I finished my final inquiry essay this week and I am almost finished with the work remaining for this class. I am currently pondering how I should lay out my website. I am trying to figure out how to work out the settings and everything. After I complete my website layout, I will be completing my writing reflection to upload. I wonder how my writing skills have changed over the semester, I do not remember anything that happened around that time to be completely honest. Everything has felt like a blur.

This previous week, I worked on my final inquiry research essay. I decided to focus on the impact misrepresentation has on society. I decided to do this question because it’s something I’m actually interested in finding out. We also read “Elliot Spencer” for class and it was a unique experience because it was hard to decipher what was going on at some points. I am currently working on my draft/outline for my inquiry research essay and so far everything is going well and I await peer review on Tuesday.

Last week, I focused on my composition of two genres. I had my compositions done and I just needed to complete my rationale. after setting it aside for a day or two, I finally got to work on it and I finished. I had a rough week.

This week, we wrapped up novels and we are exploring genre for our project. I am doing a drawing and a journal entry for my genres. I find this project super fun because it is not the typical assignment. You have more freedom for creativity. So far, I have completed my drawing and I am proud of it. It took me a day and a half because I am not the best artist and I was trying to get every detail perfect. My drawing portrays Constance looking away from the outside world. I chose to do this because the fact that Constance went through all of that for her little sister just resonated with me. She is living in a life molded by the actions of Mary Katherine. I did not want that detail to just be looked over so I decided to capture it through art. I am so excited to put myself in Charles’ shoes so I can write that journal entry. I wanna write the entry by hand and burn the papers at the edges a little bit so it can look like they were recovered from the house fire.

This week, I learned about different genres. Genre is important when you are trying to convey a particular message to an audience. One example that stood out to me as I read Dirk’s essay is the ransom note. Using the wrong genre could lead to the wrong impression and the ransom note would not be as effective. In addition, the letter to the bank that was trying to dispute a wrongful charge was effective by the way it was set up. The person established their credibility and then made it clear that the late fee was charged by mistake. The way the letter was written asserted the power and position as the customer while being respectful to the institution. This essay broadened my view on writing and it showed me that you don’t have to stick to a formula.

On Tuesday, I had a decent amount of time to read and on Friday as well. I thought I would be finished reading by now but I’ve had so much to to it is hard to keep up sometimes. I am determined to finish my book today because it is finally the weekend and I got a lot of my work out of the way during the week so I do not have as much to do.

This week, we read “Now We Are Five” by David Sedaris and “Strawberry Spring” by Stephen King. I enjoyed “Strawberry Spring” a lot and it didn’t feel like an ‘assigned reading’. It felt like I was reading a story in my leisure time. I liked the mystery element and how clueless the narrator seemed despite being the culprit. I suspected the narrator of being the killer from the beginning because he seems a little too observant and practical the entire time. From his observations, everyone else around him was paranoid and freaking out but his fear seemed minimal. I wonder what might have caused him to start the murders again at the end. Also, I wonder why the particular campus is of interest to him. Why is that his target area for murder? I wonder why he might have chosen that girl who studied art as his victim. There are a lot of parts to the story that leave me curious.

This week, I worked on preparing for the character profile assignment. I like how we were given small steps to help us with completing the entire assignment. The topic proposal helped me understand what exactly I wanted to do and which direction I should take. The research update made me do some research and set up the foundation for my writing. Without these steps, I would be lost and I would dive headfirst into the assignment without putting as much thought in. This would make it harder for me to make something that is well composed.

I can’t wait to get started on reading We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.

This week, we read “Stone Boy” by Gina Berriault. I liked this read because it leaves me with a lot of questions. It is also frustrating for that same reason. I want to know if Arnold actually has feelings and what exactly he was thinking after his brother’s death. He dealt with it in an unusual way and that doesn’t necessarily mean he felt no remorse or grief. I am curious to see what a psychiatrist or any other mental health professional would have to say about his behavior. I feel like they would have an explanation for why he reacted the way he did. I don’t think Arnold is malicious or apathetic. I feel like he was in shock and he continued to suppress his pain and guilt. He was only nine years old. He was quite young and he might not have known how to handle a situation as insane as killing your sibling.

We also continued working on our character profiles. I think I’m going to use Seymour from ‘Bananafish’ because the text is interesting I want to unpack everything. I would enjoy taking apart the story and analyzing its meaning.

Last week, we finished up our personal narratives and read “The Swimmer” by John Cheever. The personal narrative assignment was quite difficult because I was having trouble trying to find a story from my life that connected with what we have read. I tried to make the story as interesting as possible. Most of my life is boring and I felt like my stories were not worthy to be incorporated into a narrative. I overcame that challenge and managed to complete the assignment to the best of my abilities. The past couple of weeks were a hard time for me and I am proud that I put in the work.

“The Swimmer” was an interesting read. The main character behaved like a child and behaved peculiarly. I was not able to figure out what was going on in his head. The author made it so that his actions speak for him rather than his thoughts. The class discussion helped me understand what went on in the story and why Neddy acted the way he did. There was a lot about him to unpack and it showed me the complexity of the issues he faced.

Last week, we discussed the two stories by Shirley Jackson and the new story we read titled “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” by J.D Salinger. I found Tuesday’s discussion the most interesting because I was introduced to a wide range of takes on the prompt. I felt satisfied after reading the stories and participating in the discussion because all of my questions were answered and I truly feel like I understand the stories. The message I got from these stories is very similar to the impressions I got from “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Both of the authors wrote about women not being taken seriously in their times of need. They both reflect upon the phenomenon of women being labeled or interpreted as dramatic and people overlooking the underlying issue. Salinger’s story got straight to the point and highlighted the stigma and lack of knowledge of PTSD at the time. We have gotten better as a society with recognizing these issues before they cause any harm.