Before I took ENG 210: Foundations of Literary Study 1, I was not sure what I was going to expect. In the past, I have taken English or literature courses that were either really easy or really hard, making it difficult for me to predict this class. For many students, including me, having to read books assigned for a class seems very intimidating and stressful at the same time. Seeing the initial reading list, I was worried about how I was going to read eight books in one semester. I’m sure that you will feel just as overwhelmed when you first see the syllabus and notice all the papers and books that you will have to cover in sixteen weeks. Looking at the course schedule, however, I knew that I was going to be able to stay ahead of all the …show more content…
The course reading list covered the following literature topics: essays, short stories, dramas, poetry, and novels. Just within the selection of novels, there were a variety of genres: graphic novel, fantasy, realistic fiction, utopian/dystopian, and science fiction. As I explored all these various readings, I learned that I could appreciate all kinds of literature. I used to only like to read short stories, realistic fiction novels, and utopian/dystopian novels. During this course, however, I learned to appreciate and enjoy reading from all different forms and genres of literature. Specifically, I even learned to appreciate poetry more during the course’s poetry unit. During this part of the course, I realized the significance of every literary and stylistic choice in a poem and how it affects the poem’s entire meaning. Not only was I becoming more familiar with all of these written works, but I also was learning how to look more deeply into the writing itself to find more meaning. By writing reading journals and participating in class discussions, I realized that there are details in literature that we, especially students, often overlook when we are
Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. 5th ed. of the book. Boston: Heinle, 2004.
...more involved with the reading in this course, I understand the political undertones, religious themes, and the cultural awareness that I need in order to fully comprehend the meaning the authors convey. I believe it will be a challenge, but I will have a new perspective as well as new expectations as I continue reading literary masterpieces.
Kennedy, X. J., & Gioia, D. (2013). Literature: An introduction to fiction, poetry, drama, and
Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature like a Professor: a Lively and Entertaining Guide to
In preparation for the Advanced Placement Literature and Composition exam, high school students must read many kinds of literature during the year-long course to familiarize themselves with different time periods, movements, philosophies, and genres. Advanced Placement students must learn to think critically, and be ready to find, analyze, and express literary connections through written analysis. The biggest challenge of teaching and learning Advanced Placement English is the difficulty covering the entire scope of literature in two semesters. Twentieth century literature often gets neglected. The pace of the curriculum can also limit the creativity of lesson planning and evaluation. Many teachers rely heavily on lecture, discussion, and a traditional analysis paper.
Read Aloud (with shared reading): I will read aloud the pages on the left; the children will read aloud with me the pages on the right.
Loving to read since I was little, I believe that literature defines itself by its ability to capture the ineffable emotions of people. Through the process of understanding the written word I can open the door to the exterior world and experience a sense of belonging by understanding other’s feelings, in both fiction and non-fiction writing. I’ve “wandered lonely as a cloud” with William Wordsworth’s poems, recollecting those emotions of tranquility as if I was there. I’ve looked for the deepest longing for a sense of inner peace and purpose by roaming in Lost Horizon. I’ve struggled at the edges of love and hate for Shakespeare’s King
Ms. Davide was absent for the second day of the observation. However, the student teacher, as well as the substitute teacher worked well together. In the morning, the students walked inside the classroom with their fingers on their lips, placed their bags, jackets and lunch boxes away and went straight to the meeting area for their read-aloud. This was impressive for the third-graders to do. Because they did not need prompt or a reminder to go to the meeting area for their read-aloud.
Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUENG125.10.2/sections/sec2.3
One of the most important aspects of teaching literature to adolescents is helping them understand how individual stories can relate to their lives specifically. More and more, the stigma that literature is a lofty abstract that has no connection to the day-to-day lives creeps into schools. This stigma creates an environment where apathy flourishes and care disappears. As teachers, the number one goal today, seems to be first getting students to care about reading. No matter how dynamic or revolutionary a teacher's methods or philosophies are, if a student does not care, that student will not learn. So, when looking for possible novels that one would use in the classroom, one main question must always be asked; how will this novel be taught differently, to ensure a number of students will actually care?
This report, titled “Journaling through Literature: Enhancing Reading Experience through Writing,” helped to dive deep into the research surrounding the teaching of writing and literature. One of the most iconic pieces of an English class (other than the argumentative essay) is the essay analyzing literature. In almost every high school English class today, there is at least one essay doing this. In fact, many believe that is of central importance to the English class and if you take that out, the whole experience of the class wouldn’t be the same! There are so many questions that I have about this process. For starters, is this essay really so important? Is it really the point of an English class to analyze “great” literature? What skills (other than recognizing symbols and other literary things like that) do you garner from doing these kinds of essays? I could go on, and hopefully, I will get some of these questions answered throughout the remainder of my time her at USC. My praxis report zeroed in on one question out of the many surrounding this topic: In what ways can writing (other than the analytical essay) help to enhance my students experiences with literature? One thing I learned in this project is that nobody is really talking about this right now. Maybe because the cannon of ‘great’ literature is a controversial topic for some people, maybe because people believe there is no such thing as the canon, or
Throughout the semester we have read multiple novels, poems, and short stories and gone into deep discussions about them. Whether it's from the sadistic works of Robert Browning or the romantic poems of William Wordsworth multiple poems stuck out and connected with me the most. The three texts that stood out to me the most were “Tintern Abbey”, “Ozymandias”, and “Rhyme of the ancient Mariner”
My life pictorial was really detailed in terms of trying to make the audience understand where I was coming from which made me feel confident that they would enjoy viewing the slideshow presentation. It also made me feel happy to share accomplishments that made me who I am today. I felt a bit overwhelmed with my decision to what I presented because I did not present anything with a tragic event because I felt that it was inappropriate from my perspective. Everyone presented something emotionally hard to process where as my presentation was more of the happy ending and a bit of relief to listen to so everyone would have a chance to settle down their emotions which made me feel at ease to be the relief. I chose to present events in my life that were impactful, like losing 30 pounds. This was something that positively influenced group member but I made it personal by showing my before and after’s which was extremely hard to do. I did feel vulnerable because I was not confident
Literature can be entertaining, funny, beautiful and tragic. It takes us beyond our limited experience of Live to show us the lives of the other people at other times. We are intellectually and emotionally stirred by studying Literature.
My greatest strength lies in my ability to communicate effectively through my writing skills. As a freshman, I entered college certain that I wanted to be an English major because of my love of literature. I had a rather romantic picture in my mind as to what my studies would include: late nights relaxing with a cup of tea and a Virginia Woolf novel. Though my courses did offer me the opportunity to read many fabulous works of literature, they also challenged my analytical skills far more than I ever imagined. Most of the late nights I spent were not with a cup of tea, but in the library researching critical theory or at my computer, devising my own critical perspective on a novel. Though my course of study was in reality far different from what I imagined as an eighteen-year-old, I soon learned that the sense of satisfaction I gained from critical thinking and writing far outweighed the guilty pleasures of reading. Thus, in my junior and senior years, I have learned to use my love of literature to enhance my practical writing skills, further my own knowledge, and help those in need.