Introduction to Literature
EGL 102
This class turned out different than I expected, which means that I learned different things than I expected. For the first few weeks, I was slightly taken aback by the unusual format of the class. While I understood that discussion (Fish Bowl) is essential for understanding literature, I thought the class would be more lecture based with extensive student participation. I expected to have regular lengthy papers, where we would be asked to offer deep insight into the themes presented in the works we study.
When I saw that the class was going to be quite different, at first I feared that I wouldn’t be able to get out of this class what I had hoped. How could free-form discussions that often ranged off topic help me to gain insight into literature? However, I soon grew accustomed to the discussion-based classes. I started to enjoy literature as just literature. The discussions allowed me greater insight into the characters and the plot lines of the stories. Of course, all the stories we read had their themes and messages, but I found it more fulfilling when we discussed which characters where honorable and dishonorable, which ones were slick and which ones buffoons. I also learned a lot about how the authors’ own experiences played into their stories ("The Yellow Wallpaper", for example). While all the writers we studied had their message or convoluted philosophies to get across, they also wrote literature that was meant to be enjoyable. I loved "A Streetcar Name Desire", for example, mostly because of its great plot alone.
Overall, this class was a refreshing break from the usual literature courses I’ve taken in the past. While the workload was massive, it was nice to just focus on the reading and not have to worry about giant paper assignments. By concentrating just on the readings, my understanding of them was deepened
Professor J. Mignano-Brady
"My best of all English teacher taught me the real meaning of literature. She wanted the art to expand our minds and help teach us new ways of seeing the world. I was taught to both see a work of literature as a way to understand the time it was written, and the people who produced it, and to find the parts of that work that spoke to me in my time and place. Most of all I find that literature makes the differences more manageable, and highlights the similarities between people. Now I can read a two thousand years old literature and agree with things that some older white man was saying because he was a human being, and I am a human being. Although it may sound trite, I have had reading experiences that taught me more about what it means to live in this world."
"As far as my own goals in literature are concern, they are quite simple. Admittedly, my fascination is for Machines as 'I am a MECHANICAL ENGINEER'. But there are many attractive elements there to talk about literature such as great characters, famous stories, that I think attracts most people to literature. And it is a good feeling to know a lot about it.
However, that is not my greatest concern. Most of all, my goal is to learn as much as I can about the human condition, and what it really means to be human, in all aspects."
