Reflection on AP English First Semester

1) What I've Liked:
- I feel like this is my first real English class. This is the only English that I have taken that has been a challenge to me. In the past, I've been able to just sit around and read a passage every now and then and answer some questions, and every once in a while I would have to write a paper. I never felt like my writing improved during my past English classes. But, with all of the reading and writing we are required to do, I can see that my English skills are improving.
- I have actually enjoyed reading the required stories. When I think of school required reading, I think of some story that will not offend anyone, or make parents upset and are very boring. Most of the readings we've done have been the complete opposite.
- I have enjoyed doing more discussion than lectures in class.
2) What I've Disliked:
- I've never been a fan of making things up to write about. So, I don't really like writing the blogs. I will sometimes stare at my screen trying to think of something related to English that I can write about.
- The amount of work. I feel like I can say this about any of my other classes, but I've realized that for the first time ever, I have had more English homework than math homework.
3) Next Semester:
- I hope we have more in class discussion instead of lectures next semester. I have really enjoyed the discussions that we have had so far.

The Rover

The Rover was the first play that I have seen by the PLD drama department that I didn't like. I didn't understand what was going on during half of the play, and I couldn't understand most of what the actors were saying. I know they were supposed to be using accents, but it doesn't work when it sounds like a whole bunch of sounds being jumbled together. I don't know if the plot of the play was just too complex for me, or if it was just not presented very well. I thought the play was about girls falling in love with a group of guys, but I felt I was missing out on something. There were parts when I thought the girls were trying to trick the guys they met into doing something, but that turned out to be wrong. The moment where I started to get into the play, someone would say something that I couldn't understand, or an actor would mess up a line or the mike would mess up. Though there were a lot of aspects of the play that I didn't like, it had some positives. The jokes would sometimes be funny, and some of the characters in general were pretty funny. The sword fighting was really cool, since they used actual swords instead of fake prop swords. The part where the actor got hit in the face was pretty intense. It looked like it hurt him pretty badly, since he was bleeding all over his costume, but he stuck it out and played his role like it never happened.
Those were my thoughts on the play. I thought the cast did a great job with how hard the script was, even though there were some minor issues. But, I have never been in a play, and I have no room to criticize them.