Academic Shoot Critique

It was challenging to find photos to fit the rules we learned that were still in the academic domain. The things I thought about most while shooting was focus and blurring. I like pictures where the fore or background is blurred. I did this correctly in the photo of the girl holding a pen. If I could do this assignment again I would probably adjust the ISO and shutter speed to take better quality pictures. If I did the assignment again I would probably keep my style the same; with a blurry fore/background. I think the easiest rule of photography is rule of thirds because al  you have to do is move the subject to one side of the photo. I think the hardest rule to capture in a picture is lines because its hard to find lines and S-curves the lead directly to the subject. The photography rule that is the most confusing to me is mergers. I don't know exactly what they are and how they affect the pictures.