My journey in literature is pretty straightforward. I started to learn how to read at home, before I started preschool using phonic books and reading picture books. I also learned how to spell very few basic words before going to preschool. In preschool I learned how to write the alphabet and about English mechanics such as punctuation and capital and lower case letters. I was reading short novels for recreation by the time that I was in 1st grade. I liked novels about animals, like Redwood Abbey and I spent a lot of time reading because I wasn’t allowed to watch a lot of television, so if I wasn’t playing outside I was reading. I have always done fairly well in my English classes. The only B I’ve ever gotten in an English class was Literature & Composition AP in 12th grade. There aren’t any standout moments in my life when it comes to learning how to read or write. I have never had a hard time with English, but I never found it particularly rewarding either. Overall, it is a subject that I have to work hard to do well in, but never so hard that it is stressful for me. ERH 101 has been pretty much on par with the difficulty that Literature and Composition presented for me. It took me an adjustment period to get used to the type of writing that is required of me in this class, and I know the effort that I need to put in to get what I consider to be a satisfactory grade. I had a hard time with explicitly stating my thinking, instead of implying it, but now I feel confident in that area. I still have a hard time with picking which parts of my primary source to analyze. I either feel like I have too much information, or too little, and I often find myself questioning if what I chose to analyze is relevant to my thesis. Overall, this class challenges me, but I feel confident that I can get a decent grade with the right amount of effort and collaboration with other students.