Reflections



     English 1080 has been an overall enjoyable course for me. As someone who usually takes things at face value I have gained insight into poetry, literature, and taking meaning from each respective form. This is not something I am good at doing, and still have a long way to come, but I have learned lots of tips throughout the course on how to gain insight into a particular text. I feel that this is how the course has benefited me most these past months. Taking things at face value, I did not find any particular readings more interesting than others. I did however enjoy the poetry section of the course more, due to the less reading. I find it hard to stay on top of multiple short story readings a week with such a busy schedule already. Therefore, I am thankful the course did not study any novels.
     The environment created in class seemed to be pretty relaxed to me, which I enjoyed. However some lectures could become a bit monotonous and boring. The opportunities for group work were appreciated, I would have enjoyed more time in groups of 4 or 5 to work through certain texts, perhaps have a work sheet to fill out. This helps alleviate some of the repetition of class every second day.
     Finally, this course has forced me to do something that I forgot I enjoyed doing, which is writing. I have enjoyed maintaining a blog and could see myself doing it again in the future when I have more time (especially if it could become a source of income)! As for essay writing, while I don't agree with some of the expectations for our essays in terms of format and structure (such as the repetitious return-to-thesis sentence to close each paragraph) I feel as though my skills in essay writing have increased somewhat during the course. Overall, english 1080 has been a good course, considering it is only a first year general course. Job well done.