Often, too often, I find students apologizing for the way they see a work: “It’s only my opinion, but” or “I’m probably wrong, but” or some other iteration of this lame act of contrition. Stop apologizing! It doesn’t help, and it sells the speaker short. Be intelligent, be bold, be assertive, be self-confident in your reading. It is your opinion (but not “just”) and you might be wrong, although that’s less likely than most students think.
