AP English Reflection

I.
The AP English course was well organized and featured a broad range of literary works. At the beginning of the year, we read and analyzed an assortment of American short stories, ranging from the straightforward and touching “The Gift of the Magi” to the structurally convoluted “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” These bite-sized stories exposed us to a variety of storytelling devices and narrative styles, and they whetted our appetite for the longer novels to follow. Next, we read The Scarlet Letter and Shakespeare’s Othello, both of which I enjoyed. As we moved on to a collection of American poems, Mr. Magee’s unconventionally simple approach to poetry also intrigued me. Instead of overwhelming us with esoteric technical terms like “assonance” or “anaphora,” Mr. Magee simply taught us to read poetry the same way we read prose–a straightforward but effective approach. The Great Gatsby, however, was my favorite part of the course. The story resonated with me to the extent that I became emotionally invested in Gatsby and his dream. Even eighty years after its publication, Gatsby sheds
AP English was a difficult course with a heavy workload, and I saw quickly that Mr. Magee did not tolerate whining. Therefore, I resolved to remain caught up in my daily reading responses, even when I already felt overwhelmed by other commitments. Yet despite his high expectations, Mr. Magee consistently demonstrated his trust in us, as students. He would give us the benefit of the doubt when we asked him for an extension on a paper, or when we handed in a reading response a class late. Mr. Magee trusted in our maturity to manage our own time, and he inspired me to deserve his trust and not to take it for granted. I believe Mr. Magee established healthy, mature relationships with his students based on mutual respect–an invaluable experience for us as college-bound