Mid Session Letter

Ms. Darrow,
So here it is the middle of summer semester! It’s going by so fast! I am writing to you to update you on my progress so far and the goals I hope to achieve by the end of this class.
The first part of the class I did kind of struggle with because I’m not a poetry reader. Unless it grabs my attention right away I usually struggle to get through the material and don’t retain much of it. However, I did find two of the poems interesting which helped.
The next book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien was tales of soldiers from the Vietnam War. I do admit so far this was my biggest challenge for a few reasons. I’m not a fan of war stories so reading the stories and becoming engaged was tough. Then on top of the reading for this class I was studying for my recertification for my job. So while trying to read and retain this material I was also reading medical books to study for those tests. Let’s just say thank goodness my recertification classes are over!
The readings in this class have affected my positively and negatively. On the positive side I have found a new author I may continue to read. The book by Margaret Atwood has been a page turner! I haven’t been able to put it down yet and will probably reread it a few times. It was not a story I was expecting to read just judging by the title. I also would like to finish the book by Tim O’Brien just so I can tie all of the stories together. I feel like I’m missing some pieces of the puzzle to that book and that is making me curious about the other stories. On the negative side I’m still not a big fan of poetry and must admit that I did not retain much information from the start of this class. Although I did give it a try I don’t think it will be anything that I will be able to read.
Finally I hope to improve my writing skills and use of grammar. Judging by the grade I received on the grammar assignment this is an area I need to work in. Papers have never been easy for me to write and it usually takes a couple of days for me to put them together.
Sincerely,
Denise M. Augenstein