This has been an extremely interesting class. Not only have I learned a lot in the practical sense, such as in terms of working with computers, but I have also gained a lot of experience in thinking outside the box. By providing us with the opportunity to explore new ways of examining literature, this class has effectively showed its students new ways to view the world and allowed them to discover viewpoints of their own, if they so desired. Instead of asking us to

Most English classes are all the same: "Read this, then we'll get into small groups and discuss it." What follows is usually a classroom of students dragging their desks together and slowly and tediously trying to understand what they've read. Conversation usually consists of "Did you understand the reading?" "No." "Yeah, me neither."

This class wasn't like that. We read a variety of texts that were written by a wider variety of authors over many different eras. We studied different themes, we read different styles, and we used different types of assignments to interpret literature. We the students were offered the opportunity every day in class to talk over what we had as a reading assignment, and not only hear our own interpretations but those of the professor as well. We were given thought-provoking questions to help us mull the material over, and when conversation ran out, we moved on to whatever project we are working on at the time.

The projects themselves were the most exciting part of the class. Instead of long papers that sap the energy out of a student, these projects were revitalizing and thrilling because of the opportunity for creativity that they offered to a student.

This format suited me. I liked the creativity that I was allowed to exercise in this class. I never felt that any of my interpretations of a reading were unwelcome or unnecessary. There were many different creative outlets, from collages to blogs to playlists, and I was never short on ways to express my opinion of the literature that we are reading or that is in my life. This class effectively infuses classical forms of learning (reading, discussion, writing) with newer gateways to expression (online blogging, digital imaging, online filesharing) without betraying the foundation of education. We are learning about literature and exploring the texts in our book while still maintaining a modernized outlook and taking strides in the right direction.

Overall, I feel that I accomplished the goals that I made, which mainly were to explore every opportunity offered by this class to the furthest extent that I possibly could. With an array of health problems this semester, I wasn’t sure if I was going to finish the semester, but I’m glad that I did. This class is a huge reason for that. I hope this portfolio aptly portrays how hard I have worked so far this year and the things that I have accomplished in this class.

CHARACTER PLAYLIST
The Character Playlist Assignment was an interesting one. At first I had no idea how I would appropriately portray a character of American literature using songs and their lyrics. My biggest fear was that I wouldn't be able to get across the depth of the character or their complexity, and that the playlist would come across as superficial and unrelated to the character itself. Whether or not I achieved my goal of finding songs that portray the depth of Chief Bromden from Kesey's "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" is not up to me to decide, but what I know is that I learned a lot from creating this playlist. I can think of only a few times in the past that I have turned to music in my writing in order to get across the point that I am trying to make, but in this instance it was one of my only tools, and I believe I learned a lot about how to use it to my advantage. In selecting songs for this playlist, I had to truly consider all of the facets and aspects of Chief's character, and all of the characteristics of the song itself. In doing so, I realized that there was more to Chief than I had previously imagined, and more to most of these songs than I had thought possible. In making my revisions, I tried to add elements of the songs that previously I had skipped over, such as the beat of the song or the feeling that it gives to the listener, and how these might relate to Chief.

Character Playlist Assignment (With Revisions)

COLLAGES

Making the collages was similar to creating the playlist in that it caused me to think in much greater depth about the aspects and elements of character or the poem that I had to illustrate. Whereas before I needed to find sounds that could portray my views and opinions on a character, now I needed images that could do the same. In my original collages I made an effort to aptly illustrate the character or poem in question, but I didn't go into as much detail as I did in my revised versions, especially in the case of the poem collage. In illustrating Ron Wallace's poem "Blessings," I tried to remain faithful to the nature of the poem while still lending my own interpretation to its words. I made every effort to illustrate as much of the imagery the author uses while still keeping the image simplistic. George Orwell's main character from "1984," Winston Smith, was difficult to wholly portray in the form of a collage because that book is very deep, and throughout the course of the plot most of the main elements of human nature are touched upon. To use mere images to accurately depict human nature is difficult, so I had to do my best to come as close as possible (which was not very close). In making revisions of this collage, I attempted to give it more of a surreal feeling, since the book itself almost inevitably lends that feeling to the reader.

ORIGINAL CHARACTER COLLAGE
http://www.teachmix.com/nightlit/node/88
REVISED CHARACTER COLLAGE
To revise this collage I tried to follow Professor Anderson's advice by adding some shadows and detailing to the picture.
http://www.teachmix.com/nightlit/node/119
ORIGINAL POEM COLLAGE
http://www.teachmix.com/nightlit/node/78
REVISED POEM COLLAGE
To revise this collage, I branched out more and illustrated more aspects of the poem in the collage. It was difficult, because it's easy to clutter up a collage and make the themes of the poem too difficult to distinguish.
http://www.teachmix.com/nightlit/node/111

ANNOTATION ASSIGNMENT
This assignment was a great refresher on what it truly means to interpret poetry. In annotating words and phrases of these ten Emily Dickinson poems, I had to both consider the poem as a whole and the words as individual elements that are part of the whole. It was an exercise in keeping my brain flexible enough to write insightfully. I enjoyed this assignment because it gave me the chance to learn about these poems in a historical, theoretical, and interpretive sense all at once. Both fortunately and unfortunately, I began to annotate the poems after most of the other students in the class had finished their annotation work on the poems. This allowed me to read all of what they had to say about the words of the poems before writing my own opinons, but also allowed them to take some of the words out of my mouth! It seems I have a few similar opinions to others in this class. Nonetheless, I greatly enjoyed the program we used to create links to discussion pages and the way that everything came together with this project.

Annotation regarding "He Kindly stopped for me" in the poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death"

Annotation regarding "Civility" in the poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death"

Annotation regarding "When I died" in the poem "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died"

Annotation regarding "windows" in the poem "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died"

Annotation regarding "loaded gun" in the poem "My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun"

Annotation regarding "cordial" in the poem "My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun"

Annotation regarding "For I have but the power to kill" in the poem "My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun"

Annotation regarding "I'm nobody!" in the poem "I'm nobody! Who are You?"

Annotation regarding "Then there ’s a pair of us—don’t tell!" in the poem "I'm nobody! Who are You?"

Annotation regarding "Vane" in the poem "This World is not Conclusion"

Annotation regarding "That Nibbles at the soul" in the poem "This World is not Conclusion"

Annotation regarding "Simple Shoe" in the poem "I Started Early - Took My Dog"

Annotation regarding "withdrew" in the poem "I Started Early - Took My Dog"

Annotation regarding "I could show it" in the poem "The Tint I Cannot take - is Best -"

Annotation regarding "Cheated Eye" in the poem "The Tint I Cannot take - is Best -"

Annotation regarding "Struck, was I, not yet by Lightning" in the poem "Struck, was I, not yet by Lightning"

Annotation regarding "Often as I die" in the poem "Struck, was I, not yet by Lightning"

Annotation regarding "It waits" in the poem "A Light Exists in Spring"

Annotation regarding "Report" in the poem "A Light Exists in Spring"

Annotation regarding "Brittle Nature" in the poem "He Fumbles at Your Soul"

Annotation regarding "Prepares" in the poem "He Fumbles at Your Soul"

BLOG POSTINGS
I absolutely loved having my own blog in which to reflect on the readings for the week. Although sometimes the website was a bit problematic, most of the time it was easy to log on and see what others had to say about our reading assignment. Having my postings online and easy to look back on was helpful in allowing me to reflect on what I've read so far this semester and what I have learned.

Blog Post regarding "Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminally Insane"

Blog Post regarding "Cathedral"

Blog Post regarding "The Race"

Comment regarding "A Good Man Is Hard To Find"

Comment regarding "A Good Man Is Hard To Find"

Comment regarding "As I Stand Here Ironing" and "A&P"

Comment regarding "Girl" and "Sweat"

Comment regarding "A Death in Texas"

Comment regarding "Traveling Through the Dark"

Comment regarding "Rites of Passage," "Advice to My Son," "Betwixt and Bewildered," etc...

Comment regarding the Podcasts

PODCAST
This was a difficult project for me to do because I am terrible at public speaking. I’m actually terrible at anything that involves attention being focused on me alone, even if it’s just for a short period of time. I knew I’d have a hard time with the part of the podcast where I had to explain my section of information, and I wasn’t wrong; that part of the podcast was the most difficult part of all. I did enjoy researching the subject and drawing up a rough outline for what I would say, but I can’t say that I truly enjoyed speaking into the microphone and worrying about messing up during the actual recording of the podcast. Still, it is important to try new things and improve in areas of weakness, so I am glad that we had this assignment. It was also interesting to listen to the podcasts of other groups and learn a little from them on the subjects that they researched.
http://www.teachmix.com/nightlit/files/music.mp3