I like this class so far. It's different.

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 isn't like that. We read a variety of texts that are written by a wider variety of authors over many different eras. We study different themes, we read different styles, and we use different types of assignments to interpret literature. We the students are 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 are given thought-provoking questions to help us mull the material over, and when conversation has run out, we move on to whatever project we are working on at the time.

This format suits me. I like the creativity that I am allowed to exercise in this class. I have yet to feel that any of my interpretations of a reading have been unwelcome or unnecessary. There are many different creative outlets, from collages to blogs to playlists, and I am never short on ways to express my opinion of the literature that we are reading or that is in my life. This class adeptly 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.

If I had to set personal goals for the rest of the semester, they'd have to relate to further exploring the opportunities that this class gives me to express myself. I want to take more advantage of the blog that we are given in which to write our opinions of the readings. 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: http://www.teachmix.com/nightlit/node/119
Original Poem Collage: http://www.teachmix.com/nightlit/node/78
Revised Poem Collage: 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"

Another 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...