The semester has come to an end! A bittersweet feeling is felt as we embark the end. I think I have really learned more about mental disorders/illness through the short stories we have read in class. I have learned how to incorporate minor details in my writing like adding the theme to a short story and incorporating the setting in a way that makes the audience feel comfortable. This class has really opened my eyes on how people deal with their own mental disorder and how society views them especially the viewpoint on women. Writing is a beautiful thing to create in many ways considering it helps with improving feelings especially if you have a mental disorder. Writing has to do with language and how you articulate your words can become something that the reader can relate to or fall in love with, there are so many genres to choose from. Literature over history has changed over decades and ahs a huge influence in todays society. In American literature women are depicted as weak but then they are shown to pick themselves back up as everyone takes them as a joke. Society has brought more attention to  mental illness and the different coping mechanisms people go through. Over the semester American literature has overall changed my point of view on the different reactions and behaviors of people with mental disorders. I think “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” by Shirley Jackson had a great theme about family being important and being able to have an unbreakable bond like when Merricat said “I told you that you would like it on the moon.”, this specific quote really threaded the whole book together considering it was a saying Merricat used all the time which was a place of comfort and then she says it to her sister to end in a positive note even if the saying seemed a bit weird. I have never really read books like Shirley’s but I enjoyed it a lot and will continue to read more novels with mental health and have a message towards women. Another competent of this class was discussions. Discussions were such a enjoyable thing to be able to talk about the novels we read with my peers was the best. I think it was most interesting to be able to say my opinion and agree with what another peer said. It really made me open my eyes on how everyone perceives certain things. The Alternative Composition assignment made me really think outside the box and start analyzing how I can develop a different ending for the novel, it made me think of the setting the tone and theme in way to capture the reader’s attention. The genre of writing a short story made me target the audience that read short stories. The audience is an important factor in writing because you are creating a piece that people want to read and understand the different concepts. It made me develop and structure my sentences in a cohesive way to make the reader more enhanced and on the edge of their seat to want to know what happens next. Doing two different drafts of the short story made me improve the setting and develop the theme of sisterhood. I think that overall this course has made me actually analyze on writing more stronger. I think that the reflections have really made me analyze and think about the work I have done and how I can improve on being more specific in certain things, I tend to be vague and just go with the flow but I learned to be more cohesive with the language and writing. From writing the personal narrative to the last inquiry essay has shown that I’ve analyzed and carefully placed my sentences together to display the improvement and message. I value writing dearly, I have always loved writing and reading. Being able to take this class and learn about mental disorders in novels was an amazing experience. My writing has improved with grammar and writing in a way that flows and makes the audience comfortable. Overall writing is a complex beautiful thing that readers can learn and be influenced by. Words written in a piece of paper can change the world.

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