1/9 Syllabus Response

One aspect of the course I am looking forward to is identifying the significance of the texts we will read. For example, one of the goals for this section, as described on page one of the syllabus, is to be able to make "meaning" based on our "own past knowledge and experience as it relates to what we read." This process of building schema is exciting to me because it will make the literature we read more engaging and interesting. Also, the opportunity to share personal experiences or references to modern day events will allow us to learn about ourselves and our peers. I feel that the texts we will read and the course overall will be a much more rewarding experience with this humanistic approach and cultural outlook to literary analysis because it provides a space for us to learn, grow, and share with one another.

Another aspect of the course I am both and excited and nervous about is when we will read literature that contains controversial language. For instance, page two of the syllabus describes: "Some of the literature we will read in this course utilizes 'racy,' sometimes controversial and often indelicate language." I am curious how my peers will react, and how I will react. Will I become emotional? Will I feel offended or targeted? How can I support my peers that do feel affected? Reading this part of the syllabus gave me these thoughts and concerns, and I started to wonder how I can instead shift from a negative approach to a positive one by analyzing how the language plays a purpose in engaging the audience or making a point about society. For this reason, I am at the same time excited to reach this point of controversial language in the literature because it shows that not everything can be clean, pure, and beautiful when it comes to social change; sometimes the truth needs to be revealed.

I am also hopeful of becoming a better student by the end of the semester. For example, the syllabus highlights the learning outcomes that each of us should be able to demonstrate upon finishing the course, and one that is most important to me is "the ability to analyze and respond critically to college-level texts." Though sometimes fiction can be interesting to me, it can become dull when I forget to look for the deeper meaning. When I read Shakespeare, for example, I was so confused and frustrated by the difficulty of the language and not being able to understand how reading him will ever be relevant to my life and future. However, by the end of this course, I hope to be better able to respond to texts more maturely, not just reading to finish, but reading to understand.