Table of Contents
Journals
As
Peter Jennings reported in a recent edition of the evening news, our
generation, more than any other generation, has been bred to succeed. All our
lives, we have been carted from school to soccer practice to ballet rehearsal
to piano lessons (or some similar series of constant classes designed to better
us and prepare us for the world.) We’ve been driven to succeed by teachers who
rewarded us with stickers and coaches who rewarded us with participation
ribbons. More than ever getting in to and attending college has become less of
a supreme goal and more of stepping stone taken for granted.
When
looking south from the tower there is said to be a “commanding view of the
State Capitol” (185). A powerful statue of George Washington looks that way,
his eyes burning into the State Capitol, his back to the University. We are
like George Washington. Gone are the days of Aristotle and Da Vinci where the
great minds of the world concerned themselves only with the gaining and sharing
of knowledge. Like
The
Proctor of the German nation laments over the destruction of the beauty of the
University of Paris where ¿muses were wont to wander¿ and asks, ¿what relief
will [a student] find for his eyes, wearied with intense reading, now that the
pleasant stream is taken from him¿ (181A)? I tend to wonder if any student can
hear a muse seducing him over the perpetual whisper in the back of his mind of
“You must succeed. You must do well.” And there is obviously no time to enjoy
the sight of the pleasant stream when your
eyes must stay on the goal.
Thoreau
says, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” With all the pressure
placed on us, the university is heavy with despair.
In both Oxford in English Literature by John
Dougill and Tom Wolfe’s I Am Charlotte
Simmons, there is an idea of childishness among college students. Wolfe describes how the ceiling was “higher
than any classroom ceiling she had every imagined” (221A). This description
suggests the image not only of a nervous freshman but even more so of a
terrified kindergarten on the first day of school. Furthermore, Wolfe characterizes
Dougill sites Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, which is the story of a child who literally gets dropped into a strange and unfamiliar land. Dougill discusses how this story is in many ways similar to the “culture shock of a freshman being dropped into college life” (248). Dougill goes on to draw dozens of parallels between the life of a college student and Alice’s crazy adventures, and refers at the end of the chapter on “Rites and Wrongs” to the “low door which leads to the loveliest garden you ever saw” (250). It is this comment that I found most intriguing, because when entering through a low door, one must squat or even crawl on one’s knees. This action of crawling, or merely being small, suggests that only when we return to the state of being a child can we discover the lovely garden.
Therefore from reading these two accounts, it seems to me that no matter which college she goes to, a girl will feel like she is no more than a child trying to live up to the standards set by those who are older. But a truly great college will convince those who have the audacity to believe that they are old enough to know everything, that they must become like a child and think “Curiouser and Curiouser…”
In his introduction to The Disappearance of God, J. Hillis Miller puts forth the idea that with the industrialization in the 19th century, God has somehow disappeared from the world. While I think that Miller makes very interesting points about God in literature and society at that time, I think that his conclusion that God is gone is erroneous. Rather, I believe that with the growing technological advances and ultimately the changing social views about the world, God is simply discussed in a different way.
For example, Miller characterizes God as a “watchmaker…maker of a universe which is a perfect machine and therefore no longer needs his presence” (742). Here Miller uses words that indicate technology, and machines and other popular ideas of the time. With growing knowledge about mechanics, it is only natural that vocabulary will also grow. This vocabulary is simply applied to the idea of God. Therefore, “life in the city” did not mean “living without God” (741); rather the city was a place where God manifested himself into a concept easily understood at the time. He made himself part of technology.
Miller believes that “human life is a dynamic process which moves through various phases” (747). Similarly, I believe that human existence as a whole follows those patterns. Today the popular way to view God is as a supreme being common to all religions. Someday I believe that the world will return to pantheistic view about God and make the cycle all over again.
While the topic we were supposed to write on was “Saved by work? Saved by Romantic love?” I think that the authors of these poems make a better point of the necessity to be saved FROM work and romantic love.
Both Alfred Lord Tennyson and Matthew Arnold describe in their poems man’s feelings of isolation and incompleteness, yet they indicated different causes for these feelings. In the “Lotos Eaters” Tennyson questions “should life all labour be?” (87). His poem discusses the constant pressure put on man from work and asks is it worth it for man to be “ever climbing up the climbing wave?” (95). Here he indicates that if the wave keeps growing, if life keeps speeding up, and we can never catch up to it, is it worth the effort? His answer is ultimately no, it isn’t worth it. Its much nicer to simply relax “beneath a heaven dark and holy” (136) and “watch the long bright river drawing slowly” (137). Tennyson’s poem echoes Robert Herrick’s mantra, “Gather ye rosebud’s as ye may…” It is not work that our lives are to be devoted to
The point has been well made by the previous posts that Jude is an idealist and a romantic. However, I believe that more than anything else he is weak-willed. He spends much of the first two sections congratulating himself on the dedication that he has to his studies, listing the number of books he’s read. “I have read two books of Homer, besides being pretty familiar with passages such as the speech of Phoenix in the ninth book…I have done some mathematics, including the first six and the eleventh and twelfth books of Euclid…Hence I must next concentrate all my energies on settling Christminster” (73) Yet with out hesitation, with the arrival of Arabella, Jude “for week ceased to look into a book of Greek, Latin or any tongue” (91). His ease at forgetting his studies indicates that he is not the supreme scholar that he believes himself to be.
Later in the story he comes to regret “having been deeply encumbered by marrying, getting a cottage, and buying the furniture” (122) and again throws himself into his studying. He moves to Christminster and writes letters to the heads of the school in order to improve his chances of acceptance. Yet again he is distracted from his studies by a woman, Sue. His inability to concentrate on his aspirations of attending Christminster negates all feelings of pity that the reader might have towards his situation. The reader has a much stronger emotional reaction to Jude as a young boy who is financially incapable of attending school than they are to Jude as a young man too distracted to accomplish his dream.
I was even annoyed at the end of section two when Jude is in the bar reciting the Nicene Creed while drinking heavily. It is at this point that Jude becomes no longer a scholar but merely paid entertainment at a bar. All of his studying goes to waste and he becomes as common as any other person who can memorize a passage.
Finally, at the end of section two when the curate says to Jude that he can become a licentiate in the church if only he wouldn’t drink, Jude claims that he “could avoid that easily enough…” (161). This overconfidence in his own ability foreshadows yet another failure in Jude’s future.
At the beginning of the section
from Oxford in English Literature, John Dougill discusses the importance
of the wall around
These two
interpretations of the walls of
Zuleika
represents society on the “privileged” side of the walls of
I think that the most powerful
difference between the two characters is their reaction to the campus
itself. For Jude, it is a wonderland of
possibility. For Zuleika it is nothing more than a “rattling courtyard”
(9). I think this is the most indicative
comparison of the two reactions to
If Zuleika represents College
Distractions, it is important I think to note that the Duke is the
quintessential College Student. On page
39, the Dukes great accomplishments are outlined in detail, and the reader learns
that he has mastered everything from “the killing of all birds and fishes” to
“water colour” and “piano”. With all his
accomplishments, it is obvious that the
Duke is dedicated to his studies. To
him, as to many young scholars, his college is a place where his mind can be
completely immersed in knowledge. He is
originally repulsed by Zuleika, claiming that her presence in
However, he is soon captured by her power as a distraction and begins to neglect what he once loved. His precious “robes of Garter [are] left unopened” (38) showing his indifference to all which he once cared about. Thus is the power of Zuleika.
This situation is not one uncommon to many students our age. The infatuation with the other sex leads even the most dedicated scholars off their chosen path. It has happened like this throughout history. I am shocked by how many stories I have heard about people quitting their school or jobs just to follow someone they think that they’re in love with. I think that people like the Duke who claim to be such dedicated scholars, and have the resume to prove it, are in fact weak-willed if they can let a supposed love distract them.
It is
Soon enough though, we
are met head on with the cold hard fact that we don’t know anything. That
everything great that we thought we are, we now are not. The Caterpillar points this out directly to
In his The Origin of Species Charles Darwin discusses the effects of new organisms introduced to an environment. He speculates, “if the country were open on its borders, new forms would certainly immigrate, and this would likewise seriously disturb the relations of some of the former inhabitants” (415).
Another
example of her presence changing environment is when she removes the baby from
its home and its mother, the duchess.
These two instances
represent the effects of a new species in an environment, a topic that was key
to
In his essay on place, Jonathan Silverman discusses the Ancient Roman belief of genius loci, which are spirits who “inhabited all places of significance. A spirit would own a place, look after it, and imbue it with sense and meaning.” (145D). These days, with our modern, busy lives, it seems as if such sentiments of believing in spirits of place, have practically disappeared. Not many people I know have talked to the spirits in their floor or front door, and they most definitely don’t stop to listen.
I most definitely do not have sentimentality about my home. Maybe that’s because I’ve lived so many places in my life, or maybe it’s simply because I’m not that type of person. However one thing that I’m certain of is that there are no spirits in the walls around me or in the bathtub or in the microwave. Any genius loci that exists in a house, is the spirit of the person who lives there. Like anything in life, you can only get as much out of a place as you put into it. And I am not the person who likes to put a lot of emphasis on where I live. I find it too material.
On the other hand, the physical places in my life serve as a reminder of the emotional place I was in at the time. The Oxford English Dictionary defines genius loci as a “body of associations connected with [a place] or inspirations that may be derived from it” (146). I really believe that this is the most important part about places. It isn’t the location that you are at that really matters, but the manner in which it affects you and the way that you remember it when you are no longer there.
(Campus Landscape Architecture)
E. M. Forster’s story about “The Other Side of The Hedge”
illustrates to me the importance of pretty things, namely art and
architecture. On a college campus
architecture becomes especially important because it provides an escape for our
mind. Forster compares the “monotony of
the highway” of life (448) to the beauty of the land on the other side of the
hedge, whose beauty causes people to forget about the stresses of their every day
life. Eye-pleasing architecture serves
the same purpose. My favorite two places
to study on campus are the Architecture Library and the Life Sciences Library
in the
The courtyard of the
(Antimodernism)
It seems to me that we all have a
sense of antimodernism, at least to some degree. Antimodernism is defined as “a rejection of
modernist ideals and behaviors” (514). While I’m sure that most of us are not
about to give up our laptops and I-Pods in order to revert back to a “purer
historical or even prehistorical way of life” (514), most of us are sporadically
hit with a longing for a “simpler” timer.
Art and architecture are both triggers of feelings of
antimodernism. Downtown
Why do we feel so strongly towards these buildings? I don’t think that it is only because they are old. One of the pillars of Gothic design is to create something with “perpetual variety of every feature of the building” (164). Our eyes receive more pleasure from looking at those buildings, than they do the “boxes” of modern architecture. So I think that antimodernism isn’t just a scorn of the future and the present, but rather recognition that other periods of time might have more fully embraced the importance beauty. It seems that more and more emphasis is put on function of beauty these days. Anitmodernism is the longing for more beauty in this world.
The goblins in Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” personify all which is believed to be grotesque. They come “hobbling” “flying” “clucking,” (ln 331-334) which are all actions that are eerie and unnatural. Furthermore, they are described as “cat like and rat like” (ln 340), “ratel and wombat like” with “demure grimaces” (ln 339). Rossetti takes peoples fears and molds them into characters of her manipulative goblins.
The fruit of the goblins represents any worldly temptation that leads a person away from his or her life toward something less certain or appealing. It is Lizzie who is the heroine of the story when she puts herself in harm’s way in order to save her sister. Both girls are described as “two blossoms on one stem” (ln 188) and “like two wands of ivory” (189). Thus the two girls are illustrated as exact opposites to the goblins. This is important because while the girls are described as being exactly the same, their personalities are much different. Laura is weak, and is preyed upon by the Goblins, while Lizzie is strong and conquers the Goblins.
While Rosettie professed to not have had any “profound ulterior meaning” (730), the poem is most certainly a testament to the powerful bond of sisterhood.
I was struck by the blatant blasphemy in King Arthurs Tomb by William Morris. It seems to me that with Launcelot’s growing obsession with Guenevere, any respect for God is lost. At one point Guenevere states, “Every morn I scarce could pray at all, for Launcelot’s red golden hair would play…” (ln 305-306). Here Guenevere admits to losing sight of God because she is too distracted by her affair with Launcelot. This break from God adds to the complexity of the story, because as she shies away from Arthur, her husband, toward Launcelot, her lover, she also begins to shy away from God. In this way not only does Morris put Arthur on the same level of God, but he also heightens Guenevere’s impurity.
Lancelot also utters blasphemous words when he compares himself to God by saying “dost thou reck that I am beautiful even as you...?” (ln 168). This emphasizes Launcelot’s corruption by showing his disregard for his Lords. This is mimicked by his disregard for Arthur, his king, when he seduces his wife.
I think that Morris uses
Christianity to put emphasis on the impurity of the situation.
Downtown Excursion
St
Mary’s Cathedral
Looking
around the chapel, my eyes are please by all the color and art. However, the
space makes me uncomfortable. I am not
sure if it is because of my personal up bringing in an Episcopal church, but my
reaction to the church is that it’s gaudy.
This space does not give me any feeling of reverence. Instead of turning
by thoughts to the word of God, and the message I get, I am distracted by
what’s around me. It is all beautiful,
but it holds no feeling. This chapel
however does follow William Butterfield’s belief of directing the focus to the
altar. The apse draws one’s focus. It is
covered in beautiful windows, gilded with gold, candles, flowers and more. Yet for me, the most inspiring, thought
provoking and calming aspect about the space is the starry sky on the ceiling. In general however, I find Victorian
architecture over whelming and obtrusive.
I love only one aspect of it and that is the emphasis on nature. I like the ceiling over the alter because it
is simple and elegant. IT is artful
enough to provoke thought and intrigue, and not so overdone that it is
distracting. It entices the worshiper to
lift their eyes to heaven.
The
Capitol
Looking
up from the capitol floor towards the star at the top of the dome, I am
intrigued by the optical illusion that I
see. I am lying off center towards the
edge of the circle, and as I look up, the whole dome looks as if it was built
crookedly. The layers of balconies do
not stack up in a straight line. Rather
they look like the layers of a cake that were haphazardly slapped
together. I feel if I am inside a hollow
wedding cake. Spiraling upwards, the portraits of the former governors line the
walls beginning with the most recent at the left of the entrance. Every fair
years fifty or more people are recruited to stand in front of a portrait and on
the count of three each governor is lifted and moved one space to the left in
order to make room for the next. Thus
the dome is always changing. The dome
has a dizzying effect. It’s height and
grandeur successfully intimidates those who are in it. It reminds a person that no matter how
powerful he or she is, the system, the government and history are always
bigger.
People’s
experiences in nature have long since become unnatural. Our interactions with the natural world start
as plans to spend glorious days away from the clutter of our everyday city
lives. However, trips to the mountains
are marked with gruff, grimy men mining for ore, and days at a creek are
scarred with the empty McDonald’s cup laying suspended in the middle of a
natural dam.
Even
the time that I felt most in tuned to nature I was tromping through the East
Texas Piney Woods when I came upon a beautiful
Our
relationship to a supreme being tends to also reflect this lack of
naturalness. In our crazy modern,
unnatural lives, those who are disciplined set aside time for their spiritual
growth, while the rest of us ignore our spirituality all together, or else
force ourselves to have a sliver of “that feeling” once again.
When
did spirituality and nature become something that we must force ourselves
into? Why aren’t they something that we
can experience without effort? And are they inextricably linked? If someday I come upon a place that has been
completely preserved from the reaches of man, at that point would I also find
myself face to face with God?
· Roadmap
· LR A1
· Midterm
·
Final
Road
Map
My Learning and Writing Styles
(Judgmental and intuitive)
My psychological test results told me that I have an overwhelmingly judging personality, which kind of offended me at first. But looking at the learning and writing styles, I was surprised at how accurate the types were. I am definitely the type of person who needs to take on one thing at a time. I have to make a list of things that I need to do everyday and I’m only completely at ease when they are done. In writing, it is true that my introductions are really short, but my entire papers are usually short. I do not write with a lot of words; instead I figure out what I’m going to say and I say it without much added information. I find deadlines to be really important and when I sit down to write I can knock out four or five page at a time. The only aspect of the typed writing style that I don’t agree with, in regards to myself, is the idea that I adhere to rigidly to my original plan. I tend to change my thesis multiple times before I settle on one. I do however, start with a thesis, write my entire paper, and then go back to change my thesis to match my paper.
My next strongest “style” was intuition. This was also very accurate, especially when referring to writing styles. I am the type of person who strives to write differently. I try to give a different voice to my writing than that of others around me. I do very well in communicating abstract ideas, but I often forget to tie those ideas back to the evidence from the novel. Finally, what I felt was most on target in regards to my writing is my need to be inspired. I can write very quickly and very strongly, if I have some sort of muse guiding me. Therefore, I often search for a quote that pertains to what I want to write about or a picture that illustrates what I’m trying to convey in order to start me off writing.
I’ve always had the same stubbornness about writing that I do now. I like to say things the way that I want to say them, and what I say I usually mean. My second grade teacher would always try to entice me to add more description or make my story longer. But I didn’t want to say “the lazy dog” or “the mean looking dog”. I wanted to say “the dog.” That’s it. I also have always had a tendency to use passive voice. I know that it isn’t strong writing to do so, but for some reason it sounds more thoughtful to say “he was swimming lazily” rather than “he swam lazily”.
My high school English teachers had a hell of a time trying to shape my writing to be more eloquent and profound. I had fantastic high school English teachers. I had the type of teachers who inspired thoughtful writing, and pushed us to write on a college senior level. We read fantastic books and were expected to write comprehensive, concise, mature papers on them. My writing improved exponentially my sophomore year of high school. Every six weeks, we read three novels and wrote essays on each, watched a foreign film and wrote a review, wrote an analysis paper on selected poetry and completed fifteen journal assignments. I was forced to write every day, and it taught me that sometimes you just have to start writing and force yourself past writers block.
My mother taught me to value reading at a very young age. She and my grandfather would read to me for hours until I realized that my grandfather was making up words that weren’t on the page. I was infuriated, and spent the next few months teaching myself to read so I could tell him when he was “reading bad.” It started from there. I was reading children’s novels before I got to first grade, teen novels when I was ten, and adult fiction by the time I entered middle school. I am really thankful to my mother making me realize the importance of being well read.
In college, since I’ve been taught the skills to write a basic paper, I find myself looking for my personal voice. I can write a cookie-cutter paper just as well as the next guy in line, but I really admire those who write with humor or cadence or anything that sets papers apart. I’d like to learn to write with irony or to convey my point in a creative way. In high school I was trained to write for the AP test. Now I have a little more freedom to experiment, which is something that I’ve never had a chance to do. I believe that this class will give me an opportunity help develop my own style, and my biggest goal for this semester is to take a lot of chances with my writing.
This semester I’d like:
1) To focus my writing in a way that makes it profound yet also humorous:
Since this is a class where much of our writing is informal and shared on discussion boards, I want to refine my writing so that it is entertaining for others to read. I want it to be profound so that it enlightens my reader/classmate on my views of the subject. Yet, I also want it to be humorous and enjoyable to read. I never want to sound as if I am preaching to others or rattling off my amazing supply of useless knowledge.
2) To speak up in class, even if (and especially if) I have an opinion opposite of the popular one:
Usually this isn’t much of a problem for me, but since I am probably the youngest or one of the youngest in the class, I feel more intimidated than I usually would. I want to overcome that fear of public speaking. Furthermore, it’s difficult to appreciate and discuss the idea of space at the university when I’ve not been here as long as others.
3) To avoid concern and anxiety about my grade in the class:
I’m the type of person who needs to know what my grade is, what I need to make on the next paper to push that grade up, how I’m doing compared to the rest of the class etc. This class is going to force me to give up many of those concerns. I want to not let that absence of security stress me out.
4) To make an honest effort to try to open my mind.
I don’t consider myself judgmental, however I tend to be stubborn in my beliefs. In a class that is so strongly based on discussion and the sharing of ideas, I want to try really hard to hear others out before I discount their ideas.
LR MIDTERM
What I See Standing Outside Myself…
Summation of Progress Towards Goals:
1) In my reflection on my progress so far in this class, I’ve realized I need to add a goal to the top of my list. Entering this class I was under the impression that I knew how to work with modern technology. Now I’m completely intimidated by designing web pages and using the Internet. I have never taken a class in web page design, and have never put anything on the web. The first project frustrated me immensely. So I’d like to add to the top of my list: Learn to create web pages, blogs, bots, and any other Internet-based literature.
2) In regards to my goal to speak up more in class, I feel as if I’ve done a decent job of expressing my opinions on things, however, I still feel uncomfortable with discussions on the life changing experience of college. I just don’t feel as if I’ve been in college long enough for it to change my life drastically.
3) I’m proud of the way that I’ve grown away from my need to know my grade and what I need to do to push my grade higher. I’ve learnt to focus just on what is directly before me, and ignore the need to prioritize. I try now to focus all of my creative energy on the task directly in front of me.
This class has reaffirmed my diagnosed writing style. I have the hardest time meeting word count minimums, which is especially frustrating with project 1B due on Thursday. I write concisely and I say what I want to say the first time. I struggle with the addition of words during the revision process. I also need still need a muse to inspire me in order to write creatively. However, I’m frustrated because I rarely find this muse these days. I’ve had a really difficult time finding anything that inspires me. This hinders my goal to write profoundly, because I can’t decide what I want to write about. I’ve had writer’s blocks before, but never ones that prevent me from writing well on any project.
Standing outside of my self I see a girl who, for the first time, doesn’t feel completely in control of her progress in the class. She feels as if she is a lot more on edge than she usually is about classes, but because of it, wants to put much more effort into her work. For the first time she is in a class where she doesn’t feel as if she is the most confident and intuitive student. However, she has found that because she has lost some of her confidence, she tends to listen a lot more actively to others. When she tried to create her first project, she felt for the first time since she was in junior high algebra that she actually did not know how to do something. That feeling frightened her and further hurt her confidence in her academic ability. But she didn’t give up trying to figure it out, and after five hours of adjusting the web-design, her pictures showed up.
There was a passage from Ram Dass’ How Can I Help? which helped me put my frustration and confusion about this class into perspective. He said, “We can stop and face what is right before us. We can look at what it is” (74). I found this helpful in this class because if I just stop, and focus myself onto the task at hand, and not let it overwhelm me I will complete it easily. Ram Dass also emphasizes the need to “be quiet to hear” (74). I’ve come to realize that while in this class, and while working on projects for this class, I must quiet all the other thoughts that are rushing through my head and focus on discovering the thread to follow for enlightenment on the subject being discussed. This has definitely proven to be the most difficult thing about this class. With everything that I have going on in my life, its hard to stop and take the time to reflect enough to write creatively and profoundly. It is something that I must teach myself, and when I do, I think that it will be beneficial to both my creativity but also my stress level.
I think that a fun activity for the class would be to assign an especially thoughtful journal that allows for people to share something that is important to them, and then, instead of having a class discussion, have people pair off to discuss their journals. That way, we would get the chance to get to know at least one person in the class in a more intimate way, without putting anyone on the spot to speak in front of everyone else. This is a way for us to witness to each other, and gives us a chance to speak more openly and honestly. I think that this would help us not only to get to know each other, but also maybe even to get to know ourselves more. It isn’t often that we get to talk about ourselves for an extended period of time, and sometimes it’s refreshing to have someone just listen.
With the current amount of effort that I put into the class, I believe that I will accumulate enough points to earn an A in the class, but that is contingent only on my dedication to completing the work at hand.
LR FINAL
Stand outside the person
standing outside yourself and write what you see.”
As I stand twice removed from my body, I try to figure out exactly how this course has affected me. Reviewing my goals from the first few weeks of class, I am shocked and a little disappointed that I still haven’t reached them.
I wanted to learn to work with technology more proficiently. I was able to create my bot and I was able to add things to a website, however, I never felt completely confident in doing either. Most of my attempts were trial-and-error, and I never felt like I really understood what I was supposed to do. I am glad that I accomplished both, but after working on my projects I am thinking seriously about taking a computer technology class.
I also am disappointed in myself for not speaking up and contributing to the class as much as I wanted to. I found it very hard to connect to the topics we were talking about, and when I did connect to them, I found it difficult to put my thoughts into words.
However, because I didn’t speak up much in class, I got to listen to everyone else. This helped me open my mind to others opinions and ideas, which was my final goal for the class. I feel like I got to understand what was important and striking to my classmates in each discussion.
I
struggled with writing profoundly all semester.
I really do seek to refine my style of writing, and to find my voice,
and I expected more immediate results than what I received. This is something that I will work on for the
next few years of college and on into my adult life, but I still really admire
those who, at my age, can capture an audience with their words.
However, I feel like I’ve changed a lot through this course. I wanted to write more fully than I did in high school. And, after all the writing that we did this year, I really feel myself improving slowly. I’ve gotten a lot of practice writing with a deadline and it helped me generate ideas faster. In the first LR assignment we were asked to reflect on the psychological type we were. My results said that I tend to refrain from using elaborate sentences and excess words. However, I’ve worked hard to expand my writing.
Aspects of the class that worked really well for me were getting out of the classroom and into other surroundings to write, and presenting information to the group. I really enjoyed writing in some place other than the classroom or my desk at home, because it inspired me in different ways. The class trip to Waller Creek really forced me to think about my interaction with nature, and I was able to write more freely than I normally do. St. Mary’s cathedral was another really inspiring trip, because we wrote in a place that had such a sacred and holy atmosphere.
Making presentations to the group and listening to other’s presentations also helped me learn a lot more thoroughly. When I forced myself to organize my research and thoughts into a way that others can understand, I got a better grasp on the material myself. Also, listening to other’s presentations helped me remember the material more thoroughly. For example, Courtney and Claire’s art presentation forced us all to look at the pieces and try to understand what they are depicting, so that we could name them.
Also I really
enjoyed studying the annotate
An aspect of the class that really didn’t work for me was the integration of computer technology. I found myself getting too focused on how to create the web page or the bot, and as a result, the quality of my writing suffered. I think that if I had only been asked to write a paper, that I would have delivered much better writing. That being said, the technology aspect of the course did force me to step outside my boundaries a little. I did end up creating
