Acknowledgements

Every time I’m about to write or type a piece, I feel like I’m walking on a bare road, one which I have to lay bricks down for as I go on. At the beginning of this class, feeling such a way as often as I did for the various assignments, essays, and blogs that we were assigned to complete was overwhelming. I often thought to myself, How am I going to get through this class? Sane? What I came to know, though, was a class full of equally confused kids. We all learned the art of articulation, of voicing what we were thinking, but with more eloquence–hopefully. 

    My deepest gratitude belongs to the friends and assignment partners I’ve made along my path to understanding the English language better. From my middle school writing classes to AP Language, the insight that others have offered me has been invaluable and eye-opening. Appreciating the nuances that different writers and authors have offered their readers through their words wouldn’t be the same without our peer-editing groups and Socratic seminars. To Vidhi, Angie, and Shambhavi: thank you for helping me recognize the joy of writing a good piece. To Deepti, whom I’ve gladly gotten to know a bit better in this somewhat chaotic English class of ours: thank you for keeping up with our antics whenever we briefly worked together as a group of three… or four… or five… and showing me another level of literary understanding.

    To the pieces I’ve read this year, namely Maus and The Great Gatsby: you’ve helped me see a world of writing and story-telling that’s lived through many decades of turmoil, only to still prevail as wonderful pieces that have lasted in my mind ever since I first read them. Most prominently, Maus’s use of the medium of graphic novels was genius and well-employed, so much so that it completely sullied the claim that graphic novels are less effective in story-telling. As an artist myself–and someone who takes a liking to telling stories myself, Maus has been an incredible source of inspiration for me, both inside the classroom and past school bounds. The bricks I lay now vary in shape and hue, but the variety of the path I’m building has made my journey all the more pleasing.

    To my fellow classmate who told me that told me my typed body paragraph for a peer-editing activity was too wordy: ever since then, I’ve been thinking more carefully about the words I write and type. Even as I lay down the bricks to reach my destination of a well-written piece, I now look at each brick with more care. Are they too close together? Too far apart? Should I lay more mortar in between, perhaps? Without such a truth given to me, I don’t think I would have seen the flaws of my writing for what they really were. Thank you for offering me this sense of much-needed self-awareness. It was such a simple class activity, but it’s helped me for such a long time.

    To everyone who has opened doors for me throughout these years to pave a better path: even if I don't remember you by name or by face, the gratefulness I feel is no less powerful. It would be selfish to say I’ve made my way here by myself. I truly haven't–and I thank everyone for showing me that writing doesn’t have to be so scary.