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Journal #4: Reflect on Essay Assignment #1. Which writer do you think you’ll analyze and why? What do you find striking about their writing? Which question do you think you'll want to tackle? What are your intuitions about what your answer might be? What kind of academic article will be useful for helping you make this argument? How do you plan to go about finding that?

The writer I believe I will analyze is Frances Harper, her take on Christianity and how it was connected to America in its slavery & post-slavery era was interesting to me. Although Harper was not a slave herself, her ability to captivate the journey and struggles of slavery was enlightening, and the use of Christianity is also clever. As an African American in the United States, Christianity and faith were two major things pushed into slaves' minds due to the missionaries and slave owners that pushed the idea onto them. Harper has a very specific outlook on religion and how it can be used in a sense of freedom and that is why I chose her because the question I believe I will answer is "How, why, and in what circumstances does Christianity compel one to take revolutionary action for one's freedom?". I believe my answer will be along the lines of how prayer and the belief in God helps slaves or un-freed peoples continue their journey because they believe there is a higher power not only looking out for them but guiding them through their turmoil and troubles along the way. Harper uses the old testament and the story of Moses to express different moments in history and I believe her outlook and approach to the topic will help me answer my question and further analyze it as a whole. Some academic articles I believe will be helpful are studies on religion and gaining control over a large group of people, such as cults. I will also look for articles on faith and how it contributed to journeys to freedom, perhaps journals from run-away slaves or maybe members of the underground railroad. I plan on finding reputable researchers and scientists to find these articles, using websites such as the National Library of Medicine and Google Scholar. I look forward to reading these articles and furthering my knowledge on the topic so I can dive deeper into my response. 

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Group 3: Look through the “Garnet at the 1843 Convention” page under the “Garnet’s Orations” section. How does a comparison with Douglass help us understand Garnet’s “Address”? How can we see these tensions reflected in Garnet’s speech?

A comparison with Douglass helps us understand Ganet's address because it provides a perspective of other people in the current period when it was released. We can see what the response and reaction to the address were. I'm a person who was never enslaved; the actual weight of the address does not hit me as hard as someone from that era who was enslaved. However, Douglass's reaction is surprising in that it comes off as if he did not like Garnet's address as it seems moving and inspiring to me, but for Douglass, it comes off as something entirely different. As a person living in free times when slavery hasn't been a thing in the United States for a long time, I am quite unsure what would be a good approach toward becoming free. At first glance, Garnet's approach seems like a reasonable one. These people are watching their families be stripped of them and have to see themselves get stripped of all humanity. They see their masters' sympathy, empathy, or other human emotions towards them; therefore, the more violent and aggressive approach seems to make sense. Given the circumstances, a more peaceful attempt to take freedom doesn't seem feasible, but that is just me looking in. Seeing that Douglass disapproved of the address forces me to see a different take on the address as an outsider. It allows me to know that it may not be as realistic as one may think when you first read it. Garnet's address showcases his extensive vocabulary and diction, which is not something many enslaved people had. Most didn't know how to read or write; if they did, it wasn't to that extent. They may not have gotten the entire message as intended, as they couldn't take everything in due to the lack of accessibility to education. Douglass wanted some of the diction changed so it could reach the enslaved people and take in what he was saying entirely. The aggression wasn't received well by Douglass, a formerly enslaved person; Therefore, he knew it wouldn't be received positively by the enslaved people. Some of the diction Garnet uses is condescending as he talks down to the enslaved people. An example is when Garnet questions the men's ability to be men and protect the women in their lives. I could not see the address as such before, but with added historical context and a new perspective, it allowed me to change and broaden my opinion on it, But also form an idea of how it may have been received. The weight that Douglass's reaction held can show me that this was a widespread opinion. Given the historical context, the address was not received as well as Garnet wanted it to be, as it was voted on multiple times if they should have it promoted by the Colored conventions Movement.

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Garnet Essay

In the times of slavery, freedom was a thing many dreamed of but didn’t have much motivation to get, as the obstacles they knew they would face and possible punishment if caught. Some used their kids as motivation, others were simply fed up with the circumstances they were living in. Another factor that can be considered is religion, Christianity to be specific. Christianity was what many slaves believed in and the idea and concept of a better place and having someone watching over them motivated slaves to live daily and eventually push them to fight for their freedom. 

One person who was able to put this idea into writing was Henry Garnett in his address to the slaves. Garnett speaks to the slaves in an attempt to rile them up to take their freedom. Using heavy diction and terms he is trying to motivate them to fight for their lives. How he does this by tying it back to religion, Christianity to be specific. Christianity is what slave masters and white people overall used to keep slaves in their place. By telling them this is what God intended for them and that they were doing this for the better of themselves; Which anyone who reads a history book would find out is incorrect. Christianity has had a strong grasp on the Black community since slavery, so Garnett using it against them to convince them to revolutionize is one of the smartest things he could’ve done. These are people who are going through unspeakable things and deal with the trauma that would be passed down through generations to come.  The only thing that kept most of them breathing every day was Christianity; From gospel hymns to praying at night for salvation, slaves used Christianity as a tool in remaining alive and keeping the fire inside them for freedom burning greatly. 

Garnett tells the slaves that slavery is not only a crime against humanity but also God himself, as he made all of his children equal but those very same humans decided that they were better than another group and enslaved them, “Nor has the one more right to the full enjoyment of his freedom than the other. In every man’s mind the good seeds of liberty are planted, and he who brings his fellow down so low, as to make him contented with a condition of slavery, commits the highest crime against God and man. Brethren, your oppressors aim to do this. They endeavor to make you as much like brutes as possible.” (Garnett). Or when he uses God and Christianity to show disappointment in the slaves, the men to be specific. “Fellow-men! Patient sufferers! Behold your dearest rights crushed to the earth! See your sons murdered, and your wives, mothers and sisters doomed to prostitution. In the name of the merciful God, and by all that life is worth, let it no longer be a debatable question, whether it is better to choose Liberty or death.” (Garnett). Garnett does not beat around the bush in his choice of words and is passionate about this problem, he wants to make the men feel ashamed for letting all of this happen, not only to themselves but also to their children and life partners. He wants them to know there should be no questioning about their current state of life because God wouldn’t allow it nor would he be proud of it, even going to the extent to say it is either liberty or death. He is aggressive in his approach, as that is what he wants to fill the slaves with; Pure aggression to get them to fight for their freedom, even if it becomes physical which is encouraged because it is for their liberty. Although many may disagree or have opinions to say about Garnett’s approach and diction he utilized Christianity to compel and encourage the enslaved people to revolutionize and take their freedom. 

Garnett received much backlash from scholars of his period and some even now criticize his work. As someone reading it in 2022 I can see both sides of the criticisms and the praise that comes along with it. One scholar James Jasinski addresses Garnett and tackles the topic of masculinity and the aspect of Christianity within it in his journal “Constituting Antebellum African American Identity: Resistance, Violence, and Masculinity in Henry Highland Garnet's (1843) “Address to the Slaves””. James addresses the time period and how it may have come off given the context of the time period and to whom it was addressed. This can also go back to the criticisms Garnett received when the address was published. This take on the address seems to fit more of mine, the usage of Christianity and God against the men in the slave community was greatly found in the address and the overall question of how Christianity can compel one to revolutionize for their freedom. The colored people convention did not want this address to be published under them nor representation of them due to the promotion of violence and overall diction of the address as many slaves did not know how to read. 

Harry A Reed is another person who had a “rebuttal” to Garnett and his address to the slaves. In “Henry Highland Garnet's "Address to the Slaves of the United States of America" Reconsidered. The Western Journal of Black Studies; Pullman, Wash. Vol. 6, Iss. 4,  (Winter 1982): 186.”, he focuses on the “rhetorical violence” (Reed) and “moral sin” of slavery and slaveholding. They left out more of the religious aspects of Garnett’s address and more so in the dialect and also the moral questioning that went into slavery. This is closer to a more modern take on it as many scholars look at slavery as a moral sin rather than a religious sin as how Garnett saw it. Personally, this take on the address didn’t focus on what I find the more “important” aspects of the address as a whole but it does focus on some other things that are also important and were focused on by others in the past such as the violent terms and aggression that comes off in the address. 

In the grand scheme of things, both of the takes on Garnett are equally important as it sheds light on different interpretations and aspects of the address that people in different time periods may not be able to point out. Religion is close to people’s hearts (if they partake in it) and using it as a way to motivate people was clever in my opinion. When you can reach someone’s heart you can also reach their mind and convince and sway them to do something under the influence of your words. Garnett was passionate about the freedom of liberty of his people and that is very apparent in his work. He was also a follower of Christianity and had strong faith, which is seen in his references to the bible. Religion can be a powerful tool, as it is also what cults use to mold the minds of their followers and convince them to do things. They give someone the thought of a higher power who knows all and sees all, therefore telling them to do something and hiding it under the guise of what that God may have “wanted” them to do convinces them to do exactly what they want them to do; In Garnett’s case, this want was to revolutionize. Religion, especially Christianity is very compelling in the black community and in my perspective is one of the best ways to convince someone to do something. 

Reed, H. A. (1982). Henry highland garnet's "address to the slaves of the united states of america" reconsidered. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 6(4), 186. Retrieved from http://proxyhu.wrlc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/henry-highland-garnets-address-slaves-united/docview/1311803675/se-2

James Jasinski (2007) Constituting Antebellum African American Identity: Resistance, Violence, and Masculinity in Henry Highland Garnet's (1843) “Address to the Slaves”, Quarterly Journal of Speech, 93:1, 27-57, DOI: 10.1080/00335630701326878 "Home." Henry Highland Garnet’s “Address to the Slaves’” and its Colored Conventions Origins - October 12, 2022, https://coloredconventions.org/garnet-address-1843/

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Genre Analysis

Hope Coardes

Professor Sean

Writing, Literacy, & Discourse

20, October 2022

Genre Analysis

A genre of a story or novel can change its message and how the message may come off to the readers. Authors know this and choose particular genres for their stories and write them in a way to ensure that their message comes across how they intended for it to come across and that there is no confusion in what they were trying to convey. Different genres such as an essay may have the purpose of educating someone and comes off as scholarly, while a diary entry format may give the readers a more personal perspective of the story and allows the message to be clear as it has the exact words and thoughts of the author, leaving no room for misinterpretation. Two authors we can look at to further discuss genres and their impact on a message are Geneva Smitherman’s English Teacher, Why You Be Doing the Thangs You Don't Do? and Alice Childress’s Childress’s Like One of the Family. Both works have the intended purpose of spreading information on something that was occurring but is written in two different ways, evoking different emotions and reactions from the readers. 

Smitherman’s genre could be considered an English journal; An English journal in my definition is a piece of scholarly writing that covers a topic of the author's choice. It isn’t like a research paper as it is based on opinions and most of the time personal experiences. There are also elements of a play as it contains the discussion between what seems to be a couple. The use of the play is a unique addition but an important one. The play adds a break from the heaviness of the topic being discussed but also gives an example of what she is talking about. The conversation adds an element of “reality” to the reader's ability to read and understand what it is like to have these conversations in real life. Her journal was originally published by the National Council of Teachers of English in 1972. The period in which it was published also plays a role in the importance of the genre. Smitherman took the courage to write and publish something that many would rather ignore, all while being a black scholarly woman. Smitherman’s main message seems to be the struggles and inconsistencies in a black child’s education, especially women's. Ranging from how they are taught to act a certain way to please their peers and teachers and not play into the stereotype, But the largest message to the audience is the inconsistency and constant push to make black kids the smartest and most eloquent in the room to size up to white kids and be on their “level”. Her use of an English journal was a good one in my opinion because it allows the reader to know their reading something from a scholar and they are reliable, but they are also building a more personal perspective and connection to the author. The audience could be any black child that has done schooling, especially ones in the “ghetto”. Smitherman is tackling an issue that most don’t address because it is a controversial topic. The idea of the students being negatively enforced to be more linguistic and talk a certain way is controversial because it isn’t something you can prove with hard evidence, but instead something most people know exists and just deal with it. When brought up many would-be gaslit, Smitherman knows this and is addressing the people who have dealt with it and is providing them with reassurance and validation in their experiences. The genre is an important element to the overall message and without it I believe it would not have the same effect or come off the same way as it did.

On the other hand Childress had a completely different approach on getting her message through. In Childress’s Like One of the Family the genre is a diary entry. A diary entry is a collection of thoughts, emotions, and events that a person could be reflecting on in their diary. These entries are personal and allows a reader to get a first hand account of what is occurring in the author’s life. I believe that is why the genre being a diary entry is so important for the message of Childress’s work. She is explaining life as a working Black woman in the 1950’s-60’s in the city. The use of a diary entry is clever, it allows the reader to connect more with the author and grasp what she was going through. Having access to her emotions and encounters with people such as her boss comes in handy because there is no room for interpretation. The reader doesn’t have to guess the conditions or come to their own conclusions because everything is laid out for them. Another element of the story could be historical, as it is taking the readers back in time to learn about the conditions. The book was published in 1956 and that can be seen throughout with the language used and events that take place. The genre helps with those two things as a diary entry comes off like you are inside someone’s mind and hearing their thoughts. Childress’s thoughts would reflect the period she was currently in, hence the content ofthe entries. Her audience could be anyone as the purpose of her work was to talk about her daily life and problems in and out of work. 

The genre of both of these works are important and if swapped the meaning would not be the same. If Smitherman’s work was a historical diary entry it would come off more as a venting piece and perhaps not taken as seriously. Her use of an English journal and the group that published it leads people to take it as more of a “fact” and that it isn’t just someone talking about their personal experience. If it was a diary entry people may not have been able to relate or perhaps not even read it because they believe they wouldn’t be able to relate due to it being a recap of her own life. When it is something like an English journal people are being educated on a topic but also getting to know the author and what their encounters with a specific topic may have been like. While Childress’s work wouldn’t be able to be an English journal because her work is extremely personal and her experience wouldn’t make people have as much of an emotional reaction to it. The genre is also important and couldn’t be changed out because of the historical context behind it. First hand accounts and stories on black women in the workforce in the city are rare and the use of a diary entry allows people to step into her shoes and understand what she went through, and what other people in the time may have went through. Her language also comes in to play, as it is more casual because it is her thoughts written down on paper. If it was an English paper the words and phrases she used may come off as inappropriate for the genre.

Many things go into the overall message of a story but genre is one of the most important factors. If you were to take different stories amd switch their genre’s the message would not be as strongly seen but also may not be the same at all. It may be difficult to write certain stories and experiences in a different genre, as they would have to change the layout and dialect used in it, which changes the story overall.

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Personal Narrative

Hope Coardes

Sean Pears

Writing, Literacy, and Discourse

Personal Narrative

Christianity is a broad religion that people from many backgrounds participate in. One community it is prominent in is the black community. This can be seen as a result of slavery and the forcing of Christianity and the beliefs that come with it onto slaves and missionaries going to Africa to spread the “word”, but nevertheless, it has seemed to stick with the community greatly. This particular is sewn into the community and is almost an expectation of the people in it. From birth, many of us are christened and immediately put into the religion. It then progresses to the small black child going to church every Sunday with her nana; Waking up at 7 to get ready, the sounds of Gospel music playing in the background as her ear is burnt with the hot comb for the 3rd time this month. Struggling to stay awake during the service but feeling a pinch if anyone around had realized that she was nodding off. That same child grows up and is then a pre-teen, struggling with her faith, but still attending to please her family and uphold the expectations thrown on her. This soon turns into going to church maybe going once a month and on holidays, turned into just holidays as a full-fledged teenager. This child is me, Hope Jasmine Coardes. 

I never really questioned my religion as a child, as it seemed normal for me. All my friends were Christian, and most of my family was too. It was what I saw on T.V. and around me in my community. It felt like that was the only religion I could participate in because it was what “my people” did. The community embraced me and everything seemed to be perfect in my eyes. That was until I came out in 8th grade. I was expecting a warm welcome and immediate support but was instead met with disgust and disappointment. My immediate family and friends supported me but the overall black community and religion did not. From social media to real-life encounters, it became apparent to me that the black community participated in toxic Christianity and was full of homophobia. Pastors would preach about the effect homosexuals had on the black community and how they were bringing us down. People said if I would just believe harder in God then I would be able to “pray the gay away”. This is the reaction many black LGBTQ+ members are met with. Our community sees us as sinners and uses the bible to back up their hatred. The same religion I was told would embrace me at any stage in my life and would love me regardless of who I was would cast me out for something I cannot control myself. This is when I began to struggle with my faith. I stopped saying grace at the table and my nightly prayers became a thing of the past. I felt like my prayers would no longer be heard because of my sexuality, as if God has a filter for whose prayers he heard and helped in life. I had the mentality that anything that happened to me that was negative would be due to my sexuality and it was God punishing me for my lifestyle. This was backed up by social media, going onto TheShadeRoom's Instagram page allowed me to read and take in all the hatred and homophobia from people in my own community. Saying that it would be the downfall of the black community and that they would be praying for these lost souls to seek God and stop dancing with the devil. All because they love someone that happens to be the same gender, something no one can control. 

I guess I’ll start from the beginning, middle school; That awkward time when everyone is trying to figure themselves out, believing that everyone knows themself when in reality we were all clueless. Around the age of 12, the topic of boys and crushes was brought up more frequently, sleepovers and the hot scoop would be who we thought the cutest person was in our grade. I watched as my friends said various different guys and agreed on some while I had the name of a girl in our grade. I wouldn’t dare admit it, as I didn’t want to be an outcast and have everyone think I was weird, or that I was a predator since that’s the only representation of gay women on television that I had seen. So I lied, I picked a random guy’s name I knew they would agree on so I could continue to fit in and fly under the radar. This continued for a long time until I figured I had one friend I could tell, she had a great reaction; she hugged me and thanked me for trusting her to tell her such private information about myself. We had become so much closer than that, we’re still best friends to this day and she’s like a sister to me. This gave me the confidence to eventually tell more people in my life, one being my sister whom I’m very close to. She’s one of the biggest female role models in my life and basically a mother figure to me. I knew I could tell her everything as she had told me multiple times before throughout my life. It also helped that I knew she had some friends who were in the lgbtq+ community, it made me feel safer in telling her. Her reaction was that she had already guessed it, and it was not only funny to me because she knows me better than I know myself, but also relieving. Even though I know she was raised in a progressive generation and was very loving and open to everyone regardless of their sexuality, race, and religion, there is always that lurking feeling that I may be rejected as a person and the reaction would be terrible. After middle school, I had become more confident in my sexuality and joined the GSA club in my high school (my high school was majority black but had many other POC, it reminds me of Howard’s demographics), this is when I became more aware that other people hadn’t had the same welcoming experience that I had. Many felt unsafe coming out to their families, getting disowned, kicked out, and beaten were their fears if they were to relinquish such information. They didn’t have the choice to be vulnerable like I did, I was one of the lucky ones, one of the few POCs who had a family that would love and accept them for whoever they are and whoever they loved. Unfortunately in the community, specifically, the black community homophobia is a large issue. They find it unappealing and say it goes against God’s plan of a woman being with a man and continuing the building of the community to be “stronger”. 

One of my worst encounters with this was with my sister’s now ex-boyfriend. Imagine, 4 days little getaway to Charlotte to go to my cousin’s wedding. It was supposed to be nothing but good vibes as we were celebrating love and overall joy. We were on our way back from a barbeque we had thrown for the groom and bride the night before the wedding. It was great vibes the whole night and we were on the way back to our Airbnb to get ready for the night as the wedding was the next day. On the ride back I was talking to my sister about my relationship at the time and how I was questioning if I was going to stay in it. Of course, my sister’s boyfriend was sitting there listening as he drove, and when we arrived at the Airbnb he asked me why I was going to break up with him; Probably expecting something childish such as missing calls or not receiving enough attention his curiosity got the best of him, but my answer caught him off guard. I replied, “ I think I may be a lesbian and don’t believe it’s fair to stay in a relationship with a boy when I may not even like boys.”. His mouth had dropped and the silence in the room was extremely uncomfortable. I didn’t know what I was expecting as a response but it definitely wasn’t “You’re going to hell”. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, my immediate thought was to start crying, but like my family says I have a “sharp tongue” and we started arguing. He said how I was too young to know what I liked and that it was wrong, that God had intended woman to be with man, plus some other homophobic rhetoric that I had seen online but never experienced in person. My sister came to talk to him and calm me down and that is when I responded: “You had not only one, not two, but three kids out of wedlock so if I’m going to hell so are you”. My sister broke up with him immediately after this, but it changed me and made me more aware of the experiences other people were going through. It also brought up my biggest issue with my community; They pick and chose what they want to follow from the bible and preach. I wondered how they could choose homosexuality as something that is the worst thing someone could ever do but was having children with people they never married, and were having cheating scandal after cheating scandal, but somehow who I love was the thing that would doom me to infinite punishment in the afterlife. I couldn’t and still can’t understand how they can use the bible to back up such hatred but forget everything else in it that they don’t follow. 

Online it was just as bad, when Lil Nas X came out as gay, suddenly the whole community thought he was inappropriate and that kids shouldn’t be listening to it, but before they knew his sexuality it was perfectly fine. Seeing it makes me not want to disclose my sexuality to anyone because they can change their outlook on me for something that doesn’t even affect them in the slightest way. I can come from this bright young girl who is going to do such great things in life, to a degenerate who can’t be around their daughters because I may tempt them and pull them to the “dark side”. The same people who have lied or stolen (which are sins), or had kids as a teenager when they weren’t married will look down on you and act as if you are the antichrist because you just so happen to like the same gender. They demonize everyone in the community and turn sexuality into something that is just about sex. They only saw Lil Nas X as inappropriate because they immediately think of what he could be doing in private in his own time as if gay people are just sexual deviants who make everything about physical pleasure and don’t have any romantic or regular feelings like everyone else does.

Overall it can get hard at times and I struggle with participating in the religion due to the people that are in it and it’s a battle I deal with every day, but I don’t let people get away with it as much as I used to. Now if anyone says anything borderline homophobic I immediately call them out on it because I had seen my peers need someone like that in their life, and as someone with younger family members who look up to me, I don’t want them to think that it’s okay to treat people a certain way because of who they love, and they also may one day be apart of the LGBTQ+ community. I wouldn’t want any negative experiences I have dealt with or that they may see to prevent them from living in their full truth and being who they are inside.

[earth2hope]

Introduction Essay

Dear Sean,

I never know how to introduce myself, the question “Who are you?” haunts me at night. I’ll just start with the basics. My name is Hope Jasmine Coardes, I am from New York but this past summer my family moved to South Carolina. I haven’t been to the new house yet as I was busy moving into my dormitory at the illustrious Howard University. Making my schedule for the fall semester may be one of the top 2 hardest tasks to do at Howard; Which falls after being able to get in reach with someone in the financial aid department. I’ve known that English has been one of my stronger subjects since elementary school, the only issue was picking one that would fit me. I enjoy writing but I also love to read, of course, it was easy to choose Writing, Literacy, and Discourse. The title alone caught my attention, I enjoy writing, and I’ve been an avid and heavy reader since I befriended the librarian as a middle schooler. Reading allowed me to escape into a different universe, period, and life. Reading about different experiences allowed me to empathize and understand people more. I even participated in a couple of reading groups. I love to talk with others and see their opinion or viewpoint on something I’ve also read. I hope to learn more about starting essays as it is what I struggled with the most, it took approximately 20 minutes for me to decide how I can put my thoughts into words to start this assignment. That is one of my weakest points, my second one is vocabulary. I find myself reusing the same words or synonyms of words instead of finding something new to use. I feel like my work can become repetitive and slightly redundant, which is the opposite of what I want people to think when they're reading something of mine. In my Junior year of high school three of my poems were featured in my school’s literary magazine. When I found out I was elated but then a rush of anxiety and nausea washed over me. I’m very insecure in my work and automatically assume that people hate it. This was irrational, as people must have liked it because there was a week-long voting process of what would be featured, and I managed to get three of my pieces featured. Judgment and criticism are my two academic fears. In this course, I hope you and my peers can provide feedback and ease my fear of people hating my work. 

[earth2hope]

Author's Statement

Hi <333, I'm Hope Jasmine Coardes a first-year Political Science major at Howard University. This page was made for an assignment. Writing is one of my biggest passions, but no one is perfect and I believe I have grown from my first assignment in the class til now. When you read one of my works, you can automatically tell that it was from me because in my head there is a voice you hear when you're reading; When someone has a specific way of writing, especially in essays you should be able to almost hear their voice while you read it. In high school, I was used to receiving nearly perfect grades on my work as my teacher personally enjoyed it and I seemed to meet the criteria every time. This lead to me always making a rough draft of my final draft because it was receiving positive feedback and I didn't see the need to change what I was doing. When I joined this class in August I believed I would be able to do the same thing; I was immediately proven wrong. In the beginning, I wasn't able to make a final draft and instead, my thoughts often came off as unfinished. This is one of my weaknesses and not something I wasn't aware of. I can say this is due to me being a major procrastinator and trying to make a final draft and rough copy all at the same time. My grades reflected this, they weren't horrible, but they definitely weren't what I was used to. 80's were my new regular and it made me a little discouraged but it also pushed me to want to do better to not just prove to my professor that the potential isn't just there but prove to myself that my potential can be put into my work. After getting through a mental spiel I started to put more effort into my work and actually review and take my professor's feedback into consideration. I believe my last writing assignment was my best (which can be found on this page) as I took the feedback and also took my time while developing my thoughts and putting more into it than I was used to. The assignment was a personal narrative. I struggled to figure out what I would write about but when I did it was like I couldn't stop typing. This time around I wrote a rough draft and turned it in for feedback. It was positive and also helped me as I was stuck and confused about where I should take my thoughts next. I sat down for multiple days to work on it and then turned it in when I felt comfortable with my work. I believe I had made a change in my writing and that I grew as a writer. I am proudest of my personal narrative and I hope my professor is also able to see my growth in it. Have fun looking through my page and have a great day <3.