Language Investigation 3

Throughout high school, the classes I took and the ones I enjoyed (particularly English) ultimately led to where I am today as an English major at CSU. I remember my very first class in high school was English. As we walked in, the teacher said that we were going to open up the semester to a quiz and told us all to get out a sheet of paper. As everyone was moaning and getting out a piece of paper, the teacher was writing something on the board. When we all looked up, we were shocked to see that the teacher had written the word “SHIT” in very large letters on the board. Our quiz, he explained, was to simply write down the past tense of the word. My attention was instantly received and I could tell that this was going to be different English class than anything I had done in middle or elementary school. I wrote down “shitted,” because I really did not know the past tense of the word. It turns out it is “shat,” and so I failed the first quiz, but my interest was gotten and my eyes were open to new things. It was in this class that I was truly opened up to English and saw the different applications and found an appreciation that I had never had before. We studied things like Shakespeare, poetry, sonnets, novels, and epics, like the Odyssey. There was such a variety in everything that we learned throughout that class, and where I once saw English as only breaking down sentences and reading books, I now saw it in a new light. We had to break stories down, dissect them, and look into them. I gained an appreciation for figurative language such as metaphors, similes, etc. We also had to look at poetry, and where I once saw meaningless lines, I now began to understand and appreciate poetry, as we were weekly forced to write some ourselves and I saw how hard it actually was. We also had to write many essays, and although I occasionally struggled here and there on the long ones, I found that I never really had to try too hard and I typically got good grades and my writing became more and more effortless. Throughout the class, we were expected to use proper English, in both our papers and responses, and I found this particularly helpful in my writing because my writing became more professional and I had to put extra effort in to make sure the papers read well and sounded good, which gave me a greater appreciation for my work. It also taught me to write the way I would be expected to throughout the rest of high school and into college. I believe the teacher taught this way to open our eyes to everything English had to offer and to get us thinking in new ways and to gain an appreciation, or at least an understanding, or it all.
As I progressed through high school, I took many more English classes and I learned new things throughout. I learned all about Shakespeare and gained a whole new appreciation for his works. I also read a lot of novels and learned to look deeper into them and found new meanings throughout and really liked everything I was learning. I saw poetry in a whole new light as well, and my liking and understanding of it grew and grew. I was learning all about English, and I found that I really enjoyed it. I even liked the essays that inevitably went hand in hand with English classes, and found that for the most part, it all came naturally to me. I had various classes, from creative writing and basic English classes, to AP English classes and specific classes, such as Shakespeare. A few things remained constant throughout. We learned to take new approaches into literature of all kinds and our investigation into such literature became more demanding, but as I learned, it became clearer and somewhat easier. Also, I learned to improve my writing from year to year, and even explored other forms of writing through various projects, such as fiction and story telling and poetry. While every English class was different and each teacher taught me something new and different, the overall outcome was a deeper understanding of and a great appreciation for English. There were sets of rules and regulations throughout, such as learning how to use and apply figurative language, using proper grammar and punctuation, and applying the other basics we learned that were unique to each class. It was apparent that each teacher set such rules and regulations to make sure that students were learning what they needed to learn and becoming better writers, but each teacher brought something more. They added their own styles of teaching and went deeper into the subjects than just the requirements, and in doing so, sparked interest and enthusiasm into anyone who was remotely interested in the subject. They taught us to use and apply the English language and all of the various applications of it. All of this was extremely useful to me and helped me to really find a passion for English.
As I came to the last semester of my senior year, I took my favorite English class to date. It was called American Literature, but it was nothing like what I expected. We studied things such as 2 Pac and Bob Marley, and their poetry and lyrics. We also studied hippies and Native Americans, and how the Native Americans disliked the hippies for claiming to support the Native’s cultures and love for earth, yet were free-loaders. It was an extremely interesting class and the teacher taught it in a way that really got people thinking. We saw many new forms of the language and it was the first time I had seen a more modernistic approach to English. We saw more than just written or published works, and the teacher got everyone involved and interested, which I had not really seen before. I believe he taught such uncharacteristic things to show us that all of the various aspects of the English language that we learned throughout high school applied to everything, not just the cliché typical English works. This was very useful, because while I could identify and apply the things I had learned about English, I never really thought about them outside of the classroom. I now saw how all of those things applied all over the place.
All of these conventions have affected me in many ways as a college writer. Through all of those classes, I learned how to write properly and in a structured manner. I also learned how to make a paper sound good and read well. I learned all about figurative language and how and where to use it. Everything that I learned has really helped me in college. While college takes all of these things, and furthers how we apply them or look at them, my basis stands in what I learned how to do in high school, and with that strong foundation, I am able to face college writing confidently and interepidly.