Freshman Year Honors English vs. Junior Year AP English

People are always telling stories.  Every society on the face of the planet tells stories in one form or another.  I love writing because when I write, I feel connected to my deepest humanity. Writing is the one area in my life where I get to have absolute control.  Writing affords me a chance each and every day to just sit with my thoughts and be still. I believe that it's important to sit and be quiet with yourself and your thoughts. Although it can sometimes be stressful in AP English, writing for me is very meditative and calming, and helps to keep me peaceful in a very frantic world.  Writing can also become a challenge, but that is what can make it fun.

My like for writing began during Freshman year in Ms. Gillis' classroom.  It became my favorite class, as I loved the books we read, the discussions we had, the projects we did, and the free write journal entries we had to complete daily.  Looking back, that class was a breeze!  Just like any other freshman year English class, we often did creative writing, had vocabulary tests on words we were already familiar with, wrote one essay every month or so, and discussed books everyday.  If you simply payed attention in class and did your easy homework, you earned an A!

                      Accurate representation of how you may feel during freshman year English

Now fast forward to AP Language and Composition, where we read a novel in a week, write at least one essay a week, have vocabulary tests on strange words we have never heard of before, and did at least one to two hours of homework a night.  You have to fight to get into a heated discussion sometimes...that's right...no hand raising is necessary! So, receiving an A is not so easy as before.  Even though this class challenged me and made me work hard for even a B, it made me realize that sometimes getting a lower grade and learning a lot is better than getting an A and just easy sailing, like in years past.  The grade does not always matter.  It's the experience.

                    Accurate representation of how you may feel during junior year AP English (sometimes)

 

For those who believe that English class will always be an easy A: