DearMrs.

Raymond,
Whileithasbeenalongsemester,Idonotbelievethat"long"hastomeanthatsomething
isnotenjoyable.OverthecourseofyourclassI'vedelvedintomaterialandtopicsthatI
personallyfoundtonotonlybeinteresting,butalsoinformative.Ilearnedhowtoconductproper
citation,sure,butmoreimportantlyIlearnedthatwritingisn'tthis2dimensionalthingthatjust
comesfromwhatwethinkonawhimsy,butratherwritingisanallencompassingart
representativeofhowwewereraised,ourheritage,andwhoweareasaperson.Thoughitseems
likearevelationIprobablyshouldhavehadallalong,I'vefoundthatperhapsIjustnever
recognizedthesignificanceofwhatourwritingsaysaboutus,thewriter(inapsychoanalytic
sense),andthisrealizationoftheimportanceofsuchwasbyfarthemostimportantpieceof
informationI'mleavingyourclasswith.Itsoundsnarcissistic,right?Theliteracynarrative
projectshowedme,however,justhowbigofadealthiswasandafterthatmywritingchanged,
I'dliketothink.Mywritingbecamemoreselfawareandrepresentativeofmyownlittle
linguisticquirkswithperhapsabitmoreofmyselfbeingprojectedintowhatIwrite.Sure,thisis
probablyahugenegativeintechnicalwritingorotherformsofisolatedprofessionalwriting,but
thatisn'tthesolepurposeofwriting.WritingisthecornerstoneofhumancommunicationandI
certainlylearnedhowtocommunicate.
Overthesemester,though,Ididhavemystruggles.Admittedly,Ihadneverwrittenabout

myselfbeforethisclass.Sure,inacasualwhatdidyoudoforsummer?senseIhad,butnever
aboutmypersonallifeorexperiences.Thefirstwritingpromptwashard,itreallywas.Idnever
beenexpectedtodiveintomyselforwhatcreatedthefoundationsofmyliteracybeforeandit
wasanincrediblyuncomfortablejourney.Iremembergrowingfrustratedandnotwantingtodo

itortheliteracynarrativeprojectbecausewriting,tome,washowweportrayedtheworld
aroundustoothers,nothowweportrayourselvesinsomeegotisticalfashion,makingothersinto
ourownprivatediaries.Idid,however,getoverthisthoughnotwithoutscrappingasentence
everyfewlinesbecauseIinternallydeemedituncomfortable.IhopeitsclearthatIcameout
ofthisclasswiththisskillandabilityfromthisletter(andthatitdoesntcomeoffasterribly
selfcentered.)
IsupposeIamleftstillcuriousaboutsomeofthethemesinthebookswehaveread.I
believeitwouldhavebeennicetoknowmoreaboutSandraCisnerosvignettes:whatshewas
tryingtoaccomplishbytakingachildsperspectiveonaharshworld.Orperhapswhy,inThe
SecretLifeofBees,theauthorhasMaydieinanOphelialikestyle.Wasitsomebigmetaphor
forthedeathofinnocencethroughtrialsorratherjustacoincidencealtogether?Thesequestions
are,ofcourse,rathermundaneandregrettablyspecificsoperhapsIshouldbecomingoutofthe
coursewithbetterquestionsbutIdliketothinkthatwhatwasntansweredintheclasswerethe
questionsthatwecannotquitewordright.Throughclasswelearnedmuchaboutourselves,
history,andgeneraltopicsattheendoftheyear,whichleftmorethanafairshareofgeneralized
curiosities.
Thisclassofferedaplethoraofchoices,fromwhichDearAmericabooktoreadorwhich
projecttochoose,butnochoicewassoallencompassingasthesemesterlongproject.Forour
topic,mypartnerandIchosetoresearchAlzheimersDisease.Whilethereweresome
sentimentalreasons,webothhadrelativeswithdementiarelateddisorders,therewasmoreofa
logisticalreasonbehindthechoice.Attheendoftheday,admittedly,AlzheimersDiseaseisa
topicthatisnotonlyeasytostructureandtalkabout,butatopicthatcouldgiveusapointtoour

projectratherthangeneralizedresearchbentoninvestigatingarandomsubjectofourchoice.
Thediseaseaffectsmany,andwilllikelyaffectmypartnerorIinourownfutures.Our
presentationwasntdesignedwiththeintenttoinformpeopleonwhatthediseaseis,no.Whileit
achievedthatgoalintheprocess,therealpointtoitwastoinsurethattheaudiencewasawareof
whatsactuallygoingonandhowbigofanissuethisis.Ourprojectchangedsomewhat,afterthe
proposal,whenwebeganchangingourgoalsmoreandmoretowardthispoint.
Theseprojects,inthecourse,seemedtoflowincrediblywelltogether.Wewentfrom
learningabouthowotherslearnedtowrite,tolearningabouthowwelearnedtowrite,tolearning
aboutourhistory,tolearningaboutthehistoryofothers,tolearningaboutresearch,andthento
craftinganallencompassingprojectrelatedtoourselves,thathadtodoaboutresearchingothers
andpresentingallthisinformationback.Really,witheachprojectIfeltreallypreparedforthe
nextandIreallyenjoyedthisthemeandstyle.
ThisclassmadememoreawareofwhatIwriteandwhyIwritesuchandIdoubtthat
thesearelessonsthatcaneasilybeforgotten.IsupposeIconsidermyselfluckytobeabletotake
thiscourseandlearnjustsomuchaboutmyowndevelopmentandamjustbeingsillyor
overzealousaboutitall,butIreallydothinkthatthisclasswillhavetremendousimpactonmy
futurewritings.Mywritingswillbemoreconfident,stylized,andclearfromallthis
introspectionandImthankfulforsuch.
Mybestworkthissemesterwaslikelytheliteracynarrativeessayjustduetothesheer
amountoftimespentonitandhowmuchofaninternalrevelationitwas.Ikindofopenedup
andreallyenjoyeddoingso,howeverpretentiousandselfrighteoustheessaylooksnow.Also,

afterinitialmistakesandtrials,Ihavetoadmititwasfuntowrite.Theresearchwasenjoyable
andthecontentwasawellneededintrospection.
Overall,thecoursehadahugeimpactonmeandIdreallyliketothankyouforteaching
anamazingcourse.

Sincerely,
MeganKelly