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Textual Analysis Of Ayn Rand's Anthem

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This semester I wrote two major papers in English class, the first was a text analysis about the novella Anthem, and the second an argument paper about a subject that each student was free to choose. The textual analysis essay asked me to explain exactly what Ayn Rand, the author of Anthem believed and communicated with her novel and how these beliefs were shaped by her childhood. Each paper also included a summary of the text and cited some arguments from individuals who were against Rand’s beliefs. The argument paper required that I pick something they felt passionate about and argue for or against it, with detailed reasons, strong support from experts, and a place to recognize and refute people who felt differently. These essays were used …show more content…

Once I figured out what we were actually doing, I enjoyed re-learning a style of writing that I had done only once before. The most difficult part of the Anthem assignment was understanding the new style and learning what a new teacher expected out of each essay project. After lots of peer editing and review that I really enjoyed and found helpful, that essay is finished and completely in the past. The argument paper, even though it is turned in, isn’t really finished because I choose to argue for less standardized testing schools which is a topic that is always changing and developing. I do not think I will add any more to the paper, but I have found myself perking up whenever that topic is mentioned, and continuing to learn more about it just because I have a foundation of it now because of my research for my argument. For me, the most difficult part of an argument paper is always finding successful counterarguments that I can fairly and soundly refute. I usually collect all the information and process it together before coming to a decision, with this paper I had to make a decision and then collect …show more content…

I want to achieve a better grasp of active versus passive voice, and the correct time to use each one. I would like to better understand basic grammar, and explore advanced grammar and sentence structure. I want to continue to write essays that I can be proud of, and that I can feel as if they were important to me personally and not just written to complete an assignment or earn a specific grade. During this first semester I have relearned and reviewed the basics of formal writing so that hopefully next semester I can reach higher, go farther and write better than I ever have

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