Skills I Learned in High School
Samuelson 1
Zena Samuelson
Professor Powell
English 5A
September 9th, 2013
My Skills From High School
Learning to read and write in college is a situation parallel to Issac Newton’s quote, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” This is because Newton was able to advance the knowledge of science because he simply advanced the research of other great scientists. The skills that will be attained here in college are simply the sharpening of the skills I have already learned in high school.
My freshman English teacher taught me to sit down and just read a book and enjoy it. She also helped me expand my vocabulary by showing me the Latin roots in words.
Mr. Cicoletti was my English teacher for grades 10th-12th . He was a kind man who had us look at the philosophical side of literature. Existentialism is a great example of this because it deals with you creating your own reality and deciding to make a positive change or a negative one on this “nonsensical” world. Albert Camus’ novel “The Stranger” is one of the existentialism books I read. I learned a little Greek mythology and was able to understand the definition of a tragic hero. Joseph Conrad’s novel “Heart of Darkness” was filled with symbolism and imagery and was fun to analyze because it had so much content. It’s true that it was hard to read but by using literary devices, I was able to break down the density of the book and realize that the Congo represented darkness and the further man went into it the wilder man became. That novel helped me see how man is primarily evil and society’s boundaries and structure us overcome our lower nature. My English teacher also had us read a book that had to do with African culture called, “Things Fall Apart,” and a book called, “Night,” which had to do with the Holocaust. We read these books because my teacher said they helped us understand other people’s cultures and see how other people think. I liked how he showed us that
Zena Samuelson
Professor Powell
English 5A
September 9th, 2013
My Skills From High School
Learning to read and write in college is a situation parallel to Issac Newton’s quote, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” This is because Newton was able to advance the knowledge of science because he simply advanced the research of other great scientists. The skills that will be attained here in college are simply the sharpening of the skills I have already learned in high school.
My freshman English teacher taught me to sit down and just read a book and enjoy it. She also helped me expand my vocabulary by showing me the Latin roots in words.
Mr. Cicoletti was my English teacher for grades 10th-12th . He was a kind man who had us look at the philosophical side of literature. Existentialism is a great example of this because it deals with you creating your own reality and deciding to make a positive change or a negative one on this “nonsensical” world. Albert Camus’ novel “The Stranger” is one of the existentialism books I read. I learned a little Greek mythology and was able to understand the definition of a tragic hero. Joseph Conrad’s novel “Heart of Darkness” was filled with symbolism and imagery and was fun to analyze because it had so much content. It’s true that it was hard to read but by using literary devices, I was able to break down the density of the book and realize that the Congo represented darkness and the further man went into it the wilder man became. That novel helped me see how man is primarily evil and society’s boundaries and structure us overcome our lower nature. My English teacher also had us read a book that had to do with African culture called, “Things Fall Apart,” and a book called, “Night,” which had to do with the Holocaust. We read these books because my teacher said they helped us understand other people’s cultures and see how other people think. I liked how he showed us that