Memoir

Over the course of a semester, I feel I have grown well as a writer. Through

reinforcement and continual writing activities as evidenced, my thoughts on paper have

become more concise and elaborate. Out of these countless exercises, I have chosen a selection

of my best work to display my standing as a writer and give insight into key components of this

course. These works include a book review devoted to food activist Dan Barber, analysis of a

poem by Don Marquis, as well as a piece originally written inspired from the ideas of Alan

Durning on Consumerism.

Two of these pieces have been edited and made grammatically correct, where the other

piece on consumerism has been revisited to elaborate and clarify some vague ideas mentioned

in the work. Specifically, the idea behind the necessity of consumption is analyzed and a

conclusion is inferred for the reader to become more aware of the surrounding importance of

ideas mentioned in the paper. I also added a researched source to portray a solidified and

justified argument to the reader, as concrete evidence through research is almost always

effective in sustaining a convincing argument.

I chose the other two pieces because they display the most direct and clear ideas from

any exercise completed during my time in English 101h. Firstly, the poem by Don Marquis

highlights important analytics regarding the main protagonist Archy the cockroach, as well as

contributes to discovering the hidden meanings and inferences Marquis provides through a

satirical piece. Coincidentally, Marquis poem in retrospect has to be my favorite of the

selection we were required to read for the semester. I tend to enjoy satire and Marquis

comedic tone elevated my desire to fully understand the work and exhibit it through the
assignment. The other assignment that I chose was a review of The Third Plate by Dan Barber, a

novel that reaches out to the reader in the form of knowledge regarding the current stance of

the agricultural industry and how food consumers have brought change to it. In a revolutionary

piece, Barber exemplifies his use of a Farm-to-Table approach, where ingredients are grown

direct from his own private farm to his restaurant, where he creates exotic dishes with what is

usually visualized as inferior crops. It was an interesting read nonetheless, and was inviting due

to its story-like writing style. I felt that the review I completed was extremely concise and

objective in relaying my ideas, which are key components in writing review type material. Also,

it had a special place in my heart as it was created at the peak of sleep deprivation and

extensive writing, as it had come about quickly after the creation of a different seven-page

essay on similar topics included in the book (which however was not included in the portfolio at

this time). This review also provides an example of my overall growth as a writer during the

semester, because it is the most recent work that I have completed. With all of this, I conclude

that writing during this course has not been a chore, but a learning experience and test of

determination that I feel at this point I have conquered as I continue my journey through

academics.

In a more in depth look at the growth I have encountered along the way, I believe that

my organizational skills have improved greatly as well as my attention to detail. In previous

writing courses, I tended to become solely focused on the assignment at hand and never give

any thesis too much real, personal thought behind it. This course has allowed for my passion to

override my normal standards, as I creatively began to experiment in some of the major essays

and can be exemplified in my piece on consumerism. This in a sense has manifested a new love
for reading and scholarly material, as in other courses this was not always the case. I feel that

the readings provided were always justified, which was always a problem in high school, which

gave me some sense of relief. None of the readings were too complex or abstract, which

broadened my capabilities for understanding material. This was actually extremely important in

maintaining my goals throughout the course, as classes in the past have placed limitations to

my determination through teachers mandating dull and uninspiring writings. Overall, there was

no time where I found myself questioning workload or activities in class or outside because

every action seemed to have attention to some main unit we were covering, or provided its

own insight that would spark interest for the class. For these reasons, I must thank my

professor, Mrs. Amy Ludwig, for handling this honors course professionally and in a way that

kept me motivated through the entire course. I also would like to give one last shout-out to

myself, for not giving up and transpiring through these last rigorous weeks.