Class Reflection

My semester in English 102 has been interesting to say the least. I really enjoyed English 102 because we got to re-read some of the short stories I’d already read in high school, but with a more enriching analyzation of the literature, and an in depth look into the background of each author. This was something I’d never had the opportunity to do in high school. In high school we’d just read a story and discuss its theme, but in English 102 we picked apart every sentence of a poem, and analyzed every scene of a story, to intercept it into our own significant meaning.

I’ve always loved reading and have excelled at English since I can remember, however I think English 102 has enhanced my love of literature even more. Especially the final blog project, I had always been interested in Edgar Allan Poe, but this assignment gave me the chance to do extensive research into his life, and literature that I would have never done on my own. I think English 102 has also improved my grammatical skills, especially with citations. In high school they kind of brush past citations or don’t always correct you when you do it wrong, but in English 102, I finally learned how to do the proper citations for poems, and short stories.

English 102 has definitely helped me grow as a speaker, our in class discussions and assignments where we teamed up with our fellow classmates and spoke aloud to the class, was useful to me in that it helped me to better form my ideas and share them with others. My favorite class discussion was on A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, because the story was very interesting to talk about, especially the relationship between Nora and Torvald and whether the play was a feminist piece or not. The thing I enjoyed most about English 102 was Professor Candia, because she is very passionate about literature and could answer any of my questions with enthusiasm and knowledge. I also really liked the blog assignments because I think they are a great substitute for writing essays and more to the point.

Thanks to Professor Candia I think I will take with me an even greater love for literature from this class. I never really enjoyed poetry much, because I preferred a full and proper story to be told through literature; but because of Professor Candia teaching us how to analyze a poem and understand it. I can now tolerate poetry and appreciate it a little more; specially Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry; “Annabell Lee” and “The Raven” are some of my favorite pieces of literature. Aside from poetry, all the short stories we read we’re interesting and impactful in some way, I’d go home thinking about “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and wondering how our world would be if we were like the people in the village, or if anyone was, or is still like that; or I’d think about how terrifying it’d be to be buried alive, like the character Fortunato from Edgar Allan Poe’s work “The Cask of Amontillado.” In the years to come the lessons and love of reading I’ve acquired from this class will help me to enjoy literature even more, and hopefully be able to discuss and share some books with friends.