End of semester
Group Members: Chi Z., Myra K.
Since the midpoint of the semester to now I feel like I have improved a lot on understanding pieces I’m not used to reading. This class has taught me how to do better in-depth analyses of works such as “The Judgment”. An area I feel like I can still work on in order to improve is connecting a theme of one story to another story. I felt like some of the pieces we worked on, the themes were a little challenging to work with cause the story was just so different and you really had to think about what the author was trying to say, like in “Aura”. But I really enjoyed the class and learned a lot and am glad I took this class.
-Myra K.
This class was actually my first hybrid course and I initially thought it would be less connected and not as in-depth as classes that meet face-to-face twice per week. The online blog posts really did increase my participation and made me think about the texts we have read this semester that I otherwise would not focus as much on during class. Over the course of the semester, the paragraph structure given in class helped me develop organization in my writing. Normally I would go on to describe the quote I picked out as support and not do any analyzing; however, with the format in place, I always checked my work and was reminded to put the analyzing section in my paragraphs. The free-writing we did in class helped me write out my ideas on paper and I feel that I have improved on this since the midpoint of the semester. I wouldn’t worry that much about what I wrote now and I understand better that the point of free-writing is to let my ideas flow. I feel that I need to improve on understanding the text better and maybe I would have read the more difficult texts twice prior to class meetings to help me better understand.
-Chi Z.
A way Chi can improve on understanding difficult texts is by re-reading, but if she would like to understand as much as possible the first time. I would recommend reading about the author first and his writing style, from that I feel like it wold become a little easier to understand the text without having to re-read it several times. Because I also have a hard time understanding the text the first time and always find myself re-reading the text before class as well.
But I think the group discussions in class helps a lot in understanding the text, plus it’s always interesting to hear other students’ interpretation of the text.
-Myra
I agree with Myra on the fact that we have read works that we usually would not read but I also think they are very interesting works to analyze. The works we have read this semester helped me expand my knowledge on the types of works in literature as well as history. I feel that comparing works actually helped me understand them better than reading each individually. What made me better understand the works were the journey model introduced all through the course. The journey models each fitted nicely with the text they were introduced with and at the same time I was also able to relate them to other works we read.
I think you should try to relate works to the journey model and maybe it can also improve your understanding of the text, as well as, making connections with other texts we read.
-Chi Z.
Myra, I noticed that before all the assigned readings, there was a brief biography of the author . Although, it might have seen unnecessary to add the author’s life story, the time period in which they lived in and their writing styles, it was quite helpful in giving the reader insight as to what to expect, as you stated: ” I would recommend reading about the author first and his writing style, from that I feel like it wold become a little easier to understand the text without having to re-read it several times.” Being that I have a bit of an issue interpreting texts and their deeper meanings, perhaps I will begin with searching the author’s biography if not provided for me. This feature makes the Norton Anthology books so great.
Myra, I feel I have also improved my skills at putting pieces together. I am with you when you said this class helped improved your writing analysis skill. That is the skill that I most took away from this class. I will remember this class as the class that helped me improve my writing and I hope i continue to grow. Great semester!
Chi,
I agree with how important it is to pick the right quote in a right understanding of it. Sometimes, I struggled as well due to the fact that I have trouble explaining my feelings out normally and verbally. I also have trouble understanding the text immediately and I agree with how you’re going to improve by reading it twice. Something I do often is I analyzed the text and find the symbols that are hidden in the text somewhere. Then, I googled it so I can get a better understanding of why the symbol portrayed such an important thing in the text. For example, “Life of a Sensuous Women”, I was wondering why the lotus flower is mentioned everywhere so I googled it. I came into a realization that lotus flower plays a big role in buddhism that signifies innocent, sweet, and pure. Therefore, I suggest going after another source for more analyzation and understanding.
Crystal Wong