My Sophomore Cabinet

Below are the reflections of the English assignments I completed my sophomore year of high school. Throughout my writing, one will feel connected to my topics and most likely be pursuaded to pick up a copy of the accompanying literature.

Arthur Conan Doyle

The most extensive assignment this year was writing a research paper on Arthur Conan Doyle. I wrote about his life from his childhood years to his writing career with the central focus of my paper being about how Doyle developed a more Spiritualistic view on life while aging. One realization that struck me during this writing process was that very few people research the authors they read about; therefore, many people overlook the vital relationships between authors and their stories. Author's portray their opinions on life, but these thoughts can be lost if the author's background and purpose for writing are not known. With this thought in mind, I can connect more to the English novels I read.

Lord of the Flies

William Golding's Lord of the Flies was our first piece of literature for the year. Upon completing the reading, we wrote a paper, and I felt compelled to write about how Roger displayed more human attributes than most people wanted to admit. As I researched my topic, I realized that I can receive a more thourough understanding of the characters I read about by considering each character's purpose in the story and their hidden characteristics.

Brave New World

In early March, we enjoyed reading Brave New World by Alduous Huxley and analyzed a certain aspect of his book. I based my paper on how Huxley advocates for social and economic change in society with his novel. Huxley interspersed his ideas into his novel so well that one would miss them if skimming the story. Writing on this topic has taught me to open my eyes to the author's deeper meanings dispersed throughout his/her writing.

Antigone

Our final paper topic was oriented around the novel Antigone by Sophocles. After reading, we formulated paper topics, and I wrote about how Antigone makes a fool of herself with her actions throughout the story. Upon completion of this paper, I learned that an outline is essential for producing an excellent paper. Freehanding a paper, as I tried for the first time this semester, is a lot harder than taking the time to lay out ideas ahead of time. I will definetely remember this lesson the next time I am presented with a writing assignment.

Time of the Uprooted

For my independent novel, I chose Time of the Uprooted by Elie Wiesel. The novel was about a man named Gamaliel who contemplated his whole life throughout the story. The assignment accompanying this reading was to write study questions and answers for important events in the novel. By completing this process, I learned to read for a more thorough understanding of the plot; I also learned how to distinguish important facts from side details.