Reflective Essay

I am Dylan Paul, a freshman finance major from the beautiful island of St. Lucia.  I currently study at Howard University, the number one HBCU in America, also known as The Mecca. This portfolio is meant to show the progress of my writing in English 104. During my early years of writing I was never fully engaged and attempted all ways to avoid it. I relied heavily on mathematics, since this was one of my strengths. During my time in this course however, I noticed that writing and critical thinking are directly linked. After noticing this, then did I take writing more seriously, becoming fully engaged as a reader. I developed a ritual whereby every morning I would go to the Honors Office and pick up a copy of The Wall Street Journal. My knowledge broadened day by day. In the course we focused on two major books, The Coming by Daniel Black, and Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Black is able to create a visualization of the middle passage and the experiences that Africans endured. His use of the English language creates an imagery like no other. Ta-Nehisi is able to explain his experiences while living in a black body to his son. It contains such deep thought and emotion. As a writer I try to create works that reflect emotion and feeling. Originally my limitation was knowledge. I did not read enough to be able to explain fully what I meant. However, this has changed, as try to read more and ask critical questions as I do so.