Hello, Daniel. I wanted to start by saying I am glad you had a good fall break. Just like you and Sarah I took the oppourtiny to go home for my fall break. I live about 2 hours away, so it is not too far but just far enough to take a break from Farmville. I was also lucky enough to have all my midterms before break, so I was able to take the weekend to not have to worry about school. I was very greatfuI I got to spend time with my friends, family, dogs and my boyfriend who was also home for break. I was feeling slightly home sick when I returned, and this was the first time I have felt that way since move in. However, I was very excited to see my suitemates especially one who has been gone for about 2 weeks due to being sick. I have also enjoyed going to a small school however before I picked longwood I planned to attend Coastal Carolina university which is a very big school. Although sometimes I have doubts and wonder if I picked the right school, I look at how much I enjoy having smaller classes and getting to know my professors and the people in around me. I have also decided to stay in close contact with my friends from back home. My best friend just moved to South Carolina however we chose to stay very close, and I see her very frequently. I also have my boyfriend who goes to school in North Carolina, but we are from the same hometown and have decide to stay together as we have been on and off for 5 years. I like to keep the people in my life close regardless of distance. I believe the distance has made us as people stronger and learn more about ourselves and each other and support no matter what. I love my friends I have met here very much but my friends back home are irreplaceable.

I have never had an English class help me with so much. So far, I have learned how to do an annotated bibliography, blog posts, grammar, and how to do citations. That’s a couple out of the probably 40 things. We had to read four books in your class: Understanding Rhetoric, Freshman Year, They Say I Say, and Academic Writing. But if you asked me what my favorite was, it would be understanding rhetoric because I understand it the best because it is in comic form, it’s engraved in my mind. I don’t have multiple favorite chapters, but the ones I remember are the ethos, pathos, logos, and Karos. I don’t have a least favorite chapter; I have a least favorite book, I don’t like reading They Say I Say, not one bit. For example, when we were doing our reading quiz, when I read the chapter for They Say I Say, I forgot what I had read when I turned the page, that’s why it’s my least favorite. When I started college, I was the most scared of this writing class, and I can confidently say now I’m not afraid of someone looking at my computer while I’m typing or letting someone read and critique my writing.  My strengths in this class are the blog posts because I feel like I can write more like myself, and how I talk in real life is how I write. But my weakness is starting an essay, I started my annotated bibliography late, and how I will fix that by starting my essay in bits and pieces. I have a problem with writing in one sitting and getting half of the essay done, and then I’m burnt out by the time I need to write again. I love this class, and I’m going to miss it, but I will always think of my English 165 if I write another annotated bibliography again, I can promise you that.

My favorite chapter from They Say, I Say is “You Mean I Can Just Say It That Way?” I love that it emphasizes using everyday language when writing. I often try to use big words or complicated sentences, thinking it will make my writing sound smarter, but this chapter encourages me to make my writing more inviting by addressing the readers directly. I also liked the examples comparing unclear and clear writing. They show how small changes can make a big difference in understanding and they have inspired me to revise my own work more carefully, ensuring I communicate my ideas effectively. This chapter has changed how I think about writing. Its focus on clarity and connection makes it my favorite so far, and it provides me with great tools to improve my writing in the future.

I don’t have a least favorite chapter in any of the books I’ve read so far because they all teach me new things. If I did have one I didn’t like, I would go back and review it as much as possible. I once heard that “something you don’t like is trying to teach you something,” so I live by this idea. That’s why I can say I do not have a chapter I dislike.

Honestly, I think my writing can still improve. I feel like I’m in the middle with my writing. Writing is challenging, I recently told my friend that I find writing poems easier than writing essays because I’m more passionate about poetry. My ideas also flow easily when I write about topics I care about, but when it’s something I’m less interested in, my mind often goes blank.

One of my strengths in writing is imagery. I feel like I can paint a picture for readers with my words. Another strength is that my writing is clear, making my main ideas easy to understand. However, I do struggle with poor structure and sometimes neglect my audience. To overcome these weaknesses, I plan to seek feedback from people who are my target audience and revise my work based on their insights.

So far, I know that academic writing follows a structure that includes an introduction, body, and conclusion. The language used in academic writing is mostly formal, but it can vary depending on the field. References are important in academic writing because they support your claims and give credit to original ideas.

As we have been reading Understanding Rhetoric and They Say, I say I have found several things that have stuck to me. The quizzes that we take on these books have pushed me to work to read them as I am not a huge reader, and overall I have learned a lot about how writing should be addressed to the audiences. Both of these readings are beneficial for writers learning how to correctly address what they are communicating. 

In the book of Understanding Rhetoric the ideas that have stuck with me in the chapters that we have focused on is collaborating is a major aspect in rhetoric. Collaborating will be in everyday life when writing to others. I also read that you should know your audience and make sure they trust you. If there is not a direct audience it is hard to explain your reasoning. The last idea I took from the reading is that your context changes how and why we write. 

In the book of They Say, I say the idea that has stuck with me while focusing on certain chapters has been to look more into what the others are saying and how you understand what they are saying. So X is saying this, but Y thinks this.

I honestly feel like my writing has always been pretty well, but with learning more about research and citations I sometimes struggle. I did not do many research papers through high school, so it has definitely been a learning experience. Although I am still learning I have noticed that I have been progressing with these topics from when I first learned about how to research. One thing that has stood out to me the most is to take the advice your professors give you and keep those examples in all of your writing. 

Being in this class I also have learned to look for sentences in the readings that speak out to the audience significantly. Even when reading myself I think how this would impact me and others reading. I have always been someone that if I do not understand anything I will write the idea on how I would communicate to others.

My experiences are slightly different from Sarah’s. One of the reasons is because I did not stay at home over my break. I stayed with some friends including my roommate, so I did not have to transition back to being with her after the break. Although, I did miss everyone from school that do not live close to my hometown.

Unlike Sarah, who seemed extremely stressed out over the registration process, I feel very prepared for next semester. In the book, the advisor gave Sarah very vague instructions on how to register. Here at Longwood, I have had great support and guidance when it comes to registering for classes and staying on track to graduate with my major. An area I do relate to Sarah in is worrying about not getting the classes I want. As her advisor says, the classes fill up quickly, so that is my only concern when it comes to registering for next semester.

Sarah is at a large school, so some of her classes look larger. It also seems like her professors don’t know her personally. At Longwood, I feel like a lot of my professors know who I am, and all of them at least know my name. I have had a chance to have a one on one conversation with all of them. I really enjoy this about being at a small school.

In Sarah’s experience, she keeps a couple of close friends from home throughout the beginning of her first semester. Her and I are different because I drifted from my friends from home after graduation to prepare to start fresh and focus on work. I have made many new friends at school that share more interests with me than the people I knew in high school.

Being away from Longwood for an extended amount of time will probably be difficult for me. When Sarah went home, she made comments that implied that her home seemed unfamiliar to her. Since I did not go home for fall break, I can imagine that I will feel similarly when I am home for Thanksgiving break.

While on break it was great. Like Sarah, I went home. I do not live that far away but it was still great to be home. I really needed the time away from farmville and it was the start of hunting season ,so I got to go hunting all weekend. Luckily for me all my midterms were before break. Which was great so I could get them out the way before break. Also i like that so i could be more focused on them while i am at home i just want to chill out and enjoy the time with my family. After coming back from break it was good to see my roommates. We all decided to go play a round of golf when we all came back from break. Although, we all do not wanna do anything like the dishes since we did not have to do any at home, that is the one thing I think that has changed since break. My experiences at a small school at Longwood have been great and they are different from Sarah’s bigger school experience. Like my english class has 17 people in it compared to sarah’s huge lecture class. For me I am not drifting away from my friends from back home. I went to a private school and I found a close group of friends and we all did not want to be that friend group that breaks up after college. Actually my best friend from high school comes down from radford and stays here when he goes home for the weekend sometimes. WHile over break we all got together at one of our houses that we always used to hangout at and talked about how college was going grade wise and everything that has happened while at college.