Going into Comp II, I was not entirely sure what to expect. I took Comp I during the first semester of this year, and I was required to write eight essays. Doing so helped me feel prepared for whatever might have come my way in this course, but I had heard previously from family members and the internet that Comp II could potentially be a much harder version of Comp I. However, after taking this course, I can confidently say that Comp I truly did prepare me well for Comp II, as I did not struggle much at all. There was less work overall, but it was also much more intriguing to me, as I had never gotten a chance to read any absurd works before. None of my essays were perfect, but the time I spent working on my essays in Comp I led me to a great starting point for Comp II.

In terms of essay structure and grammar rules, my biggest issues were that for both Project 1 and the Literary Analysis for The Plague, I completely forgot that I had to connect my quotes to the text in my paragraph and ended up dropping every single one. I fixed it in Project 2, however, and I know I will not be making the same mistake again if I am ever required to write another essay. I also left a few of my paragraphs long instead of shortening them, and I left a few run-on sentences in the final drafts, but I also made sure to correct both of those in Project 2. I occasionally left an extra comma here and there before coordinating conjunctions when I did not need to, but that has always been an issue in my writing and I am still working to correct it. 

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          I discovered in this course that I prefer to come up with all of my main arguable points for an essay before I begin researching so that when I start reading through different scholarly sites I will already know what I need to be on the lookout for. For example, in Project 2, I started off by listing out the three main points I wanted to cover: What would Franz Kafka think about the health side effects of screen use, societal pressures to use phones so often, and the disregard adults have for the risks that phones pose? Afterwards, I used TCC’s online database to find either biographies of Kafka or different analyses of his works. I read through these and looked for any bits of information that could help support these points. I found it much easier to begin writing my body paragraphs when I already had all the information I needed to write them.

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          The course itself was much more interesting than I first anticipated. I enjoyed almost all of Comp I (save the argumentative essays) since I generally got to pick the topics of the essays I wrote, and a lot of the readings I had to do engrossed me. In Comp II, however, there was an overarching theme of Absurdism that I had heard about but never read before, and it made me excited. The ideas of Absurdism were intriguing, and after reading multiple different examples of this philosophy, I can say I am looking forward to reading more of it outside of class! The Plague, The Metamorphosis, and The Birds were all fantastic reads. On top of that, the screen epidemic I chose as my social epidemic to discuss for the semester was fun to read up on. I ended up coming across How to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price in my research. I bought it considering I have always felt I spend too much time on my phone, and at the time of writing this I am already almost done with the month trial that the book puts you through. I recommend it to anyone who wants to reshape their relationship with their phone! Finally, for Project 2, I read through multiple different biographies of Kafka’s life, and it was enjoyable to learn about his upbringing and hardships that brought him to the ideals he kept in mind while writing his stories.

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          Overall, Comp II was a fantastic way to finish off my English career, as I now have all of the English credits required to graduate high school. I was able to go over some finishing touches on my essay writing, like connecting quotes and being less liberal with my commas, and the material itself was genuinely enjoyable to read and analyze. I believe what I have learned from this course will help me well into the future, and I am very glad to have taken it!