Dear Selena, Wow! Can you believe this semester is almost finished?

Its almost impossible to believe that youre halfway done with your freshman year, although at the same time it seems like youve been here forever !ou "ant wait to go home Its funny be"ause in #ugust you "ouldnt wait to leave home $ut youre a bit afraid be"ause you know that in the amount of time youve been gone youve already "hanged so mu"h What will your family think of this new you? !ou "ant even really remember who you were before you left College has been s"ary Its been e%"iting, yes, but really s"ary !ou were thrown into this new environment and for"ed to "ope with all the "hanges #t times it was a lot to handle $ut you kept pushing through and trying your hardest in your "lasses #nd as you sit here now, you reali&e that youve grown so mu"h !ouve learned so mu"h personally and a"ademi"ally 'igh s"hool seems so far away Its weird to think about the student you were in high s"hool and the student you are now #s you finish up this final pro(e"t for your 'umanities and Writing "lass )"ant believe its the last one!*, you think about how you have improved as a writer in the past semester In high s"hool, you often gave rushed analysis of literature and did not fully think through your work +he senten"es in your writing would be "onfusing and long !ou would often ramble be"ause it was diffi"ult for you to e%plain what you meant #t the beginning of the semester, you had many of the same problems It has been hard to ki"k your old habits to the "urb, but you have definitely improved ,rofessor Debelius and -mmett have taught the "lass many helpful skills to write effe"tively #t the beginning of the "ourse we went over how to make writing more "on"ise +he summary assignment taught you how to delete unne"essary

words and parts of senten"es #s you edited other papers, you would always try to keep these tips in mind, and you would "ross off superfluous words and ambiguous senten"es #lthough some things still slip through the "ra"ks, you have been be"oming a more "on"ise writer #lso, it used to be diffi"ult for you to analy&e pie"es of writing 'owever, you have learned helpful te"hni.ues to do "lose readings, whi"h makes it easier to analy&e $#DC/,,S helped you to pay attention to spe"ifi" details as you read, su"h as synta%, point of view, di"tion and mu"h more +his really helped you to fo"us the readings and understand them better 0sually you would have trouble understanding pie"es of writing be"ause you would not be fo"used but using te"hni.ues like $#DC/,,S have given you dire"tion and organi&ation !ou know now that good writing is "on"ise and spe"ifi", and you try to keep that in mind when you write !oure really proud of the literary analysis pie"e you wrote 0sually, literary analysis is not your strong suit, but you found this se"tion very interesting -a"h story you read was interesting, and ea"h had so many hidden meanings !ou definitely tried to apply the $#,C/,,S te"hni.ues while reading !ou wanted to write about a pie"e that you felt most "onne"ted to personally In the end, you took a risk and "hose 1'appy -ndings2, whi"h we had not even reviewed in "lass yet 'owever, you felt like there was so mu"h to say and you knew you wanted to write about it It was diffi"ult to write3 the story affe"ted you personally and you o""asionally in(e"ted your personal opinion too mu"h It was hard for you to dis"over what the author was "on"luding at the end of the story4 did happiness not e%ist? did it e%ist in small moments? was sear"hing for storybook happiness ridi"ulous? -very time you reread the story you "ame had a new revelation It was hard to understand whi"h one was the real point 'owever, after "onferen"es you really tried to

take what ,rofessor Debelius had told you into a""ount !ou "hanged your thesis, edited, and revised It was the first time after "onferen"es where you "an really revised your argument and made "hanges to the stru"ture of the essay #fter you finished, you felt like you analy&ed and understood the story well !our personal views also "hanged3 you reali&ed that happiness is based on per"eption !ou have also looked at other past work from 'umanities "lass and revised them! !ou "ant believe its been so long sin"e you wrote the 1/n -du"ation2 paper It was the first paper you wrote in the "lass and yet the last one you revised In the 1/n -du"ation2 paper, you originally did not use many des"riptions !ou were 1telling2 the story rather than 1showing2 In your revision, you tried to be very des"riptive and paint a pi"ture for the reader, similar to our 1Short Shorts2 !ou tried to make the story flow better and make more sense !ou also had to refle"t on the e%perien"e more, and dis"over what it really meant to you !ou "hose to revise the 15esponse to 6ournier2 pie"e +his was definitely the most diffi"ult assignment for you this year, and you really wanted to improve it -ven though you had trouble writing it the first time, you wanted to ta"kle it again +his pie"e was most diffi"ult be"ause it was hard to take a stan"e about the 7illennial generation !ou both agreed and disagreed with parts of the different writers opinions So, it was hard to "hoose who to respond to and form your own opinion During your revision, you tried to make your writing more "onfident /riginally, you had made many assumptions and not assertions So, during revision, you "hanged any unsure language and senten"es amd ba"ked your "laims with more eviden"e 6urthermore, you also tried to distinguish your voi"e from 6ourniers !ou added topi" senten"es that "ontrasted 6ourniers views with your own 7any of the paragraphs also had to be restru"tured to make more sense

In the end, you are proud of the final pie"e, even though revising was a diffi"ult pro"ess #s the semester "omes to a "lose, you think about your other "lasses and what you have learned in them !ou "ompare your work in those "lasses to this "lass 6or e%ample, in this pro(e"t you have in"luded a blog post from your ,roseminar #s you stated, this pie"e differs greatly with your work from 'umanities It is mu"h more unorgani&ed and serves as a way to release your immediate thoughts and emotions 'owever, you reali&e that this is usually how you begin to write a 'umanities paper 6irst, you think about your personal opinions about a assignment !ou then build on that by "reating a stru"tured argument and supporting your "laims using eviden"e It is interesting to see how a blog post "ould potentially be"ome an essay +hroughout this semester you have built on your strengths as a writer I think one of your best strengths is your ability to "onne"t personally with your pie"es #lthough you may not e%pli"itly be stating what you feel, your voi"e is present in your work !ou try to write about something that you feel passionate about !ou are able to do this be"ause you apply the readings and writing to the real world #s you write, you also make little dis"overies about life 'owever, while these may be interesting and important to you, you often find them diffi"ult to e%plain on paper Sometimes your thoughts "an be dis"onne"ted and messy $ut you do work hard to try and "onne"t these thoughts, although at times it "an still be "onfusing !ou also need to make sure you use strong verbs and "orre"t grammar +hese mistakes detra"t from your writings !ou must work on having a "onfident voi"e in your work In the future, you "an improve on these weaknesses and make your writing even better In order to organi&e your thoughts, you "an try to e%plain them to someone in person first and then write them on paper

Whenever we had "onferen"es in "lass, talking to others about your work would definitely help you to understand your own arguments better !ou have to "ontinue being open to "riti"ism and taking what others say into a""ount It may also help to "reate a spe"ifi" outline before you begin writing +his will organi&e your thoughts more effi"iently 7ost importantly, show that you believe what you are talking about by taking a stan"e in your writing Well were finally at an end! !ou really have en(oyed this "lass and your first semester in general It has been a very "hallenging time in your life, but you know that you have learned you mu"h 'opefully you will "ontinue to learn and grow throughout the ne%t four years as a writer and as a person !ou will miss your 'umanities "lass but look forward to what "omes ne%t +hings are lookin up 8ood 9u"k! Selena