Mid Term Check In

Dear Professor Cline,
   I must first say, I appreciate this class very much. I have always had a love for writing, and I enjoy being able to further my understanding of English and writing. My biggest challenge in this class has definitely been literary analysis. When trying to write my essay, I felt lost at first. I had a hard time trying to express what I was saying without putting a lot of my own emotion into my writing. Writing without emotion is very hard for me, which is why I enjoy more creative writing. Writing a good essay is a very hard thing to do. I definitely believe my strongest area so far has been my ability to take the constructive criticism and apply it to better my writing.
   The readings we have done in this class so far have really affected me emotionally. I’ve really enjoyed everything we’ve been given to read so far and I look forward to what is in store. The Handmaid’s Tale is a very interesting book and provoked a lot of thought about what it would be like for me if such a world became our own. It’s interesting to think about those type of hypothetical things and how I would react to it.
   For me, literary analysis is very different then other writing I’ve done in college so far. I do not specifically enjoy that type of writing, but I appreciate being taught how to do it. I do enjoy challenging myself. I believe literary analysis is very important, although I do believe it is a harder form of writing for me. I enjoy more creative writing.
   My goal for the second half of the semester is to continue to do my best and take in every detail of criticism I am given and apply it to my writing. I hope to gain a good understanding for different forms of essays and writing, and I hope to get an A for the semester. I will continue to work hard and give my all in every piece of writing I turn in.
   Thank you so much for everything I have learned from this class so far, and for all I will learn the rest of the semester!
Sincerely,
Heather Audis

The Sand Storm

The Sand Storm by Sean Huze is an incredibly honest and powerful play that centers around a group of marines, each telling their war story after being deployed in Iraq. My initial reaction to reading this play was sadness. I felt so sad for all the heinous things those marines had to live through and witness. I can’t even imagine having to shoot innocent women and children, then live with those memories for the rest of my life. It breaks my heart that these guys suffer emotionally from the pain of war and are expected to return home and act as if nothing has changed them. After I read one particular line, I felt overwhelmed with grief for our military. “Father, son, brother, friend. Track star, quarterback, Marine. The things we use to define ourselves, who we are, what we are. Boom! Just like that. And you’re gone. Fucking mist and a memory is all that’s left.” (Huze 16) How profound this line is to someone who fights wars and defends our freedom. One moment you can be saving lives or taking them, and the next you could be gone. And maybe to those marines, they are dying for something they don’t really understand. Sean Huze uses profanity and harsh language in his play, maybe to signify how harsh and profane war is? Maybe he is angry about the things he saw, and how could he not be? I felt as though the profanity only added to the emotion of the play. The truth is, that is how a lot of marines talk and it is simply their honest words coming out, letting civilians know how hard it is over there. My husband also served in OIF, received a purple heart and a bronze star with valor, all before his 22^nd birthday. I read things like this and my heart breaks again. I remember the awful things he’s seen and the stories he’s told me, and I become sad. I know I cannot erase his memories of the dead bodies and the awful screams, nor can I erase the memories of the marines in Sean Huze’s play, but the empathy I feel for those guys who fight such a war is strong. This play is an eye opener for those who don’t know what our military goes through and it is the stories of so many who have a hard time sharing them.


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