Megan's Thoughts at Midterm

Three important concepts I have learned in the course so far:

• For one, I have learned that YouTube videos can have more depth and be more educational than for the occasional laugh.



• I've learned that some things we see everyday (such as newspapers, movies, internet sites like YouTube)is literature, and most people don't even know it. Novels, plays, and masterpieces from hundreds of years ago, aren't the only sources of literature that are meaningful.



• I've also learned in this course that no matter what you read, someone will always see it differently and in an alternate view than you. Some will see things through rose-colored glasses and some will see the truth behind the words. And some just won't understand any of it at all. But that is the great thing about literature: One can read the same words and find a totally different story in the same words someone else reads. A thousand people can read Milton's "Paradise Lost," and think Eve was "framed." The same group of people can find the symbolic meaning of the serpent, and the others think the story is too religious for them to understand what is true and what is symbolic or exaggerated. What matters here is individual vision.
  

Three activities we did I liked or disliked:

• I loved the poem activity we recently did. I think it was important that we did it in pairs rather than write it ourselves. Anyone can write a poem, but can two people write one poem? And we all found that, yes, we can.



• Also, the activities where we watched videos online and realized their significance. The internet is growing by the minute, and is a competing source of educational information. There are different ways to understand something important. Morals, ethics, and right and wrong don't merely have to be conveyed in words or in Chaucer. Music, videos, movies, and even cartoons can convey those same messages. Sure, it may be to different audiences, but that's the point. Covering all demographic bases is important for everyone to share and understand these significant thoughts and moral stories.



• And lastly, I enjoyed (as simple as it may seem) writing a paper that we come up with. Our directions and our own voice. Sure, some classes do that, but not with the freedom we got to. You can write forever about something you don't want to. But how often do you write what you want?

Three sentences that represent how I feel about what I learned in this course.

• I feel enlightened about my own ability to make connections in abnormal sources of literature.



• I feel that there are ways of figuring out multiple deadlines without freaking out about the fact that sometimes there are no strict instructions; and accepting it.


• I feel proud of everyone's ability as students to take up the mantle and teach the class too, about the things we are learning.
  
  
  
  
  -Megan Preston