Chris Hanson

Eng 111_128

Dear Prof. Intawiwat,

This semester has done more than simply introduce me to college, as a first time student

in college, this has been by far, my favorite class. Ive learned many things throughout the

semester such as different writing styles, how to structure sentences and paragraphs, along

with how to format papers. Literacy has always been an interest of mine, not only in an

educational way, but in a recreational way as well. I want to personally thank you for the

opportunity to be in your class, its been an incredibly semester.

Throughout the semester weve completed many major assignments. For example our

Ethnographies, This I believe essays, Slam Poems, and even our short stories. All of which I

found to be incredible new ways to look at literature and how it can apply to real world

situations. In each assignment I wanted to relate it to the real world as much as I could, interpret

things in my own way, as well as incorporate other writing styles into my work. Add creative

aspects, while keeping the writing concise and serious.

Our ethnographies were an incredible experience to delve more into the subculture Im

involved in, the subculture that Ive been part of for an incredibly long time, Video-Gaming. My

target audience for the ethnography was for people who potentially view video games in a bad

way, as if theyre demonizing the millennial generation. In this essay I focused mainly on the

benefits videogames have and how we can all learn from what they have to offer. Taking video

games out of the negative associations many people make with them was my goal, and I

wanted to do this by providing as much research as possible. There was a lot of revisions

before I submitted the paper as my rough draft. In the beginning the essay had a rather

unclear path, it hadnt focused on what I had wanted it to focus on. The main idea and thesis of

the essay was tossed around and misinterpreted as I wrote before revision. As I was about to

turn the paper in, I decided to change my thesis to what It is today, The Cognitive Benefits of
Video-Games. I think this thesis not only highlights why many gamers enjoy the games they

play, but why they play them in the first place. I learned so many things through the research

pertaining to this thesis, mainly how much gaming benefits decision making. I cited once in my

paper about surgeons and how the avid gamers among those surgeons had much better

decision making skills, completed the job faster, and more accurately. This not only amazed me

that something I enjoy can help in such a major way, but it changed the way I interpret the

games I play. I mainly played games for enjoyment, however, through research Ive found so

many more reasons to continue doing what I love to do in my free time. My ethnography

appeals incredibly well to the use of critical reading and how important it is when researching

data about brain function. This by far, was my favorite assignment in English 111.

Many conclude how opinionated the This I Believe essay truly is. Mine, much like all

my writing, tends to be controversial. But I look at controversy as a fuel to a flame that needs to

be sparked. Social constructs about speaking on controversial topics has ruined us as people.

We never tend to look at the data behind events without making assumptions based on

unconscious bias. We want to hear what we want to hear and nothing else, the same applies to

what we believe. My This I Believe essay was based off how sparking rebellion or putting

subject matter into limelight tends to make the topic of discussion much worse. In my paper I

used Black Lives Matter as an example, I cited data based on murders in the USA before and

after the formation of the group. What you find when doing this research is actually incredibly

interesting, usually youll see a trend going upwards against the groups wishes, in this case its

murders of blacks by police. The number absolutely spiked after the formation of the group,

youll find in the research many more blacks are being killed ever since the formation of the

group. Because of my own personal opinions on how I think controversial topics like this dont

need to be brought to the forefront of society, Ive been called a racist, and many other

slanderous things. Without question I support groups that are fighting for the people of America,

but my thesis states that I feel like theres much better ways of bringing these issues to hand
than violence, and name calling. This essay gained much more statistics through revision. I

added more information coming from studies that were performed in universities by top

professors. Therefore, through revision, I added much more credibility, and certification to my

statistics and essay as a whole. Through this essay I wanted to target the uninformed, the

people who dont want to know what the real truth is and where to find it. I wanted to inform

people of whats actually happening in America today, and not just to believe what theyre told or

what they hear from the news.

Our personal slam poem was actually very enjoyable for me to write. As stated before,

this topic of choice was controversial. We look today at men as privileged, as if they dont go

through any hardships. This slam poem was meant to convey the true hardships and harsh

realities men go through. The poem was also meant to show that without slandering the other

sex, its possible to talk about issues pertaining to certain sexes, in this case its men. My

audience, again, like many other papers Id written is targeted at the uninformed, the people

who dont like to hear data and the truth portrayed through writing. As unethical as it may be in

some peoples eyes, I thought this was an issue that needed as much attention as possible.

Slam poems must go through many revisions, I wanted to get my facts straight, while keeping it

short and sweet so it was easy to read. I pondered endlessly through what I wanted to include

into my poem. However, in the end of all the revision that went into my poem, I feel as if I

created the best product possible. I discovered a lot through the slam poem, not only did I learn

new interesting things about how men are portrayed in society, I also learned new ways of

hardships they face. I learned that nothing comes easy, for both sexes. As well as how

important equality and justice actually are in today's society.

The final project Ive chosen to include in this reflective essay is my short story,

this one was very fun to write. This short story actually took place during a very happy

time in my life, hence the theme of the story. I felt like this project opened the doors to

creativity, personal interpretation, and many other things. We were assigned to take a
picture of anyone on campus and create a story based off the picture. My story was

based off a picture of a man walking, I twisted the story to be incredibly fun, unique, and

as unrealistic as possible. I deemed the man as the confetti criminal, I noted

throughout the story of his intentions of taking over the school and raining confetti down

on his once attended as a student campus. I brought up his past on the campus and

how he hated the dean of the school, that of which was you, Prof. Intawiwat. Overall I

thought this project like I said earlier, opened my creative drive. I learned a lot from this

project, mainly how important it is to incorporate your own visualization of situations into

your writing.

Overall, Ive learned so much from my writing in this class. As stated in my

introduction I learned the most when it came to grammar, sentence, and paper structure.

Ive learned how to incorporate my thoughts into writing, how to speak on controversial

topics while doing my best not to offend anyone. However, theres still much to learn and

Im looking forward to it throughout my college experience.

Personally, I think the Ethnography was the most challenging of all the major

assignments, not only because of the research aspects associated with it, but the

process of interviewing and learning from your peers. As uncomfortable as it is for some

people to sit through, this is where I learned the most for my paper. Interviewing was an

incredible experience to say the least. Finding new insights on a topic you enjoy was

riveting. When it came to placing all the data together in the right sequence, thats when

I began to think that the project was incredibly difficult. In the end I triumphed and Im

very satisfied with my work.

Speaking on participation in the class, I feel as if thats where I might have lacked

this semester. While Im not a talker, Im a thinker. I love to inherit what I hear in my

surroundings during the class period and take what other people are saying into
consideration. Im not one to answer questions first, however I will absolutely be willing

to give input if asked.

In conclusion Ill rephrase my introduction, youve done a great job teaching this

class this semester. While some of my peers in the class were unmotivated to participate

or take work seriously, Ive thoroughly enjoyed each and every assignment to its fullest

extent. I love assignments that youre left on your own for, and you have to think critically

to develop a solution to your thesis. Where nothing is linear, I feel as if thats where

writing thrives. When writers and students are left to do their own thing, youll almost

certainly find massive success. I realistically think I deserve an A on this portfolio. Ive

spend countless hours formatting this weebly, revising my essays, incorporating new

data, and much more. Not only have I spent a lot of time on this, I did incredibly well

throughout the semester on all of my assignments, and I think that should reflect on my

grade here. I look at this Eportfolio as a synopsis of our semester and what weve

accomplished as students and writers alike. I feel as if since I put my best foot forwards

in the class, it will reflect in the grading of my Eportfolio. Thank you again for being the

teacher you were this semester and introducing me to so many different writing styles. It

seriously couldnt have been more enjoyable.

Yours Sincerely,

Christopher Hanson