only aspect of this class, by no means. The works that we have read have been thoughtfully selected and the class takes an ordered approach on one particular subject, in this case monsters and monstrosity. Some have been moving, like “Goblin Market” by Rossetti. Others were thought provoking such as Shelley’s “Frankenstein”. All of them have been interesting to read and great to comment on. None of the works only have one aspect, making it fascinating to read others comments. New ideas are shared and discussed. It is a form of group study on one particular subject, everyone bringing their own backgrounds and thinking methods into the reading. That is what makes this class different from any that I have yet taken. The group work, analyzing a topic with the help of literary criticism, has been phenomenal. It has been great to put out ones ideas to a group of people that will give constructive criticism of your thoughts.
My hopes for the next half of the semester will be to improve on my writing style. Better revision techniques will definitely be at the top of my priority list. Perseverance is the key to success. So with the help of our excellent instructor, Prof. Cline, I endeavor to keep working and become a better writer and a better reader. I hope that everyone will have a pleasant last eight weeks in this course and I wish all of them the best of luck.
Pax et Bonum,
Joseph McNerney
Hey Joseph,
ReplyDeleteI am really glad that you like using Blogger, I think it is a great tool for an online class to use. I too thought that it was going to be complicated and confusing when I had to first use it in the first semester I started taking college classes but to my surprise it has become fun. I like being able to get feedback from the rest of the class, it gives me a chance to see what improvements I may need to make in writing to make it easier for others to understand what I am trying to get across.
Hi Joseph,
ReplyDeleteGreat letter! I agree with you that doing all the work outside of Black Board has been a big challenge. However, you do have to admit that Blogging has been kind of fun,don't you? I also think that your writing style does not need too much improvement, if you do improve too much more you will be famous:) Keep up the good work, we're almost done!
Hi Joseph,
ReplyDeleteI agree with how easy blogger is to use! I thought that it was going to be way more difficult then it really is. I also had some problems with all the technology but not much. I also need to get a better revision process for the second half of the class. You have a really fantastic attitude about the class and I think that that is something that you need to have to survive online classes.