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My Portfolio

An Overall Reflection of the Semester

Why Americans don’t read? It is not a simple question, it is a perspective that is changed after taking this class. I remember most of us think that reading is difficult and time taking and in youth, when you have lot of things to do, so it is not necessary to spend all time in reading or writing. And for me due to lack of motivation effects the process of learning. My approach towards learning changed after reading “Homegoing” because before reading this book, I consider this class just to fulfil the requirement of my degree but as the time passes and I indulge in reading and assignments related to course, I have realized how wrong I was. reading and writing is much more difficult from what we think. when I read about theories and their implication and did my final essay my concepts totally changed.

And here I would like to give the example of “Doll house in which we have learned that self-determination is very important it has the ability and opportunity to make choices and decisions, it become trained as a self-advocate, and participate in coalitions and decision-making in anything. In first three months, we have read two books, a slew of short stories and a play. I remember, our first assignment was writing about my reading habits and I found it very difficult to write but in past I don’t have such a reading habits, but everybody was writing that they love to read, or they have a strong reading habits, so I feel that maybe I am the only one who don’t have reading habits? I have found this class very interesting and I have learned a lot about reading and writing through this class. This was a big question to me, so I started thinking about it and found that for good understanding and good writing one need to develop reading habit.

Now, reading book is a joy to me because whenever I feel lost or depress or even lonely, I take a novel and I read to get over whatever I’m going through. I love to read real stories about people, and love stories also science facts books , even the cooking books but I always would rather to read them in my first language which is Arabic because I face some difficulties to understand the words or the real meaning when I read a book in a different language because then it turns to be learning more than it is fun and joy to me. Whenever I read a book, I feel like I’m flying into a different world or it’s like diving into a deep sea with a lot of different meanings especially if it’s a book that touch my heart and I feel myself inside the story and it’s like I am living in it and I can see every event the writer wrote about. I would love to find books in English that would make me feel the same way as when I read in Arabic.

Formalist or Reader Response Essay

My favorite and the one I have found most interesting is the “Desiree’s Baby”. It is one of the Kate Chopin’s famous story. Even I have read it in past but this time my perspective of reading this book changed. As it was a story from 19th century, when society and conditions were different from today. Miscegenation was the ultimate taboo of that time which did not mean that it was not prevalent. In her polemic against such dehumanizing social systems, Chopin chose to tear down the unjust system completely. The short story is quite progressive for its age. I started thinking about this story critically and for response essay, I did my best to do it well and get good grades.

PowerPoint On Writing

Doing PowerPoint was really interesting and different experience rather than writing essay. we have to do it in groups and I think this not only creative but also give the sense of working in groups. However, in that I have faced some difficulties because my partner, who was supposed to represent it with me traveled out of the country and I had to do it all by my self alone.

Homegoing

The book, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. I have found it little difficult to read in the beginning but later on my interest developed in it and I really enjoyed reading it. We have to do a final research essay related to this book. It was not very essay to do but I feel it is some thin that challenged me and I tried my best to complete this essay and get good grades. However I have realized one the importance of reading when I need to write critique.

Feminist/Marxist Critique

This critique was the most difficult among all assignments we did. Writing critique from theoretical point of view is difficult because on one hand you need to understand story and then criticize it from the lens of another person. I have found it interesting and put all my efforts to complete it.

Concludingly, I would like to say a big thanks to our professor Jacqueline V. Scott, for all the hard work and efforts she put for us. We can never be able to write such an important assignment and understand the true essence of reading and writing without her.