Soyoon Kim C Block

May, 2014

Reflection as a Reader ! Wow…it seems as if AP English Literature passed by just like that (finger snap here).

They’re definitely not kidding when it comes to the phrase, “time flies.” I feel that there are a

plethora of texts that I would have liked to have read in the past couple months of the class but all in

all, I am satisfied with the amount of reading that we delved into pre-exam day.

To evaluate myself as a reader, I would say that I was more lax on my goals that I should

have been and I regret that immensely. While reading my author study books especially, I feel that I

could have dug deeper and cut a finer chunk of the Toni Morrison pie for myself in the process. I

feel that I would have enjoyed it more had I not been so antsy and anxious about impending college

results but even after they were released, I feel that I lost this urge to continue going, continue

fighting on and concentrate on longer and deeper texts. That would definitely be one of the things

that I strive to work on now and onto the summer to prepare for the next school year in September:

read, read, read!

ThoughI may have struggled through reading the rest of my author study novels, when it

came to in-class assignments and readings I thoroughly enjoyed them through and through. One of

the texts that I enjoyed reading the most this semester was Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood

Bible. At first glance, I would never even have imagined myself opening up this book on a book-

store or library shelf—never. But after Ms. Brayko read a couple of the introductory pages to us in

class, I knew I was hooked. Never had I read such a work so intricately spun with countless years of

research and vivid descriptions of the African Congo. It may have appealed to me because I myself

have a little sister but I could relate so much to what the girls were going through and their

relationships to each other. Not only did I enjoy this mesmerizing tale, I truly appreciated

Kingsolver’s craftsmanship—it’s something to truly marvel at. It was even more rewarding to have

changed the class reading from Heart of Darkness to Poisonwood since the text appeared as part of

Soyoon Kim C Block

May, 2014

the AP English Literature exam—who would have guessed? It was like it was written in the stars,

something that was simply meant to be (or, at least, that’s what I like to think!).

But more than the number or sum of all the texts that we read this semester, I feel that I had

a much more rewarding experience than as confined by the walls of the AP Lit classroom. Reading

in the mindset of a future college student, it really brings things into perspective. As we moved

further along in the semester, I feel that our past experiences and the sum of our high school English

class discussions grew and gave us a little taste of what a real college-level English class experience

would be like and I am so utterly grateful for that. Thank you AP English Literature for being a

pathway to exploring new genres, texts, authors, and most importantly a little gateway into another

phase of life. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

!!