When I first began this course, I was not very interested in participating. I feared it was gonna be the same boring routine like in grade school: you reading an old book that you may or may not like, annotate and then doing a complicated essay. I am beyond happy that this was not the case but was a more flexible course that ended up being my favourite course in my first year of college online. I believe this course spiritually touched me thus revealing to me what fuels the success of the type of writer I am.

(Unit 1):

In the first Unit we were assigned to explain our opinions and experiences in school. I did not take a liking to it because I had to talk about a traumatic period in my life within a class I believed I was going to dislike. However, despite my pessimistic assumptions, a thought clicked in my head that the mood might change when I learned that I typed over two thousand words and other students were struggling to reach 400 words. At the end of the assignment, I received a B which I was satisfied with because of the work and emotional energy I put into an assignment I found painfully exhausting.

Looking at Unit One in retrospect, I cringed. But despite it being my least favourite assignment, I did learn important details about my writing ability.

What I learned in retrospect:

– Spacing out words into multiple paragraphs: In the future, I will break up my big entries into multiple paragraphs per chapter/entry. It is more aesthetically pleasing and easier to read versus a giant paragraph entry.

– Clear and realistic Evidence: I naturally struggle with using evidence to back up my analysis. For this assignment, it was more difficult because I had to not only fight through short term memory but also dig up painful memories from long ago. From now on when I am assigned to elaborate on my life details, I will use evidence after my analytical explanation to make my points overall stronger and better.

(Unit 2):

Unit 2, was not only my favourite unit, but my favourite assignment for the entire year out of all my classes. The task was to use any subject and form it into a research annotated bibliography. I chose to do a bibliography on the Cold War which, ironically, was around the 2020 election so I believed it was a great opportunity to re-analyze some modern American history. I was highly passionate when typing this assignment and it resulted in a grade A. What this revealed to me is when I’m passionate about literature (or anything for that subject), I do an exceptionally fantastic job.

Main components of my research paper that I’m proud of is powerful mixture of point organization and thorough analyzation. Here is an example:

(Entry) – “Throughout the 19 year conflict, an estimated of over 58,000 US soldiers died and an overall estimation of 1-4 million people, including soldiers and civilians, were killed as a result of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War is remembered as a failure as well as a human rights violation that America is negligent for.”

(Analysis) – “The Vietnam War is perhaps the most controversial proxy during the Cold War. It overall rippled the country leaving lasting scars on the United States as a whole. This ripple revealed to me one of many of flaws this country suffers: American prejudice and how it negatively impacts the world.”

(Important quotes) – “Psychologically, the effects ran even deeper. The war had pierced the myth of American invincibility and had bitterly divided the nation. Many returning veterans faced negative reactions from both opponents of the war (who viewed them as having killed innocent civilians) and its supporters (who saw them as having lost the war)…”

Throughout the entire assignment, I experience so much joy through writing that I have never felt before. Being able to use history, a subject that has provided me a sense of comfort through dark times, was very pleasurable alone. That pleasure fueled so much passion and motivation which ran deep in my literary skills. So deep that it created a masterful bibliography of over 5000 words. I worked late and had my father, who is also a historian, proofread the thousands of words I typed. At the end, I received an A.

(Unit 3):

Unit 3 was an assignment I was nervous to do but I had faith I would do well. The project was to use the information you attained in Unit 2, and use it to create an article that attracts your targeted audience. Although I was a little less enthusiastic about this Unit compared to Unit 2 because of having to narrow down my Cold War research to specific details and ‘talk in a way’ that I usually do not for my targeted audience (the youth) to understand.

Highs – After learning the importance of using organization from Unit one and seeing its success in Unit two, I utilized it by organizing and using titles.

Lows – Where I was lacking was elaborating and clarifying on the points I used while not using enough information in my article. Another minor issue was bolding the headings because it seems OpenLab does not utilize bold text.

*Unit 3 revision/corrections* (important note: half the revisions I did unfortunately got lost and deleted as I used the ‘Save Draft button and I could not recover it.)

2020 is going to remembered as a sour year for most. Things like the COVID-19 pandemic and rise of awareness of police brutality are main factors. Another factor may possibly be the result of the election for some fellow Americans. For older people, they may remember the 70s-80s as a tough and sour time to live. When bad things occur often, it’s best we educate people, the youth in this case, on these subjects. In this article will educate the reader on the importance of the Cold War by revealing its true nature on Modern America.

For the youth to grasp the important message of this article, we must begin with a brief summary of what the Cold War was. The Cold War was a global standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union (now simply called Russia) from 1947 to 1991. They both wanted to expand their opposing political influence to world thus creating various forms of conflict. In the history books, it is said the United States won the long standoff, but readers of this article will understand the enemy being fought was America itself, leaving a negative footnote for future generations. This is why:

Tyranny of the majority: when the majority population exploits and abuses their power over minority groups (smaller population). In America’s cases, tyranny of the majority is the majority white people in government positions. This majority was often a disadvantage in terms of economic and social progress for African-Americans. This flaw rippled and divided America during the Cold War.

Conclusion:

As this course ends, I am proud that I have grown closer with reading and literature as a whole because this course taught inspired me to not only read more, but to read more about topics that I enjoy. This is a joy I have not tasted in a long time. I proudly announce that in order to strengthen this new passion, that I have chosen to continue strengthening my English abilities through Ms. Hall, the one who made it possible for me to enjoy reading again.