Throughout English 103, we have performed various activities and read texts that fall into the category of science fiction. This sub-genre is filled with themes associated with gender, race, religion, and others which are interesting to read about and analyze. Through the activities in the course, we were able to analyze pieces of literature easily, story by story. The class itself has been helpful in practicing my skills and further advancing them in reading, editing, and working in a group.
The readings in this class were very unique to me. Never before have I read a gruesome story such as "Bloodchild" by Octavia E. Butler, or a suspenseful story like "Black Box" by Jennifer Egan. These readings opened my eyes to several types of writing, my eyes were opened to many themes. One theme that stuck out to me is from the story "Bloodchild". Suppression is an important theme in that piece, specifically in this case it is more from a slavery standpoint. It is important to note that this theme can be carried over to other pieces that we read, like "The Semplica Girl Diaries" by George Saunders, or even The Handmaid’s tale by Margaret Atwood. That is the beauty of this course, it is easy to relate two pieces together and use that knowledge to create good pieces of analytical responses. My weekly work greatly impacted my understanding of the texts.
Every week, we were assigned a micro essay, a discussion post, and peer responses. All of these assignments proved to be helpful in their own way. The discussion posts were an efficient and quick way of getting ideas flowing, and also a good way to see how others in the class were interpreting the readings. The ability to bounce ideas back and forth helps everyone create new ideas, which then can be translated onto the micro essays. The micro essays had prompts that ranged from a “crux”, to an “outside research” prompt. Pieces like the crux really assisted in understanding the text. Since the premise of the prompt is to pick a piece of text that is a turning point to the story, it was easy to explore the different ideas that I was exposed to while reading. Other prompts such as “monologue” gave readers a point of view through the eyes of a different character, which is effective for first person narratives. The ability to see the world the author has built through a different viewpoint is intriguing. Research prompts allow the student to possibly find an inspiration an author had, or to find a connection within history. For example, the slavery theme can be researched for a better grasp.
Along with the micro essays, we were assigned peer responses. The peer responses were useful. Most students provided valid feedback to my pieces, and I utilized what I grasped from the constructive criticism. On the contrary, writing the actual responses was tedious at times. Many of the pieces focused on similar themes, so reading them became redundant. It is easy to pick out format errors, but when analyzing two pieces about the same theme, it is easy to confuse the two pieces. It is important to note that although it may have been repetitive, the responses were thought out, and I myself try to incorporate those critiques in my writing.
The very last class, my group and I presented our group project. Our story was “The Lottery”, and for our presentation we actually performed the ceremony for a lottery. Preparation for the project was thorough and efficient. We split the work among ourselves, and met once a week to discuss the progress and discuss the project as a whole. These meetings tackled objectives and troubleshooted problems so that our project flowed smoothly. This was the first time all year where I had this much time to work with a group for an English class, and the experience was satisfying. Because I am an engineer, I work in groups often, but the topics are usually scientific. It was refreshing to explore the arts and literature, and now I feel more well rounded.
English 103 was a positive experience where I got a great amount of work done in only 10 short weeks. This work was not grueling, the readings were enjoyable, and the work was productive rather than tedious. I even had a great experience with my fellow group members. Overall, I feel accomplished with what I have taken from this course.
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