Semester Reflection

This semester has been a different one for me is a few ways. I think I have definitely grown as a writer and have learned to accept new ways of learning. Comics had a huge impact on my semester. We went through a few different comic books and when we started the first one, I wasn't too excited. As we continued on with the first one and in to the next two or so, comics began to grow on me some what. I gained a better understanding for them and also gained more acceptance for this type of literature. I went in with the attitude that comics were dumb and had to relevance to my learning, and I came out with a whole new perspective. I actually enjoy comics (to an extent) now and have learned how to read them through the use of symbolism and such. This was definitely a challenge at the start of the course, but it got easier as the semester went on and actually became enjoyable. I feel as though I have improved my writing in a couple ways, but the one that stands out the most is i finally learned how to write a thesis! YAY! Only took me several years, but I finally grasped the concept of what a thesis is and how to actually write one and make my paper a successful one. I think my favorite texts were probably The Bluest Eye and Oranges because I think there are many people out there that could relate to both, weather it be being the outcast all the time or being controlled my someone in an absolute insane way. I really enjoy fiction, but fiction that could potentially be non fiction. I definitely think I responded to these to texts in the most positive manner, but thats not to say these were the only two I enjoyed. I struggled a lot with A Midsummer's Night Dream, but I don't think thats too suprising. Though the story is good (after looking at interpretations) the language was quite a struggle. It called for a lot of re-reading and still sometimes I wasn't sure what was going on. I'm not really concerned with this though because I feel like its something that needs practice. I feel the more I read novels such as Shakespeare, the better understanding I will eventually gain. I think the language takes a lot of getting used to. I really liked how we came up with our own thoughts about texts, then shared them with our classmates. I really think this helped a lot in understanding the texts and getting different perspectives on them. I disliked the seminar thing we did the most. I thought it was interesting to hear people's thoughts, but I also thought it was hard because a lot of the ideas were the same (since we were talking about the same parts with a lot of people) so I felt like there wasn't enough for everyone to say. Not that it isn't a good idea, it just wasn't one of my favorites. I think I have no doubt been challenged in my critical thinking and my close reading skills and I think it will really help me in the long run. I have learned to focus on a particular section and pick it apart and really make something of it. I didn't really know what to expect for this class because I had no idea what it was going to entail so I cant really say that I was hoping for much more. I really ended up enjoying this class because, although challenging at times I really learned a lot more than I ever expected.