Blake+F.

My Strengths and Weaknesses 3/19/12 On my research paper I feel I had a good amount of strengths and a fair amount of things that I could improve upon. I feel that my biggest strength was my usage, mechanics, and grammer. Also I think the content of my paper was good, specifically the biographical information. One thing that I could improve on is my citations, both in the paper and on the works cited page.

A Strength in Challenge 2/7/12 I am on page 56. To me, this novel's strength is that it is constantly challenging the reader to think critically. You can't just skim through it because you will miss a lot. You may have to go back and read the same paragraph 3 or 4 times just to get an idea of what it is saying. I think that you get a better understanding of the message the the author is trying to convey if you have to stop and think about what you just read, instead of just reading it. The only downside to that is that it gets exhausting pretty quickly and it is difficult to read a lot at one time.

Confidence Within a Wise Man 1/27/12 "I CELEBRATE MYSELF, / And what I assume you shall assume," These lines of the poem really stick out to me. The first one, to me, says that Walt Whitman is proud of himself. The second line is saying that he hopes that people will follow in his footsteps. That is my favorite because I think that one of the most important qualities in people is confidence, and those lines from Whitman show that he had confidence. That may also be why he used it right away in the poem and made it the theme of the poem.

Both an Author and a Main Character 1/20/12 Leaves of Grass is a book of poetry, therefor there isn't really a main character. The author, Walt Whitman is the closest thing to a main character. I've only read the first 5 pages, but so far he has talked a lot about nature and life. I think that Whitman is going to continue on this trend of connecting life and nature throughout the entire book.

1/13/12 Opening up __Leaves of Grass__ I decided to read __Leaves__ __of Grass__ by Walt Whitman. Reading this will be tough for me because I am not the best at reading poetry. I am looking forward to the challenge though. I think that the book full of poems will be about nature and the experiences that Walt Whitman has came across in his life.