This class has definitely been my favorite out of all that I have taken throughout college so far. It was certainly one of the most challenging classes I have taken, but that also made it one of the most rewarding. I know we say this all the time, but this book truly taught me how to read again. The main thing I learned throughout this class was how to effectively close read. At the beginning of the semester, I was terrified to jump into conversations and always had this feeling that I was not understanding the text as well as my classmates. However, as the semester progressed and I got to be a part of wonderful discussions with my peers, I developed confidence in my ideas and realized that the whole point was for us to have different opinions. I can truthfully say that I never really knew how to close read until this class and I am extremely grateful for the experience.
I will also add that my favorite aspect of this class was the amount of group discussion. This course has taught me how important it is to have these discussions and see what parts of the text stuck with others and their ideas about a certain passage. Overall, I am beyond grateful for this class with all of the skills that it has taught me as well as the confidence it has given me to allow my voice to be a part of conversations.
Hey Alyssa,
The group discussions were my favorite part as well! Instead of being lectured at, we were included in every discussion. I was never afraid to speak up and that led to some great discussions.
This comment makes me very happy, Kate. Thanks for sharing.
This is wonderful to read, as I know that you had anxiety at the beginning of the term, but you became an important and vocal member of conversation at midterm. Your reflections on what you learned and how you learned are brilliant, and I’m deeply grateful that you took the time to write them up. I sincerely hope I’ll have you in another class in the future.