After taking this class I have improved my Enligh skills, mostly reading and comprehension. This class has improved my information skills by making me get into the assignments and access information. The assignments with less requirements and direction enabled me to work hard on the assingments and made me use creative techniques to complete projects.

Connections;in all the literature that we learned, there were so many parallel things. Being able to use the information and to take it in probably made it easier for me to take in information and to make connections with it about all sorts of things. All the rhetorical devices and stragties that we learned made my writing better and helped me to use information in a more compelling way. The pursuasive essay that we wrote, made me realize that we have been learning through other writers, how they used information to make their work better, and how we can use similar stragties to make our work better too.

I am able to find symbols and foreshadowing better in novels, and I am also able to pick out rhetorical devices in the reading much more effectively.

I am now able to identify and use rehtorical devices.

I feel like I have learned a lot of NEW information in this class (all the philosophy, the grammar, and the lit. devices) and I feel more prepared to write with these things in my 'toolbox.' Also, even though we did not love to do them, the AP prompts really helped me to learn how to find information and present it well.

I feel that I can better evaluate literature. The class has given me many terms with which I can identify... stuff.

I have found that since the beginning of class I have begun to write better. I think my sentences aren't so long and wordy, and it helps. I also have practiced how to read and cite information, which helps prove my point and give credibility.

I know how to find the 'information' in works of fiction and take these devices out to use them in my own ficton works. I also know how to pick the pith out of prose, but then again, my pithies are different from other people's pithies.

I think this class has improved my ability to use information especially in taking what I have recently read and putting it to use in discussions. I found that I would use specific details from a piece of litereature to support an idea I had. Even though I did this in the past, I think this year I have done it more than ever and I have become better at doing it.

I've learned how to use information that we get out of the readings in my essays more effectively. The pithy quotes were a great tool for teaching us how to extract importance from a piece of writing.

It has certainly improved my ability to understand information presented in writing by all of the incredibly technical authors we have studied. Self Reliance was a nightmare this summer and now it is more of just a bad dream. It truly was an amazing environment in which I learned this fall/winter. Okay so to the question: This class has improved my ability to find the ddeper motivations behind certain styles of information and devics authors use. In being trained to understand these aspects of writing further, it helps me use the information to a far greater extent because its meaning is greater.

My abilities to use information has improved in certain aspects. I believe I have become a better critical reader because of the repetition with pithy quotes.

This class (especially its pithy quote assignments) has taught me to pick out important information from a passage, and to interpret it quickly and accurately.

This class has helped me realize that background information can be really important. Because we learned all of the rhetorical devices, I was able to remember them when both reading and writing.

This class has made it easier for me to sift through a lot of needless information and pick out the useful bits. Writing the persuasive essay helped me decide what was important and how to fit it into the essay to give it the greatest impact. Also, digging through the books to find pithy quotes was helpful, because it let me determine for myself what was relevant.

This class has really helped me learn the importance of rhetorical devices. Both how to identify and explain them, and how they help support an argument. I am much better at analyzing literature to find out what it is trying to get across to the reader.

This class has taught me to apply what I learned in class. Especially the grammar that I learned in class. I really learned to take what I learned and apply it to other classes and parts of my life.

Yes, absolutely. I learned a lot about grammer, which was excellent. At the same time I feel like my eyes were opened up to a whole new way to analyze literature. Its been interesting to look at how the author uses the language, rather than what is written.

As we did the AP prompts I learned how to do them more effectively. I used the mistakes that I made in the last prompt in order to have a better essay next time.

Because of class surveys and class discussions about improving our homework assignments, etc, I think that all of our problem solving skills are better. It's nice to be able to have a calm and logical discussion about a problem that is occuring, and to figure out a solution on our own.

By listening to others ideas and sharing your own, it is easier to come to conclusions.

I don't think I gained much problem solving abilities from this class.

I felt that this class had a large focus on self-management which enabled me to learn to take better control of my own problems.

I know how to work better in a timed situation. I know how to get to the bery root of the question being asked before starting any work. I can spy foreshadowing and imagery miles and miles away.

I think this is the first time I have been in a English class that has improved my ability to solve problems. Usually when I think of the problem solving question, I think of math classes or science classes. Every day I was challenged to work in groups or learn how to manage my time on assignments. It was a new and invigurating process in problem solving. I was able to go about solving problems in a different fashion in this class.

In the beginning of the year we had a hard time with some of the assignments, but through the surveys we were able to talk about them and get some new ideas.

In the beginning of the year, I wasn't satasfied with the grades I was getting on my practice AP essays. This was a problem for me, so I stayed after school one day with Mr. O and I felt as though it really helped me. Since that time, my grades on the essays have gone up and I'm very happy about how I handled the problem.

It helped me with time management, which is a problem I have. Also, by having in class essays and such, we were forced to solve problems, and quickly.

Learning and using an improved vocabulary, especially the literary devices helps with multiple choice.

One way in which this class has helped me learn to problem solve was on the AP Prompts. It helped me learn to think before I wrote, rather than begin writing right away.

The class has helped me solve problems by breaking literature as well as the english language down to draw many meaning into a larger, more whole point of view. In solving small problems of finding the meaning of a piece, this helps me conquer the overall piece.

The class helped me improve my ability to problem solve with the AP prompt essays. The essays made me think about what they were actually asking for and how to go about answering the question.

This class has especially taught me time management, both for the reading homework assignments and for the AP tests. It has also taught me how to solve the problem of tackling a humungus book and finishing it in time.

This class has taught me to use what I know when solving problems. (I know that sounds kind of obvious, but it isn't.) It has also taught me about how we all have to work together to get something done, like with pithy quote groups or even with the RESPECT issue.

Uhm, really I didn't have to use my problem solving abilities, since we didn't do many group projects that required that. My biggest problem was remembering to do the surveys!

When we always pulled apart the literature trying to fined the meaning and the symbols, that was all problem solving. So, I think I have gottem better at it, through all the practice. After this class I can look at a piece of writing and get so much more out of it than I would have before.

Communication was essential in this class, and small and large group discussions have honed my public speaking skills. I learned to better express myself in a group and present my ideas in such a way that everyone could understand them.

I can communicate more easily now because Mr. O really grades a person on their participation. He looks to see how often a person is contributing, not just how much they pay attention. I will admit that I communicated more for the grade, but when I did finally communicate I felt that he was really listening to what I said, and therefore it was easier for me than in past years when I felt the teacher was judging me more on the way I worded the sentence than the thought and idea behind it.

I can express myself better through writing. It did nothing for my person-to-person communication however because I put no effort into that.

I feel I've become much more effective in my writing. I have learned to right clearer and more to the point.

I guess so. I now know how to shorten my sentences so that I don't have any extra cow dung lingering around my work. I am slightly better at grammar but not much. I will have to work on that. I would have liked to have studied the different parts of the sentence and how they fit together, such as the prepostions and subjects and objects. I hate these things but if would be good for me.

I have found through this class that by simply sharing your own thoughts, more words and confidence comes with it.

I have learned how to show people what I feel through words. I could do this before obviously, but i was not aware of the great visual devices and logical styles of writing. EXAMPLE- He laser-tongued his opponent with striking comments.

I think honors english actually pushes the point of interaction through group situations and it helps, in my other english classes we never really bonded or had to communicate that much.

I went on and off with the whole big group conversations participation thing, but I feel like near the end I was comfortable enough to say anything, which is a cool thing to have in an English class.

It has helped me be able to talk about literature in a coherant way.

It has taught me how to use rhetorical devices to express myself better through writing, and how to make my point clearly and forcefully. I have learned how to fine tune my writing to give it maximum oomph, and have learned to speak up in class more.

Now it so much easier for me to talk to a large group without feeling nervous. I really value all the time that we had to discuss, since each discussion was like a big conversation, and it is important to be able to talk and to keep a part in a conversation. The line ups helped me too, sometimes it is very hard for me to quickly come up with something to say and having to do that in the line ups started me going on making my mind up faster. I also think that because of all the pithy quote essays and reading and discussing such amazing literary work it has become less difficult for me to write. My writing is still not always easy, but requires less effort than when I started at the beginging of the idea.

Small group discussions really helped me to express my ideas and opinions openly with other people that may not agree with what I think. The atmosphere in our class is that of a family and I think that really helped as well.

This class had helped me explain my thoughts to a larger group of people because of our large group discussions. While in th beginning, I was afraid to speak up, not I raise my hand all the time because I have a lot to say and feel comfortable sharing it.

This class was based largely on oral communication. We read, and then discussed in class our thoughts. If you didn't talk then you didn't get your ideas heard.

This course has helped to communicate my ideas to me peers. A lot of this course was discussion and so I had the opportunity to work on effectively communicating my ideas. Sometimes my classmates wouldn't understand what I was saying so I had to rephrase my idea in a way they did.

This course has taught me a lot about clear communication (through the grammar lessons). It also taught me that sometimes you actually can't communicate, like with the difference between romantic and classical thinkers-they will never really understand each other's points of view.

This is probably the ability I improved the most on. The small pithy groups and the large group discussions forced me to talk. In the first quarter I was a little hesitant to speak my mind, but as I became more comfortable the words came easier. Also another part of my problem was I would have an idea and then someone else would say it before me. That hintered my verbal contributions to the class. No I feel much more comfortable speaking my mind in front of a large class.

Hearing what people have to say in discussions always blows me away. I'm amazed that everyone in the class can have such amazing insights into the reading material.

I am incredibly proud of this class and am always amazed by the work we accomplish. I have respect for people's essays, along with the way we treat each other.

I feel that I am more refined in my own writing which makes me proud. I respect every one of my classmates because everyone is pithy. I respect Mr. O because he is pithy and gives me glossily papered weekly assignments.

I found out that I can actually write, and therefore respect myself more. I feel that doing the praise paragraphs helped me to respect each of the students in the class better as well. (respect is spelled wrong in the question. hahaha)

I have increased respect for others be means of the weekly surveys, in which I am required to find someone in the class that has inspired or impressed me. I have found many students over the semester that have impressed me.

I have learned to tolererate different people (including bad spellers), and that often the quietest people have the most to say. I have realized that I am a good writer, which has boosted my self-esteem, and I have come to appreciate others through their writing and their ideas.

I have spent more time thinking about repect in this class than in others, so I make a concious effort to be respectful.

I learned that everyone has value. Our class would not be the same if any one person was missing, including myself. Actually this is definitely a good thing because it makes me feel very important. But seriously, I learned that everybody has something to say.

I really enjoyed this class because it seemed like we were all friends and we all got along really well. Because we were friends, I had a great deal of respect for everyone in the class. Also, sometimes a person had a really great idea that I hadn't thought of at all. This really increased my respect for that perseon.

I think it has increased the whole respect level of the class in general because we were so conscious of the respect we were giving or receiving due to the surveys we took on the weekends. I think it made us all a little bit more aware of our actions around eachother, in which resulted in a peaceful learning environment.

It allowed me to really get to know everyone in the class intimately. That way I could appreciate everyone's ideas and opinions.

It has made me realize that quiet people often have a lot more to say than I previously thought they did, and that it is important to respect them by encouraging them to share their thoughts.

It has more increased my respect for others because

It has more increased my respect for others because everyone was fantastic and they helped me at times understand.

Just when we got together for the present swap and party, all the 'comment' circles earlier. It shows people can be nice like that. Also all the books we have read, like Huck Finn and when we watched Billy Budd.

My respect for myself has increased more because I felt I was actually contributing to class discussions. Like, I mentioned before, Mr. O actually listened to my ideas and accepted them whether he agreed with them or not. As for others, Mr. O placed a great emphasise on respect, so therefore I was more attentive in that matter.

Through hearing other's ideas and responses to what we discussed, really increased my respect and admiration for what they had to say. English is the class where I learn the most about all the other people, since they often take what they hear in a waythat shows who they are. When I heard all the persuasive essays, I loved hearing all that they had to say and was very impressed with all that they had to say. I almost feel like I respect where I am coming from and the ideas that I have more than I did before. This class has stimulated so much thinking about who I am. I still don't really know, but I feel stronger about my ideas, through all of the thinking than I was before.

We work very closely with each other, sharing our ideas and work. You get to see the way that other people think and the way that you yourself think. Through this you grow to appreciate your peers more and respect their opinions.

Yes. I have made some new friends which is always nice.

Because this course has improved my writing, it is likely that I will, at some point, contribute to the Current or Pulp. Also, the ideas in the readings have inspired me to make the most out of my life, and hence participate in more activities in and out of school.

Doing the essays about current topics made me more aware of things happening in the community and helped me to form a stronger opinion about what is happening.

I am going to enter one of my essays into the Edith Bird Something and I am thinkg about something for PULP. I am also fantastic about finding allegories in eberything, including my toothpaste, the wall division in our classroom and Mrs. Dell.

I liked all the philosophy we did throughout the course, we talked about some greater themes that I will definitly use during the rest of my lifew. I liked that we didn't just talk about books, we talked about life and living. So yea, I feel like I have more awareness of certain things, so that might lead me to contribute more in general.

I think that this section of the class needs a little more work, as the class didn't really go into the community or the school and do something. It would have been neat if some of us could have had the opportunity to write for the school paper.

I think the philosophical insight that this class has given me has made me so more aware of what I am doing with my life. It has encouraged me to make some significant changes in my lifestyle and the way I interact with other people. I have questioned myself and my ideals much more than ever since taking this course. In a way I feel thankful to have had my schooling in this district and be apart of so many of the programs it has to offer. Even before I took this course I was involved in extra-curricular activities as well as volunteering in the community, but this class brought to light how special it is to actually be apart of these organizations and contribute to the local community.

I'm not really sure how the course has allowed me to contribute to the school or community because I was pretty active already in the community and my school before I took the course.

In this class, we help each other edit essays or explain things someone doesn't understand. This can be carried into other classes or the community.

It has encouraged me to try harder in the class bcause we have been doing things that have actiually meant something to me but the community has not been as much of an influence in my motivations.

Maybe to just be myself more. Also it has made me to respect the school more, because of all the great kids who I got to know. It has encouraged me to do what I believe in, and probably to do the best I can in the places that I am.

My opinion paper encouraged me to get out there and do more for the school.

The class has encourages me to both speak up and be a better listener, which are both important in my overall place in my school and community.

The discussions allowed me to contibute my own ideas to the class. Also, I think the ideas/values from the various books we have read have carried over into how I live and how I interact with the community.

There are a lot of giving people in the class, it kind of rubs off on you.

This class is based on trust. Everyday we have to trust that our ideas will be accepted and not scoffed. This class has increased my value of that trust, and I have brought that in to my experiences in the community.

Through this class and the novels we have read I have learned that by contributing to others, you will feel better about yourself.

Well, Mr. O encouraged the class to submit things we were proud of to Pulp, but I never actually submit anything. I think next year it would help if he mentioned this opportunity more, or let students know when he really liked a piece of writing, so they would be more motivated to send things in to Pulp or the paper.

When I was told that I need to perform a certain amount of community service hours for a co-curricular activity I tried to think of something that I could do that I also enjoy. As a result of this class I started tutoring elementary school students in the recovery reading program in my town. It's a really rewarding experience that I never would have done without the love of reading that I have found in my english classes.

Being around my classmates and Mr. O'Leary.

Definitely the atmosphere. I love all the people in this class (including Mr. O!), and even though we get loud sometimes, and don't always listen to each other, this group of people are definitely the best in the school. I also loved learning about different philosophies, and discussing books, of course.

I liked the Scarlet Letter Project, because it gave us a lot of freedom to do what we wanted and to break the mold. I think that it let us express ourselves and do a great job overall. I know that I was much more into the project than I would have been otherwise.

Line ups aside, I love the group of kids. We can have such great discussions about literature. I feel like everyone is really engaged and has a lot to offer. It's so great to have fun at the same time as you are having a 'Caroline-style' epiphany.

line ups were great! Not just because they were different but because it allowed one to learn more about her classmates and therefore understand and apprecitate their ideas more.

LINEUPS, because we got to learn more about eachother and have fun.

Reasonable work load. Fun teacher. Great class.

Stunning and amazing small group and large group discussions were probable the best part of the class for me. Not every discussion was so wonderful, but there was something so special about having an animated discussion about being self reliant, what the role of society is, what is our role, what is genus, what is inspiration, about illusions and allusions, even small things that are in our own lives. I loved learning about the transcendentalists and nature. The natural objects project, revealed so many other ideas about what the simple small things could stand for, and was very impressive. Th literature is so rich and powerful and I loved reading it.

The best part of the class was discovering the universal truths that are in all good writing, and trying to relate them to everyday life. It made me want to read more classic books in the future.

The best part of this class was the content of the readings and way in which our class' attitude approached the course.It was a very welcoming class and the reading we did was impossible to not inspire deep conversation.

The best part of this class was the fact that it was with the same group of people that I had been with for the past two english classes. It is nice to have one class where you are familiar with everyone. I also enjoyed doing the class 'lineups.'

The best part was the whole class discussions. Even though I rarely participated in them, there was a certain feeling that I liked and it was cool to hear what everyone else thought on subjects.

The best parts of the class were by far the projects, the people, and Gatsby! I always love English class, because everyone in it is someone who I really like and who is really fun to be around. Also, I think that when we got to do projects, such as the Scarlet Letter project, it was excellent. I enjoy expressing my views on literature in creative and original ways, and the projects helped me do that. Oh, and lineups were the highlight of my day.

The line-ups! No, seriously I think the best part was probably the class discussions where we all had different opinions. I liked these because we were all very involved and vocal in these discussions. I also really enjoyed reading The Great Gatsby. I thought the story was fantastic and I got a lot out of the book. The line-ups were lots of fun too. I liked them because we got to learn about each other and we got to tell each other about ourselves.

The line-ups!!!!!! Other than fun, I actually got to learn a lot about my classmates. But really, the best part of the class was when we learned a new rhetorical device in class, like zeugma. I liked how Mr. O made us read about the term, than he taught us about it, than he made us use it. It was a really good way for me to learn.

THE PEOPLE!! I love you guys!

There are a few things that come to mind that really made this class enjoyable for me. First, the students and Mr. O were fun and interesting every class making it the hilight of my day, the block I looked forward to attending. I also enjoyed reading 'Into the Wild.' It made me realize how much I am like Chris McCandless in my thoughts and ideals. It made a connection with his story in a big way. Thanks for assigning that story. It was a great story to read over vacation. On a less serious note, it can't go without saying, the lineups were a great way to get into small pithy groups. We were able to learn something new about our classmates almost everyday, which made us a tighter knit group of students. We did not only get to learn something new about our peers, but also grouped up with new people each day. This enabled me to learn more about the personalities of the kids in my class. It was a great experience.

I would offer the alternative Pithy Quote options a little earlier. I would focus a little more on the actual events and details of a book during the discussion, while still discussing the symbolism, devices, and everything. I wish we got some assigments handed back a little sooner. I would have liked to do more than one AP essay in class, so we got to the point where we were doing one in just 40 minutes.

I might make the coursework more varried, and spend more time in small group discussions.

I really liked when we switched from doing pithy quotes to other activities. Less pithys would make this class better.

I think it we could have done more projects similar to the Scarlet Letter one. I enjoyed that it was a fun way to work differently and more creatively with one another.

I think looking back at the class as whole, I think it was put together quite nicely. There was a little repition at the beginning, but that was eventually corrected. That is expected though, because as a teacher it takes a little while to learn about your students' strengths, weaknesses and interests. In the end, I think I can speak for everyone, that it was a 'tight' class.

I think more in class prompts would be good, especially before the final.

I would assign homework that did not always involve pithy quotes. They are indeed a good learning tool, but everything in moderation. Other than that, the class was 'wicked sick nasty' as Liam would say.

I would create more variety in the activities of the class. Writing can become completely different if viewed from a new angle.

I would do more activities. I know we are older and the sharing of ideas is essential but i would mix it up while maintaining the same values of discussion.

I would have more in class time on rhetorical terms.

I would make it in a normal classroom, without a class on the other side of the divider, so that we could get as loud as we wanted. I also wouldn't make such a big deal about the respect issue, because I think that kind of scared some people from speaking out.

I would make the assignments less oriented around the internet. I do love the surveys instead of the traditional DLPs we had to do in freshman year, but simply having the internet down in one's house could make it impossible to do one's work, which was aggravating and obnoxious. Grrr.

I would personally have liked to read a few more books, I feel like we would have had time. And perhaps a few more creative projects, more open ended I guess. I also think that line-ups are amazing. Maybe more poetry too.

Its fine the way it is.

Maybe a little variation of what we did every day. I really like the class the way it was though and enjoyed doing what we did.

Not so many repetitive pithy quote assignments near the beginning of the year! Also, it would have been nice if we had had more AP practice in the form of multiple choice questions. Also, some of the quizzes and tests weren't exactly what I was expecting. I felt that many of them had to do with the little details of the books we read, but that they did not encompass the broad and important themes that we went over in class. Different quizzes would be nice - ones that include the things that we talk about in class and that don't worry about tiny little details that we are likely to miss.

Of course, I would make the class more hands-on and with more projects. Mr. O does a great job making the class think about things and discussing them, but at some points I would have liked a break with a project. A project that could be completely finished in class.

The ammount of reading in one night that we had to do. I'm not sure how you could change it but the Moby Dick assignments, Walden readings and Emerson essays were a lot to handle in one night.

Mr O'Leary has KILLER shades.

I am definitely going to miss this class next semester. It did seem a little boring in the beginning, but it really improved and now I look forward to it every day.

'TIGHT' I think the questions on quizes that start 'What's with...' should be a little more specififc.

All in all this class was pretty darn good.

At first, I didn't like the way this course was taught. But as the year went on, I realized how much I get out of the class and how much i enjoy it.

Great job Mr. O! Thanks you for everything and your good sense of humor.

I liked how open the class was, and am impressed with all that we did this semester. It was my favorite class, because of all the people and all the things we talked about. I am going to miss it.

I LOOOOOOVED it!

I must say, at the beginning of this class I was a bit worried - our constant string of pithy quote assignments had me thinking that the class was going to be very repetitive and dull. However, Mr. O pulled through beautifully! As the year went on the class became one of the highlights of my day. I really loved all of the literature (except maybe Moby Dick) and I felt that we had stimulating and interesting discussions.

I really feel that this class has helped me to find out who I am as a person. Everyone helped me to push myself and to follow my beliefs (and to discover what my beliefs are), so thank you.

In the first quarter I can't say I was a fan. The class was much different from what we were used to in the past and that took so major getting used to. Now however I'm realizing that I learned a ton, and have grown incredibly as a writer this year. I'm gonna miss this class. Thanks Mr. O.

It was a fun class, and a fun, easy going teacher, which allowed for an overall fun atmosphere.

It was cool. I wish I had been with you all last year too.

It was very nice every day and I would like to thank everyone for such a great and inspiring time... If, that is, anyone other than mr O is able to read this.

Mr. O you rock, you are one of the articulate and philosophical speakers I know; you have a sense of genuine love for your subject at moment but you can also be one of the guys. You're a cool guy.

Mr. O, you are the man. You are wicked funny and you made us learn the stuff. Looking back, I really liked the class. Thanks!

The class was much improved second quarter over first quarter.