Final Honors English Paper- Why do I deserve to pass this class?

Hello,

I am currently a senior at a small private high school and our teacher for our Honor's English class wants us to write our final paper on why we deserve to pass his class. The only criteria given was to be honest, and to not patronize him. I am taking a narrative route where I describe how the class went in the first person. I have some notes and 2 paragraphs but Im kind of all over the place. My process of writing usually starts with just a stream of conscious and this hasn't been edited.

Any help/ideas?

Here is what I have sofar-

"Write me a paper that will show me that you deserve to pass this class" I think this project and this paper begins to sum up what Honors English was all about. The class was meant to be a true test of ones ability to think critically and also to show what it was like to be held to a certain set of standards. This of course was not my strong suite "living up to a certain set of standards". So here I am sitting at the computer trying to figure out what exactly I am going to write to indeed coherse you into passing this paper and in return allowing me to pass the class. I was intially trying to come up with a scheme to once again manage to half ass this paper. Like so many other times in the past this has failed and Im sure that this isn't gonna be any exception. "tense shift" I started to think back on what exactly I had accomplished this year and what I had learned, of course I can recall alot of things form the Sound and the Fury aswell as the Color Purple but I think that what I took from this class was so much more then just some analysis of famous works of literature. So I wasn't going to write about what details I had retained from the reading and I knew I wasn't aloud to sit here and patronize you about how great of a teacher you were and how you've changed my whole outlook on life and given me a new way to look at english. Which of course are all completely true. I kid. So after about an hour of brainstorming I decided I wanted to show you how the year went inside of my mind and how I grew from this whole experience. I think this is obviously the best route to take.

I Remember my first day of Honors English, walking in on top of the world thinking to myself "I am a senior and gods gifts to english teachers" " This is gonna be a cakewalk". Fresh out of a year long philosophy class turning in papers at the last second and gladly earning no lower then a high B or an A I was ready for anything. Mr. Wootton yeh me and him are cool, he knows what I am about. I think that the reality set in the second I was returned my first paper with a big fat F, the book was Hamlet, and topic was Hamlets Soliloquy. Who cared about Shakespeare anyway? Immediately after failing my first paper I knew that this was going to be a bit different. But me being the even though having known that this wasn't going to be a foo foo Socrates love fest I still continued to try to bull shit my way through the first quarter of the class consistently turning in half ass work and barely reading the texts assigned. Thinking to myself yet again, Im a good writer, I am smart this guy has no idea what he is doing. I

I learned and tried to take away its not the grade you get its what you learn, but yes its still the grade you get. I remember thinking after managing to talk an hour about the symolism and tragic beauty of the compson family in sound and the fury that this might actually have some value.

Hello Rick,

First off, the idea of constructing your final paper as a narrative, and one that is highly self-aware in terms of the topic ("Why I Deserve to Pass This Class") is a very good one. Like your teacher, I implore you to do so without patronizing, by which I mean without condescension of the offending kind. But in order to be most effective in that, start your essay with a bang: by being offensive and condescending. I'll explain.


For this being merely part of your free writing, this is a good start: I am going to coerce you into passing this paper. However, for this to work, you have to lay on thick layers of irony and self-awareness. After all, you state outright that you thought you could sleepwalk through this class. So I suggest that you incorporate that swagger into the beginning portion.

In the end, however, you are also on the right track with your realization of what the class is truly about. Sure, you read some books, you delved into some esoteric areas that are about as foreign now as they ever were. (Hamlet, for example.) But, if I understand correctly, it's the set of standards you were held to in order to succeed that have stuck with you the most.

With a healthy dose of deadpan humor -- in other words, using haughty patronization as a smokescreen, if you will -- you can make this work. Expand and philosophize a bit on your experience of coming into this class with preconceived notions, only to have them altered for the better.

Good luck!

Good to see you Silverystars ! It's been long !!

Hey, for this the first thing that comes to mind for me is to write an essay that shows that you learned a lot. Give a paragraph that discusses all the most important ways you changed -- the skills and knowledge you have now that you did not have at the start of class. This is all about "metacognition."

The grammar needs help:
I think this project and this paper begin to ...

The class was meant to be a true test of one's...

... this has failed and I'm sure...

that this isn't gonna (is the teacher gonna appreciate this slang or take points off for it? Maybe the teacher is cool about that stuff...)

I can recall alot of things form the Sound and the Fury aswell as the Color Purple -------like what?

but I think that what I took from this class was so much more then just some analysis of famous works of literature.---like what for example?

So I wasn't going to write about what details I had retained from the reading and I knew I wasn't aloud allowed to sit...

I Remember remember my first day of Honors English, walking in on top of the world ...

thinking to myself "I am a senior and god's gifts to english English teachers" " This is gonna be a cakewalk". Fresh out of a year long philosophy class turning in papers at the last second and gladly earning no lower then than a high B or an A I was...

Do you have a word program with a spelling and grammar checker? Be careful of those small errors... and I think this should focus on giving a concise discussion of specific things you learned that you did not already know. :-)

Nice to be back, Rajiv. It's been awhile, hasn't it? :)

Yes! Silverystars has great advice for the structure of the paper.

There are A LOT of grammatical errors (including "alot" as one word). The dearth of apostrophes jumped out at me. Those possessives are crying out for apostrophes:



(you'll need to drop the "s" on "gifts" as well.


At times, you employ the wrong word:


Use "suit" unless you are really talking about a collection of rooms or furniture.


Use "allowed" as in "permitted."


Use "than" because you are making a comparison.


it's, it's


And again ...

I'd avoid words like "gonna" and "yeh." I know that you're writing in an informal style, but this is a little too casual.

English should always be capitalized (as well as titles of books, but you already know that).

Look over something on the use of hyphens. There are a lot of places in your essay in need (half-ass work, for example)

Good luck with it. It sounds like it is do-or-die time. If you turn in half-assed work for this, I imagine that the teacher might give you a half-assed grade (one that doesn't allow you to pass the class).