Acknowledgements

 

Firstly, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my family for their unwavering support in everything I do. To my mom, who has never failed to motivate me to do my best, not only in this class but in everything, and for always being there for me in times of distress and happiness. To my dad, for spoiling me rotten, and for encouraging me to learn and embrace the mistakes I make, and to look at them as a learning opportunity. And a special thanks to my brother, for never snitching on me to mom and dad, and for always being someone I could turn to if I ever needed to get something off my chest.    

I would also like to extend my deepest gratitude to Mrs. Valentino. For making English class a discussion rather than a lecture, and for introducing me to various styles different authors exhibit. This exposure combined with the weekly blog posts and essays (which I still dread doing to this day), has allowed me to improve as a reader. Reflecting on my blog posts from quarter one, to the most recent blog posts, I can see a huge shift in the style of my writing, and this is all thanks to you.   Your proactive measures are the main reason why I am a better writer today than the day I first entered your room thinking that tone is something you do with your hair, and logos are what go on clothes. You are the reason I have transformed from consistently getting scores of 0-3-0 and 1-3-0  to consistent scores of 1-4-0 and 1-4-1. Thank you for teaching me a fundamental skill I will carry and use throughout my life for many reasons.

I would like to recognize individuals responsible for writing college board prompts on rhetorical analysis, synthesis, and argumentative that taught me how to yap yap and… yap. But in all seriousness, for helping me get comfortable with writing about various topics ranging from the Declaration of Independence to how overrated something is.

To my AP government class, which has allowed me to deepen my analysis of many of the prompts proposed by the college board. Understanding the US government has given me the ability to enhance my analysis on particular prompts, helping me gain a 5 or higher. A prime example is the most recent rhetorical analysis essay which is a letter to Thomas Jefferson by a son of a slave. Background on the Declaration of Independence, and the context of the situation allowed me to gain a smelly sticker.  

A sincere thanks to the many sample essays we repeatedly analyzed in class. To the anonymous students’ remarkable work that showed me how to and how not to approach the prompts, and in a broader aspect, how to write a good essay. For teaching me that not every high-scoring essay needs to be written in a particular structure taught to us before AP LANG.

To David Foster Wallace for writing This is Water, teaching me how to vary my sentence structure to the context of the situation I am trying to get across to the readers. But also to his story. It was an eye-opener and encouraged me to quit perceiving things from my perspective and view society through the lens of those around me. This is one of the few pieces we have studied in class that has a lasting impact on me.

To Henry David Thoreau, for speaking on Civil Disobedience and helping me deeply understand injustices like racism, and sexism and the call to action against oppressive structures. Thank you for the blog prompt in the textbook, that asked to discover and invalidate gender roles. This helped me understand that sexism is all around us, and is something both genders are affected by. Writing my blog post based on this prompt, on gender roles in the kitchen allowed me to explore this idea, and disprove it. It helped me understand that cooking in the kitchen is not a “sex-linked gene”.

To Our Barbies Ourselves, for teaching me that I have polarized views on Barbies, and toys I grew up with in general. And for teaching me that it is okay to disagree with an author's work. An honorable mention goes to the vivid vocabulary skillfully incorporated into the piece, something I really couldn’t live without.

To Maus, and its author Art Spiegelman for teaching me that graphic novels are just as important and developed as traditional books. For teaching me the significance of motifs, and for helping me analyze not only the words an author uses but also their art. For teaching me that a good author has intention behind every little thing in their book. A closer look at their work will reveal many underlying meanings that allow for a deeper understanding of what is being discussed.

To my semester one table, Angelina, Luan, Govind, and Gayatri for making analyzing Maus so enjoyable and interesting. For all the times we laughed when our stretched-out analysis turned out to be spot on. Thank you for helping me get through the class, and for making me look forward to coming to class. And to my current table. Sarah, Vandya, Zahra, Jess, Aly, thank you for all of your contributions to class discussions. Thank you for all the memories we have created, from the mysterious gum suddenly appearing on my desk to the times we made fun critiqued the hot takes of certain authors (AHEM Emily Prager). My AP Lang experience would not have been completed without your presence, and it would not have been as enjoyable as it was.

And lastly, Thank you to Akshaya, and Mili, for helping me understand and decipher the small differences between the vocab words we had to study all throughout semester one. Not to mention, the many times they lent me their book every time I forgot (lifesavers). And a special thanks to Akshaya for reading over many of my assignments like rewrites or the semester one reflection multiple times to ensure that I was submitting my best work.

And to those I couldn’t specifically mention in my acknowledgments. This includes all of those who have replied to my blog posts, contributed to class, worked with me on partner writes, individuals from other classes, and those whom I talked to every time we needed to talk to people from other tables in class. In some sort of way, each and every one of you has a small part in making me the writer I am today, and I will be forever grateful for your gift to me.

To anyone reading this contemplating whether they should or shouldn’t take this class. I will say, it isn’t a class you can put on the back burner because it will catch on fire. But, the time and effort you put into this classroom will be rewarded, you will come out of this class as a better writer and with a deeper understanding of many significant topics like racism, sexism, and in general, the flaws of society.