A Look Back

    This semester went by so quickly! It seems like just yesterday we were logging into our first Zoom meeting! 

For years now, my favorite part of English classes has been the class seminars. I have always felt that everyone working together to analyze a work is exciting, and I love the sense of community that comes from it. At the beginning of this school year, I was worried about how we would continue to have these experiences during online learning. I was pleasantly surprised to see that these activities were not only kept intact, but also helped me to grow as a reader and writer. 

Our Oedipus Rex debate taught me to find the many different, and sometimes opposing, facets of a story. By anticipating the other team’s rebuttals to our statements, I learned to see literary situations from different points of view and find the themes that arise from this combination of perspectives. 

The Stranger also taught me to see the tension in a work of literature. The messages projected from Meursault’s relationship with society were far from simple and one-sided, and this complexity opened up another dimension of literary analysis for me. This not only made reading even more interesting for me, but it also helped me to strengthen the commentary in my in-class essays. The different views that came from our class discussions on this novel and others were another representation of the complexity of literature. 

Another activity from this class that helped me to grow was our analysis of movies. I enjoyed watching Little Miss Sunshine and Memento with a critical eye, since the visual aspects of literature created through movies bring an interesting level of depth to the story. It was fascinating to see how details such as lighting, character positioning, and color choices could enhance the meaning of a work. 

I have enjoyed all of our class activities this semester, and I can’t wait to see what second semester brings!