Here are my two assignments that I have selected for major revision. Through both, I learned a lot about the art of literature, which I explain more in my reflections. Enjoy!

Here is the original description of the assignment for the Personal Exploration Essay:

You will write a 750-1000 word personal essay exploring your perspective. In the essay, you will explain your journey toward understanding the elements of fiction, your understanding of writing about literature, and even your understanding and enjoyment of reading fiction. Obviously, we haven’t read enough in this introductory course to compose grand theories, but in your reading and exploration you may have noticed some trends or patterns. Perhaps the material has challenged some of your assumptions.  This paper should explore and describe the beginning of your journey through this course.

As you describe your journey, you must refer to at least 3 of the works we read in this unit. You may also use other sources, for example, favorite books from your childhood. You may use examples in the form of quotation or paraphrase to help guide your reader through your journey. You may also use secondary sources if you wish, but that is not a requirement.

Since this is a personal essay, it is perfectly appropriate for you to use first person, and write with an informal tone. You are, after all, describing your journey. On the other hand, you will also be aware of writing in an academic context and will, of course, cite any source material (primary or secondary) using both in-text citations and a works cited page.

Here is the original description of the assignment for the Critical Essay:

You will write a 1250-1750 critical essay exploring one of the texts we have read so far from either unit. Your paper will focus on one work, but you may bring in other texts briefly if you like, for example, if you want to compare one author’s use of setting or perspective with another. You may use any of the formats for critical essays we will be talking about in class.

You will use the primary source(s), providing examples from the text to illuminate your discussion, and to guide your reader through the essay. You will also use one or more secondary sources.  Therefore, you will have both in-text citations and a works cited page.