Tag Archives: What I Learned

What I’ve learned this semester

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This class has definitely been unlike any other English course I’ve taken before. Usually we read anywhere between 4-5 novels throughout the semester, not really giving us anytime to analyze and go into depth like we did in this class with Moby-Dick. To be honest I enjoyed this experience a lot more compared what I’m used to. I think that by focusing on one novel, a really intense one at that, it definitely gave me a chance to fully explore my thoughts and emotions on the book instead of just skimming through it and not really going in depth with it. Moby-Dick is also unlike any novel I have ever read before. Going into this semester I was intimidated by it, and I think throughout the semester it was still pretty intimidating, but there definitely was a point where I was able to embrace that and remind myself that this novel is like that for most people. I cannot think of a better way to learn and analyze a novel; by hearing from my classmates and having discussions about the novel, it gave me more insight and allowed me to view the book from multiple perspectives.

This class challenged me in a way I’m not used to, and I’m very glad that it did. In the end I’m now feeling like a better reader and writer, and I’ve definitely brushed up on my analyzation skills that haven’t really been used like this in a long time. I think that every English major, or any major in general, should take this course if they want to learn not only about a great novel, but about different perspectives on life. To read this timeless classic is to change your life, and I’m so glad that I was able to experience that for myself.

What you learned in this class– final take-aways!

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I never thought there would be a whole class just on the book of Moby Dick, which is why I was interested in taking it! I have picked up the book once before, but never finished it until taking this class. Dr. Pressman made this class very enjoyable with all of the knowledge that she has on the book and how she presented it to us. Throughout reading Moby Dick, I was lost at points, but I slowly started to get it! I really enjoyed all of the marine biology elements of the book that Melville included, which made me very interested in certain chapters.

I never really knew what close reading was until this class, and I will be using it moving forward when reading any sort of book that is a bit trickier to understand. I am glad she pushed us to actually write in the book because I just used little stickies to label certain parts, but I couldn’t write my full thought on it. After a while of doing that, I decided to just write in the book, which was my first time doing which I didn’t really want to do, but I did anyway, to really dive more into it to see how I was thinking as I was reading. This really helped me grasp the end of the book, and I want to go back to the beginning as well to write my thoughts in it! The group in class discussions, I definitely learned more from others and how they interpreted the selected reading for each week! I thought the smaller discussions were very useful, so that I can tell others what I got out of the reading to see if I am on the right track with it! There were many chapters I didn’t fully grasp until I came to class and heard what everyone was saying, and then it clicked more for me!

I am very glad I decided to take this class for one of my first English classes at SDSU, and I will be recommending anyone to take Dr. Pressman’s class in the future! Thank you for teaching me this semester!