Acknowledgements

    I believe there are two people hiding inside each and every one of us: the one who lives life — the one who keeps up appearances, communication, health, and fun. The other one lies hidden beneath the shell of our skin: the one who observes life — the one who notices and understands the world, attaining and improving knowledge like artificial intelligence. Except in this case, the thought process is perfectly organic, unpredictable, and raw. The flesh of thought drips down in chunks, mixing into a thick slime which fills our insides. However, many people unfortunately neglect to grow their inner person. They become mentally weak and fragile, brittle like steel with hard realities of the world. Throughout my 11AP English class, I’ve learned how to think and how to understand the world in ways that have expanded my perspectives in ways I once thought unimaginable.

    It’s certainly been a long journey in 2nd hour 11AP English. I’d like to take a moment to appreciate the pieces that helped me the most. Special thanks to F. Scott Fitzgerald, for his invaluable contribution in writing “The Great Gatsby,” a novel which introduced me to the intricate messages and development of symbols over a piece of writing. I still remember the lengthy notebook pages I took in class and the amazement I felt over how we could derive so many different meanings from just a single page. I achieved both a new appreciation for literature and a new understanding of it. For example, I can see now that every description authors make is intentional. When Fitzgerald describes the bespectacled eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleberg, he is also describing many things — the gap between rich and poor, the slums which rich people have created from their industries and businesses, the ever-watching eyes over the problems of America, etc. Before, when I took to reading literature, I rather took the descriptions authors included in their story face-on, only meant to serve a picture/image in my mind. Through the analyzing and work we had done in class with many, many texts, I was able to improve on my ability to find meanings and messages within texts. 

I’d also like to extend my sincere thanks to David Foster Wallace’s Consider the Lobster, an ingeniously structured text which models the boiling alive feeling of a lobster itself, helped me to consider new ways to understand/write essays. Wallace’s usage of both formal and informal tones, and also references to the first person, opened my eyes to the diversity of writing and its infinite possibilities of conveying messages. There is a purpose in using informal word choice, and if used well it can even show you have a strong control over language. There were too many pieces we worked on in this class whose messages I’ve learned from, yet to acknowledge an invaluable few, I’d like to express my appreciation for “There is no Unmarked Woman,” which played an extensive role in my understanding of the inherent gender inequality in our society and our perception of women, for “The Clan of One-Breasted Women,” which taught me about circumstances in this world which I wasn’t aware about, and that in current day, we are still living in the consequences of history. For “The Body Rituals of the Nacirema,” which never wavered in teaching me that satire/parody can at times be most effective when implemented subtly. That satire can be created from an uncomfortable/unconventional use of tone or perspective. For “The Death of a Moth,” which uniquely created a simple allegory through varying complex and simple sentence structure. For “The Videotape,” which provided me with a unique perspective of writing which conveys its message through the second person. For "The F-Word" which revealed how humor can be used to connect with audiences and also imply certain truths. It was interesting to read a piece from a perspective so different than mine,and I realized there are so many unique worldviews that I may have never even thought about had I not taken this class. As a mixed race person, I've never given much thought to how my name could affect how other people treat me, or if my appearance would make people afraid of me, as it does in "Just Walk On By." I'm incredibly thankful to have been educated on some of the real-world injustices which plague our society. Sincerely, I wish I could acknowledge the contributions of all the pieces we read in class, and the inspirations they provided me from noticing each’s unique style, diction, tone and tone shifts, perspectives, and so many rhetorical devices. You all taught me that the learning process could be an enjoyable ride on a little rowboat.

    I must extend my sincere gratitude to none other than my in class essays. Although my essay grades only ever went down, I believe that I became a stronger writer after each and every one. In one of my first essays, the Great Gatsby vs. Ritz, I had trouble in analyzing language from the texts. Instead of mentioning rhetorical devices, my analysis culminated in “as Fitzgerald pokes fun at the rich, he creates satire by implying that the rich are not worth the glorification they receive.” I lacked actual analysis and developed thinking due to my lack of effective evidence, and also focused too much on implications of Fitzgerald’s writing rather than his actual rhetorical strategies. When compared to a recent rhetorical analysis essay, my thoughts are much more developed. In my Banneker essay, I wrote Banneker directly compares the condition of colonial America as “a state of slavery” in and of itself, implying that the experiences of him and his audience are more similar than once thought.” In contrast, this analysis smoothly integrates evidence within itself, keeps in mind historical context of the piece, and points out the effect of the rhetorical strategies Banneker used. I’m thankful for being able to improve so well on rhetorical analysis throughout the year. Although my rhetorical analysis essays were typical and on point, I believe my true learning started with the argument essay. Special thanks to my essay on “community voices,” in which I tried to lean into a new style of persuasive essay writing with the narrative mode. There is no other essay I’d rather have as my first attempt —  you were pure, real, and disastrously personal. Your wavering train of thought and ramblings taught me the importance of developing a coherent line of reasoning and logic within an essay. I cannot write another essay without considering what I believe to be one of its most important parts — developing its organization. The skeleton of an essay. I will always ensure that my essays have strong, calcium-rich structures to hold themselves up. I would also like to extend my thanks to my artifice essay. Your usage of extended metaphors in an attempt to create unity and liven up an otherwise dry essay were well appreciated. Your use of simple, theoreticals as examples led to some of my most developed analysis, and also taught me the importance of using concrete, real-world evidence which has a stronger backbone. All kinds of evidence are important, and will create a stronger and more sophisticated overall essay.

    I’d like to acknowledge the assistance of my lovely blog, AZCoordinator, in my learning journey. One of my favorite blogs was “What is God?,” an analysis of a poem by Langston Hughes. I was able to employ some of the rhetorical analysis skills I had acquired so far in the year to bring out multiple different and sophisticated claims from the poem. Another blog post I’d like to thank is my “Daisy/Myrtle Dystopia Cyber Future Highschool AU” post, in which I tried to incorporate the many symbols and messages throughout my own writing in the same ways in which Fitzgerald did in the Great Gatsby. It was a wonderful experience and application of my learning. I can not thank enough the role of all of my blogposts in refining my writing skills and techniques with their unique topics and styles every week.

    Last but certainly not least, I'd like to express my deepest appreciation to those around me who have supported me all the way through on my journey. Thank you Adeline Alexopolis, for reminding me of when we had homework due when I forgot. For helping me discuss the pieces we read in class so that I could actually understand them. For letting me read out of your textbook whenever I didn’t bring it. For helping write the most fire essays in our partner writes. English class would be a lot more boring without you. Thank you Hemna, for always helping out in class when I needed and writing many partner writes with me. Thank you for sending me the homework when I forgot to take it at school. English was hard, but with the two of you it was much more manageable. I would also like to thank Diksha and our whole table for engaging in intriguing and philosophical literary discussion for sophisticated people. Together, we were almost always on task and on top of our class work. I’d also like to acknowledge the assistance or Shayuri and Sofia, who helped me out with English homework during first hour, and joined me in agony over Monday essays. It was you who helped me to step into our classroom well-prepared and engaged. Thank you to my mom and dad, the people who have supported me the most in my English journey since the very beginning. Finally, I cannot leave 11AP without mentioning Ms. Valentino, the teacher who planned out every day in class so that I would experience a wide variety of experiences throughout the whole year. I’m overwhelmingly thankful to have the privilege of taking and succeeding in your class. Thank you all for your gracious support.

    Although I have certainly grown a lot, the journey does not end here. The mind is but a muscle which must be continuously exerted to be in fit shape. To those who never let me down, I am eternally in your debt and ever grateful to see us all improving ourselves and strengthening our minds, becoming more observant and understanding of life together. Thank you.