The transition from writing five-paragraph essays to a five-page article was definitely a challenge. In writing 121, we spent our time reading, discussing, and analyzing complex stories particularly Heart of Darkness. We analyzed not only Joseph Conrad's novel; but also Anton Chekhov's stories on characterization. After reading these Chekhov stories, we did our own 100 minute timed writing; also, I wrote my best other essay on poverty. This course gave me an idea of ​​the writing expected in college. Although it has given me challenges, it has helped me improve my writing skills. Writing 121 was unlike any other language arts course I had taken before. I decided to take this course to improve my writing skills; plus, learn to write college-level papers. The expectations and assignments were different from what I was used to. One thing I had never done before was use quotes, so incorporating them into my article was a big challenge. So far the closest thing to an argumentative research paper would have been a persuasive essay which is not comparable to such a complex novel. Heart of Darkness changed this and in writing my article I had to think critically about what Joseph Conrad meant and decide how to explain the quote after inserting it. At first I didn't know how to do it, but after some practice I understood how it works and now instead of just stating "Conrad is a racist because he said he saw "a certain huge male black man" and that he " adjusted" [his] conception of blind, furious, unreasonable anger” so he is a racist for speaking this way about them (Achebe 10). Now I am better able to present and discuss this quote. Instead I say, Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian writer, professor and... half the paper... material and write a five-page article on it, it was very simple, so it was a new and difficult concept I gained valuable skills in this course, research experience,. using citations and reading material insight for college. Having experience with this will be helpful in my future language arts courses in college. At the beginning of writing 121 I knew it would be difficult but I thought I wouldn't like the material. On the contrary, reading Chekhov's stories was difficult to understand but very interesting because I wasn't used to reading material in that format or maybe I was, but I hadn't thought much about it. I also found the articles addressing poverty interesting. It was interesting to see different writers' perspectives on the issue and then discuss my own. The experience and knowledge I have gained will be invaluable for my future university work.