William Brody Thomas

UWRT 1101
September 2, 2014
In my junior year of high school I took eleventh grade English taught by our Edgar Allen
Poe crazed English teacher Mrs. Womack. I previously had her in ninth grade, and thats where I
learned everything I could possibly know about Poe and also the many rules of grammar. The
class that affected me the most was English Eleven. During the first semester I learned how to
effectively write a research paper in MLA format and in second semester I learned about the
many years of American literature.
I chose to do the research paper on Henry Ford and The Ford Motor Company. Since I
was able to choose a topic that greatly interested me the research paper was probably what I
enjoyed most out of the class. I learned a great deal about the topic I chose and I also learned
how to effectively make a good research paper. I learned a very effective way of note taking and
organizing my sources on note cards so when it came time to put the paper together everything
was together and ready to be typed out. I completed the paper with ease learning many things
regarding MLA format and also typing papers.
During the second semester of the class we learned about the history of American
Literature basically from start to finish. It was a big change from researching and writing about
something that interested me, thus it wasnt as enjoyable as the first part of the class. I can still
say that I did learn a great deal about the history of American literature whether it be the study of
some of Americas first English work by John Smith or Short Stories and Poems by Edgar Allen
Poe. This Class is probably the one that influenced me the most when it comes to my literacy
learning and Im glad I was able to take it.