The night falls on a city that is endlessly in motion; couples saunter by, knowing the night is young, children scamper past weary, way-worn parents, and urban professionals walk hastily to their comfortable abodes. All around, you are engulfed by a massive concrete jungle-- surrounded by buildings whose very presence stand testament to human achievement and progress. That thought-- combined with the building's shear verticality-- is both beautiful and daunting. Then, you conquer your fear, and take a step inside one of the megaliths. This one is an Art Deco style building: concrete and giant in scale, with a façade that recalls the New York of F. Scott Fitzgerald's imagination. The warmth of the lobby and the familiar sounds of people in the elevator queue reassure you, and suddenly you know the journey to the spire will be okay.

Starting my first semester of college at a prestigious university as a recent high school graduate was a similarly daunting undertaking. I had no previous university experience to guide me through my first semester, nor had I any realistic expectations as to how English 131 would be. All I had to speculate with were the antiquated representations of university English classes presented in films and novels, wherein the tweed-blazer-wearing instructor is almost always presented as an aloof, impersonal, and hyper-intellectual character. Thus, I felt the same, stifling anxiety an acrophobic tourist might feel before ascending a skyscraper. It was only after attending the first class that my anxiety was quelled. The professor (not dressed in the archetypal tweed blazer, might I add) was notably younger and more approachable than the English professors often depicted in the media, and the class consisted of only a few, equally unexperienced students. After the first two short assignments, I was further reassured of my ability to successfully complete the course. I received kind and constructive feedback from the instructor, Victoria, which inspired me to explore beyond the confines of high school writing standards. I knew then, with certainty, that I was in an atmosphere where I could grow as a writer. 

I have decided to use the analogy of an acrophobic person ascending the Chrysler Building here to not only mirror my own growth throughout this course, but also to sinuously integrate my interests in history, architecture, and art history. Each of the four course outcomes for English 131 will be equated to a certain level of the Chrysler Building, starting with the 66th floor "Cloud Club" and ending with the functionless rooms of the building's spire. 

Chiefly, I will be reflecting on how English 131 has helped me break free from the rigid constraints of high school writing standards, enabling me to experiment with my own personal writing style, to write for broader audiences, and to write multimodally. Simultaneously, I will demonstrate how my work this semester achieves the four course objectives. Those objectives can be understood simply as knowing your circumstances, using and citing sources, crafting strong arguments, and revising your work. In accordance with those outcome reflections, I will be using my genre analysis essay, a rhetorical analysis essay of the film 13th, a research paper abstract, an annotated bibliography, and a multi-modal research project as showcase pieces for my progress throughout English 131. 

So, join me as we ascend this spectacle of design and human achievement!