Oh, What I've Learned...

For the past two months, all of my school work has been focused literature and French as these were the two courses I was taking.  However, my learning in the past two months extends far past these two subjects, with them being great gateways into further and new found ideologies. Below are the learning outcomes I was expected to meet for my literary analysis class.

1.  Know basic literary terms and methods - Speaking of gateways, knowing literary terms and methods is THE gateway into formal literary analysis.  This does not go to say that without a knowledge of literary terms, one cannot have profound thoughts about literature, but a more accurate analysis is possible if you are aware of the techniques that authors use.  Starting this class, I was not familiar at all with basic literary terms, movements/eras, methods, etc.  I was able to recognize certain basic techniques, but would not have been able to put a name to them.  For example, I was able to recognize when authors spoke about historical pasts, but would never have thought of that as a literary method: allusion.  Authors speak about the past to show its relevance to what they are trying to say.  I think that it also acts as a way of connecting audiences who are aware of certain histories.  A term that I was aware of prior to the course is Tone.  I knew what it meant, but in exploring it on greater levels, I really started to understand it and the craftiness required by authors to create it.  I am now able to identify words, phrases, use of other literary techniques, etc. that are specifically used to create tone.  Tone does not always come naturally out of thought.  Diction is manipulated to establish certain tones. 

2.  Know basic literary genres and representative texts:  What I love about genre is its lack of a rule for what qualifies as genre.  Any two texts that have a similarity can form a new, very specific sub genre.  Genres act as a way of guiding people to works that they know they would enjoy or would like to explore further.  I wrote a post about a very specific sub genre that I named, "Krakauerism." The qualifications? Be a piece of literature written by Jon Krakauer.  Genre can be created on a very broad level, like Non-Fiction or poetry; it can be something a little more categorized, like epic poetry, or it can be created on something extremely specific, like Krakauerism, Head-over-heels-falling-in-love poetry. 

3.  Write literary arguments - The past three weeks have been devoted to writing a well thought out, researched, and agreeable/arguable literary argument through our final paper.  My topic originated in me writing my personal literary narrative and the comments that I received from others on it.  I can comfortably say that I am proud of my final product and of my topic choice, as I discuss here.  I feel that I created a literary claim that was both arguable by an educated audience as well as agreed with by an educated audience.  Prior attempts at literary arguments can be found here and here.

Coming Out. (Not really.)

First of all: I'm SO GLAD that I dropped the writing class I was taking at the beginning of the term to take this one instead.  I think I've learned more from peer criticism and comments than I could have in the other class. Maybe not. But thank you--everyone--for whatever you've contributed to this class: it has contributed to my learning. 

1.  Literary Terms.  This was my weakest spot when I was evaluated mid-term.  Quite honestly, I feel like I had a bit of a downhill ride on improving for the second half of the term, because I'm already quite familiar with drama (The Human Fascination, Climbin' the Fourth Wall, and The Power of Sequence and Music) and non-fiction terminology.  It's poetry and fiction that I struggle with.  SO. Since then I've made a point of reviewing Craft & Voice's outlined terms, as well as the list that was given to us with our study sheet.  I have found that the more poetry and fiction literature that I read, the more connections I make to genre-specific terms. 

2.  Genres and Representative Texts.  I read plenty of non-fiction.  I'm always reading up on new discoveries in National Geographic, as well as replenishing my knowledge of things obscure and unimportant (to anyone but the author and me).  My Goodreads profile boasts mostly non-fiction works, but after this term I've added a Shakespearean play that I've never read before, A Midsummer's Night Dream, and so many poems that I can't count.  I've completely digested an anthology of poems I found in my grandma's old office, and loved every second of it--even when I was reading a poem I hated (the outdoorsy atmosphere might have helped).
 But I could at least recognize the meter, the rhyme-scheme, the application of devices, etc. I think I've found classic poetry to be more affable than I had assumed.  I'm definitely not done exploring the genres that have been presented in this class, and their more specific sub-genres.  

3. Writing Literary Arguments.  Ah!  The whole point of this class.  Learning how to write a literary argument...and be persuasive. Last term I did quite well with the personal creative analysis of a poem, but didn't do so hot with the analytical one.  Here's where I link to My Final Paper...and argue that I've learned a lot about the latter form of persuasive writing in the past few weeks.  I feel my argument used objective supporting evidence, as well as intelligent literary terms to validate my sub-theses.  And the cool thing: I didn't have to use a dictionary to make sure I implemented them properly.  I feel like I could use a lot of them in natural speech.  A triumph, to be sure.  The most important objective of this class (based on the course title), I feel, has been realized.  I'm comfortable writing making a literary argument: casual, or formal. 

4. Creatively and Socially Engage Literature. When I met with Dr. Burton to discuss my progress, he suggested that I +1 some more people on my posts, since I don't have any other social networking resources.  
So I did.  
A couple of success stories: My post, "The Allure of Travel Writing" jumped from 29 hits to 48, and my very personal but analytical "I Can Feel a Hot One" went from 54 hits to 109.  I've had friends call and text me, thanking me for sharing something so personal (because some of my closest friends had no idea that I was even remotely literate. Not kidding).  My friend Cub has since shared with me his own poetry, and a few people have found me on Goodreads because of it!  Way cool.  
I'm slowly remembering books I've read, and adding them to the virtual shelves.  It's definitely not going to stop after this class. Since I'm not going to school next term, I'm stoked to start on my list of must-reads, as suggested by newfound friends and longtime family members. 
The biggest takeaway I have from this class: the importance of process.  In sharing your ideas so that people can help build on them.  I've always been a single-channel student.  The ideas get developed in such a narrow space (my brain, and my brain only) that they have no room to expand and advance, then they get poorly represented in a night-before paper, and sent off to the professor.  In the future, I've vowed to do more idea-sharing. 

5.  New Media and Pedagogy.  As was already mentioned in my midterm post, I struggled with new media and applying advanced technology...but this class has forced me to be more comfortable with it.  And I am now!  I think, given more time in this class, I would probably get freaky-creative with formatting and whatnot, but with what time I've been given, I think the ideas of other students in the class--and browsing other blogs--is how I've come to establish my own style of presentation.  I like it.  But if ever I notice something cool in the way something else has been done, then I'll definitely try it out (e.g. Color choice, picture sequence, etc).  In comparison with my first post (cringe), I've come a long way in understanding how to direct a reader's attention, and keep things appealing for skimmers.  

In conclusion, thank you (if any of them read this) to all of the students in this class.  This has been an incredibly cool way to learn.  Blogging, commenting, sharing, etc.  Self-directed learning.  I've achieved my goal of expanding my appreciation for other genres, and not only have I done that, but I also have a genuine desire to keep reading them.  Something truthful and cheesy (Charly): I think what I've learned in this class will go much further than just a few weeks of summer 2013. 

Thanks, Dr. Burton. 

OH How the Time Flies

Time Flies when you're having fun, right?! Err, or rather learning? Either way, the time has indeed flown by.  I started out this expedited semester with eagerness to learn and also fear for what was to come.

And 3 weeks later, I have to say I have learned loads of new interpretive methods, and have also overcome many loads of fears. Do you see the repetition there? Just one of the many literary methods.

My first reference to the five learning outcomes in a blog post was through a philosophical analysis of literature where I discuss "explor[ing] the evolution of literacy and literary formats," or the fifth learning outcome.  Next, I discussed the analysis of poetry and putting the intimidation behind me in this post.  This was my learning plan on how to move forward despite my fears and hesitations.  I again discuss overcoming my poetic fears in my personal literary narrative, and I feel that you can see my forthcoming analysis skills, obviously with much more learning to be learned.  

And so hold on

How does a poet take a bunch of words and craft them into a form that has extraordinary power to envelope your senses and thoughts to leave a huge imprint on your heart and mind?

 In my quest to find the answer to that question, I have been reading through several poems from Delbanco and Cheuses' Literature Craft & Voice, and have gathered new information about some basic elements of poetry.  As part of my learning outcomes for studying poetry, I have determined to learn more of the terms and genres of poetry.   Take for example meter, a sequence of stressed and unstressed syllables that form a regular pattern in lines of poetry that serves to keep time and arranges a poem's sounds.  We can measure meter by grouping two or three syllables that contain a stress with what is called a foot.  There are more new terms I have learned in my quest to understand poetry.  There is the iambic pentameter and scansion which are a part of a poem's meter and rhythm.  Then there are many genres in poetry.  I am trying to find the genre, rhythm and meter of different poems.    After taking three hours to study up on some of these terms, genres and reading the common readings, I have decided to take Dr. Burton's suggestion to memorize a poem for one of my learning outcomes for poetry.

And so hold on

The poem I would like to memorize is Rudyard Kipling's "If" that I used in my Poetry adaptation analysis.  This poem poses lofty standards to live by, and so by memorizing it, I will be able to have direct reference so I can apply it in my life. 

The title I have used is from the poem. . .
"And so hold on when there is nothing in you" lends me great inspiration.

 It takes time for me to memorize a poem, but I have found it is well worth the effort.