May 10, 2014
Dr. Jerome M. McKeever
Corporate College West Room 301 D
Cuyahoga Community College
Westlake, OH 44145
Dear Professor McKeever:
I would like to thank you for allowing me to be in your English Class, ENG 1020 this semester. It has been one of the most rewarding and intellectually stimulating classes I have taken. When I first signed up for this class, I wasn’t sure what to make out of the class but as the semester progressed I went through the research paper assignment, it became clear to me that I will really enjoy this class. I enjoyed the flexibility that you provided for each research paper and found your timely guidance, through the Blackboard announcement, very useful.
The three research papers were very well connected and it students develop a story and connect their thoughts from their pervious paper and related research. The topic one could choose for the research paper came from a list with wide variety of selections, which covered all walks of life, social situations, historical figures, and national heroes. You made it easy for students to select the topic of their likings, which made development of research material easier and a worthwhile effort. Your instructions about the three research papers were masterful. For example, the second paper was to build a model profile of a person we came across in connection with researching for the first paper. This was a brilliant idea because I believe all successful people are influenced by others who help them become successful. Similarly, the third paper helped us review an article, film, painting, or other related material that we discovered while researching for the first two papers.
In addition to creating an environment through these assignments of learning and linking the research project with common themes, this class also helped students with on-line tools. Students used Smarthinking website and had access to an e-tutor. This website was simple to use and helped students submit their research paper to the writing center with a specific requests to the e-tutor the areas of paper they needed helped in. The assigned e-tutor returned the paper within twenty four hours with specific comments. I, personally, found the website very useful. The e-tutors were precise and marked the paper in the places it needed to be improved. After revising the paper, it was resubmitted to Smarthinking for further improvement. The guided tutoring was fast, accurate and offered services as if the tutors were sitting with me and going over my paper.
I found your assignment for extra credit for MLA Style and Format was very helpful. I especially liked your instruction to submit results only when students get one hundred percent in the quiz. This allowed students to take the test several times, and in this process, helped them improve their understanding of the MLA Style and Format which was the whole purpose of the assignment. I also liked the second quiz for extra credit that was a great idea and helped solidify the knowledge of MLA Style and Format for citation. In addition, the Purdue On-Line Writing Lab (OWL) was useful in providing guidance in MLA format. I used the sample research paper while developing my own paper. I found the suggested reading, “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words,” humorous but the at the same time useful.
Since this was an on-line class, it required a heavy use of the Blackborad technology that Tri-C has adopted. Through the Blackboard, students knew about the curriculum, lesson plan with helpful tools and assignment due dates. I found the Discussion Board feature of the Blackboard particularly helpful because interacting with the fellow students and the teacher. The three assignments in the Discussion Board stimulated critical thinking besides learning about the on-line classmates who were taking the same class.
The three research papers in the course demanded most of the time and also carried most of the points. When I browsed through the available list of possible topics, I came across so many good ones that I could have selected. However, the one that struck me was about Mahatma Gandhi and his role as a militant non-violent leader in the fight for Indian independence from the might British Empire. Since I grew up in India, Mahatma Gandhi and his legacy had a special meaning to me. Although there were several freedom fighters in India who played vital roles in gaining independence from the British, there was no one as significant as Mahatma Gandhi. I had personally heard of his legacy from my grandmother, when she saw Gandhi during one of the non-co-operation movement when she was just a little girl. I had heard many stories of Gandhi, his charismatic speech, and how everyone believed in him. When I saw Gandhi as an option for the research paper, I felt it would be an honor for me to write about him.
I thoroughly enjoyed writing the first narrative paper about Gandhi. During the course of research, I had the opportunity to visit local libraries and review several books about Gandhi. I also found a good number of resources on the internet which were helpful in developing the narrative. It was a pleasure writing this paper as I was reminded of the historical event during the freedom movement in India against the British. I realized how influential Gandhi was as I read through the materials. I admired his courage and resilience in fight for his homeland. In a time when there was no internet and communication media we have today, it must have been really difficult to mobilize the masses for the common cause. People carrying a message for organizing a freedom rally, had to travel by train. There is so much I learned from writing this paper that I am grateful for the chance.
The second paper was about a profile of someone important we came across during our research for the first paper. I had a perfect person for this this paper – Jawaharlal Nehru, who had the distinction of becoming the first prime minister of free India. I chose Jawaharlal Nehru because he sacrificed a comfortable living for the sake of his country. During the research, I realized how intelligent he was. What impressed me the most was how well respected Nehru was within India and abroad including the United States of America.
I enjoyed writing the third paper because it was about my most favorite movie, “Gandhi.” I had seen the movie in India when it was first released. I was struck by the resemblance of Ben Kingsley, who played Gandhi, to the real Mahatma Gandhi. I was impressed by the direction and the attention to details that this movie was able to show. It was good to see that through this movie, Attenborough showed the world, the story of Indian freedom movement. When researching for this paper, it was great to read several critics of the movie. Everyone seem to have opinion about this movie – mostly positive, but there were some negative.
As I mentioned earlier, this class extremely helpful for me as it taught me conduct research, learn to organize materials, write narrative, build profiles, and critic movies. Your assistance in pointing to tools, and websites for guided tutoring was invaluable. I will be graduating this summer but I will look for opportunities to continue to take advanced classes with you.
Sincerely,
Anita Sinha
Dr. Jerome M. McKeever
Corporate College West Room 301 D
Cuyahoga Community College
Westlake, OH 44145
Dear Professor McKeever:
I would like to thank you for allowing me to be in your English Class, ENG 1020 this semester. It has been one of the most rewarding and intellectually stimulating classes I have taken. When I first signed up for this class, I wasn’t sure what to make out of the class but as the semester progressed I went through the research paper assignment, it became clear to me that I will really enjoy this class. I enjoyed the flexibility that you provided for each research paper and found your timely guidance, through the Blackboard announcement, very useful.
The three research papers were very well connected and it students develop a story and connect their thoughts from their pervious paper and related research. The topic one could choose for the research paper came from a list with wide variety of selections, which covered all walks of life, social situations, historical figures, and national heroes. You made it easy for students to select the topic of their likings, which made development of research material easier and a worthwhile effort. Your instructions about the three research papers were masterful. For example, the second paper was to build a model profile of a person we came across in connection with researching for the first paper. This was a brilliant idea because I believe all successful people are influenced by others who help them become successful. Similarly, the third paper helped us review an article, film, painting, or other related material that we discovered while researching for the first two papers.
In addition to creating an environment through these assignments of learning and linking the research project with common themes, this class also helped students with on-line tools. Students used Smarthinking website and had access to an e-tutor. This website was simple to use and helped students submit their research paper to the writing center with a specific requests to the e-tutor the areas of paper they needed helped in. The assigned e-tutor returned the paper within twenty four hours with specific comments. I, personally, found the website very useful. The e-tutors were precise and marked the paper in the places it needed to be improved. After revising the paper, it was resubmitted to Smarthinking for further improvement. The guided tutoring was fast, accurate and offered services as if the tutors were sitting with me and going over my paper.
I found your assignment for extra credit for MLA Style and Format was very helpful. I especially liked your instruction to submit results only when students get one hundred percent in the quiz. This allowed students to take the test several times, and in this process, helped them improve their understanding of the MLA Style and Format which was the whole purpose of the assignment. I also liked the second quiz for extra credit that was a great idea and helped solidify the knowledge of MLA Style and Format for citation. In addition, the Purdue On-Line Writing Lab (OWL) was useful in providing guidance in MLA format. I used the sample research paper while developing my own paper. I found the suggested reading, “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words,” humorous but the at the same time useful.
Since this was an on-line class, it required a heavy use of the Blackborad technology that Tri-C has adopted. Through the Blackboard, students knew about the curriculum, lesson plan with helpful tools and assignment due dates. I found the Discussion Board feature of the Blackboard particularly helpful because interacting with the fellow students and the teacher. The three assignments in the Discussion Board stimulated critical thinking besides learning about the on-line classmates who were taking the same class.
The three research papers in the course demanded most of the time and also carried most of the points. When I browsed through the available list of possible topics, I came across so many good ones that I could have selected. However, the one that struck me was about Mahatma Gandhi and his role as a militant non-violent leader in the fight for Indian independence from the might British Empire. Since I grew up in India, Mahatma Gandhi and his legacy had a special meaning to me. Although there were several freedom fighters in India who played vital roles in gaining independence from the British, there was no one as significant as Mahatma Gandhi. I had personally heard of his legacy from my grandmother, when she saw Gandhi during one of the non-co-operation movement when she was just a little girl. I had heard many stories of Gandhi, his charismatic speech, and how everyone believed in him. When I saw Gandhi as an option for the research paper, I felt it would be an honor for me to write about him.
I thoroughly enjoyed writing the first narrative paper about Gandhi. During the course of research, I had the opportunity to visit local libraries and review several books about Gandhi. I also found a good number of resources on the internet which were helpful in developing the narrative. It was a pleasure writing this paper as I was reminded of the historical event during the freedom movement in India against the British. I realized how influential Gandhi was as I read through the materials. I admired his courage and resilience in fight for his homeland. In a time when there was no internet and communication media we have today, it must have been really difficult to mobilize the masses for the common cause. People carrying a message for organizing a freedom rally, had to travel by train. There is so much I learned from writing this paper that I am grateful for the chance.
The second paper was about a profile of someone important we came across during our research for the first paper. I had a perfect person for this this paper – Jawaharlal Nehru, who had the distinction of becoming the first prime minister of free India. I chose Jawaharlal Nehru because he sacrificed a comfortable living for the sake of his country. During the research, I realized how intelligent he was. What impressed me the most was how well respected Nehru was within India and abroad including the United States of America.
I enjoyed writing the third paper because it was about my most favorite movie, “Gandhi.” I had seen the movie in India when it was first released. I was struck by the resemblance of Ben Kingsley, who played Gandhi, to the real Mahatma Gandhi. I was impressed by the direction and the attention to details that this movie was able to show. It was good to see that through this movie, Attenborough showed the world, the story of Indian freedom movement. When researching for this paper, it was great to read several critics of the movie. Everyone seem to have opinion about this movie – mostly positive, but there were some negative.
As I mentioned earlier, this class extremely helpful for me as it taught me conduct research, learn to organize materials, write narrative, build profiles, and critic movies. Your assistance in pointing to tools, and websites for guided tutoring was invaluable. I will be graduating this summer but I will look for opportunities to continue to take advanced classes with you.
Sincerely,
Anita Sinha