Thursday, February 09, 2012

TY Extended Essay: Seamus Deane, Jennifer Johnston, Khaled Hosseini

Jennifer Kim in her TY Extended Essay last term took on three fine books which have all been at one time or another on our comparative Leaving Certificate course, Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane, How Many Miles to Babylon by Jennifer Johnston and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

Her reflection on the experience: 

This essay has taught me many things. First, never to rush writing. It just gets worse and worse. Second, new words that I didn’t know before. Third, it gave me a feeling of accomplishment at the end. Honestly, it also gave me fast typing skills as well. Furthermore, it made me look deeper into the books. It helped me look inside the story and understand it fully. And I think that’s the reason why it made me easier to write about each books. Last, from these books about childhood, I learnt that childhood affects so much in our lives.

Although it may be a story, fictional and sometimes true, I completely agree with the authors who tried to express how childhood affects someone's life. Childhood may sound like a tiny bit of your life, and sometimes you don’t even remember it, but it affects so much in your life that you wouldn’t even notice it. People’s personalities, minds aren’t the same. In my opinion, it comes out from the surroundings you lived in, and the people you grew up with. The extended essay was a great opportunity for me and whenever I think about it in the future, I’ll be proud of myself.

Quite right: here is the complete essay.

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