Proofreading help? For grammar? Pleaseee!?

Question

World Literature was undoubtedly one of my favorite courses this semester. I enjoyed it more than I could have imagined and I learnt more than I would have expected to. Before taking this course I was not too fond of reading literature; but thanks to it I realized how interesting reading a literary text is. The assignments and discussions also helped me to see some things in a different way and notice some others that would have not been able to find by myself.
There are a couple of things that definitely changed my way of thinking. One of them is what I thought about myths. I learnt that myths were very important to their civilizations as they set rules and beliefs. That can be compared to nowadays in how our laws and sacred texts regulate what we can and cannot do. Myths are clearly more than fictional stories; they were very helpful in the controlling of a society.

I also see in the “Paradise” story a slightly different now. In one way I am more skeptic about it because there are some myths that are very similar to the story, but with distinct characters according to the civilization. It makes me wonder if it was “made up” just like the others probably were. In another way, the class discussion made me change what I thought about Eve. Whether I believe in the story or not, she is a hero just like Innana and Prometeus, because she did the same thing; she brought knowledge to the people. I no longer think of her as a sinner, she was just curious as any human being.

I also learnt that you have to put a lot of attention when reading literature. If not, you miss a lot of information. It is not enough to understand what a text says literally; you have to think a little and tie the knots, just like you would with a mystery movie. It is really interesting. It surprises me that I did enjoy reading these old texts and writing what I thought about them. I did not know that part of me!

Although I enjoyed all the texts read this semester, The Iliad and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are probably the ones that made the most impact on me. This is because through them I learnt that Achilles, Hector, King Arthur and the knights of Camelot really were not how they are traditionally painted. It was not a negative thing though; I think the characters are humanized in these texts. They feel jealousy, cowardice, anger and shame between many other characteristics that are not the ones a hero was expected to have, but they did, and this does not make them less worthy of their titles.

I still can not decide which assignment I liked the most. I enjoyed the Creative/Critical assignment a lot because I could put myself into Mul-an’s place and could actually understand her a little better; but I learnt so much about the Ancient Indian culture with the Research Project. Some of the information I found about Ancient Indian was quite impressive and it got me into doing further research out of curiosity.

It was very interesting to read “into” the texts and get my own conclusions, and then listen to my classmates’ opinions. It can be pretty enlightening as everyone has different opinions and they can all be valid. Not only did I have a good time in class, I also learnt to enjoy literature.

THANK YOU!
It looks very long but it's only two pages long.

@ Justsyd:

I also see the “Paradise” story a slightly different now.

I meant that I don't see that story as I did before.

Thanks for your help.

I'm not British :P English is my 2nd language.

Answer 1

1st off good for you in enjoying literature. 2nd - here are my suggestions..
Fix the word learnt to learned.
In the 2nd paragraph the 3rd sentence I suggest you change to:
"These rules and beliefs can be compared to present times in"....
and keep the rest of the original thought.
I didn't understand what you were trying to convey when you wrote about the "Paradise" story.. did you mean slightly different view?
Lastly I would consider changing the paying attention part to:
"I also learned that you need to pay a considerable amount of attention" and then follow thru with the rest of the thought with what you already have.
- otherwise you've got a really good paper and those were just suggestions. good punctuation too.
I just read one of the answers - do not change the no to know as the I no longer think is conveying that you do not think of eve as a sinner where if you use know you're saying that you have knowledge that she is not a sinner.

Answer 2

First of all, learnt is spelled learned.

"Before taking this course I was not too fond of reading literature; but thanks to it I realized how interesting reading a literary text is."

Use a comma, not a semi-colon.

"I learnt that myths were very important to their civilizations as they set rules and beliefs."

Omit the word "their."

"That can be compared to nowadays in how our laws and sacred texts regulate what we can and cannot do."

Use "today," instead of "nowadays."

"I also see in the “Paradise” story a slightly different now."

Clarify this sentence. I do not know what you're saying.

"I also learnt that you have to put a lot of attention when reading literature."

"put," should be "pay."

That's all that I see at first glance. It's a very good essay. Great job!

Answer 3

Interesting what happens when an American proofs a British essay (am I right- I'm an Amer, too, btw)? The essay, in general, looks good. For the best proofreading, you need a fellow Brit to do it (unless you're studying in N Amer and will be graded on their rules, which do differ a bit from England's).

Ok, just checked your profile- looks a bit Spanish. Anyway, get someone proficient in British Eng to do the grammar proofing.

Answer 4

Hola, estoy escribiendo desde las Bahamas. Estoy jugando con mi familia. Estoy comiendo bien. Tanbien estoy hablando con la gente interior sight y aprendiendo la cultura. Me estoy divirtiendo mucho. Me voy a quedar siete dias. Estoy viendo muchas atracciones interesantes. Estoy comprando un recuerdo para ti.

Answer 5

To Justsyd: In the Queen's English, 'learnt' is perfectly correct.