1. While in this class, I did not learn a lot of new things, but I did sharpen my paper
editing skills. I also improved in writing papers and writing poems. The main new idea I
learned was to analyze literature through other lenses.
Due to the fact that this class had a paper due about every week, I improved in
writing papers. While improving upon my writing abilities, I also sharpened my editing
skills. I now catch more of my mistakes in my papers before I hand them in. I have
expanded in my writing by attempting to write poetry; both free verse and rhyming. I
enjoyed writing free verse poetry, where rhyming poetry was harder, and I did not enjoy
it as much.
One of the things I did learn was to analyze literature through other lenses. A
couple of the lenses I learned and used throughout my papers were the new historian and
feminist lens. The new historian lens is the idea that whatever is happening or happened
while the author wrote the book or story is also put into the story. Finding out what has
happened during the time of the author helps one to understand a story better. For
example, a word can change its meaning over time like the word gay. The word gay now
means homosexual, where gay at one time meant happy. The feminist lens is looking at
how women are treated in the story, for example, whether the women are strong or
oppressed.
The major literary theory I learned was to analyze literature through other lenses.
Secondly, I have improved in writing papers and in writing poems. This has helped me
write in a completely new genre than I am used to. Lastly, since this class has a paper due
about every week, I have sharpened my editing skills.