Eeight weeks

They say that in every experience there is something new to learn. Something that challenges the way we viewed things or the way we thought about things. This is no less than true for my personal experience when I began attending this course. By involving myself in the weekly discussions and researching the tasks that were presented to us, I was forced to break the mould of my usual thinking techniques and therefore my communication skills were also tested when I tried to transfer my newly gained knowledge on to paper (or screen actually). I believe that my writing skills have developed a cleaner flow and structure, making it easier for the readers (such as yourself) to understand my opinion on a more academic level.

I have also enjoyed reading the work of my fellow classmates each week and seeing their interpretation of the questions that were at hand. I find it interesting how one task can generate so many different views and opinions that all differ based on the person who is writing it. Before I hand up my assignment every week I think I’ve read all there is to know on the author or poet relevant to that week; then I go and read the blog of a fellow classmate and realize, wow! I didn’t know that, and wonder how they got that information. The online blog was great idea because we all got to learn off each other and communicate our opinions if we didn’t agree with something. It felt like a safe environment to learn and help others learn, I believe I would enjoy doing other classes through the internet in the future.

When I say that my communication skills have been tested, I not only refer to the manner that I write for someone to understand my opinion, but also to the means in which I chose to present my work. Prior to this course I would have never had the courage or technical knowledge to present my work on the internet and I thought that the word ‘blog’ was an insect or something. I guess you learn something new every day.

One particular assignment that I found challenging was the one about the ‘sublime’. I really had to search deep to find what the word meant to others initially, and then I searched even deeper to find out what the word meant to me. When we were given the task of writing a letter/poem about a personal sublime experience; I never thought I would actually feel a sublime moment while writing about it. The poem of my brother’s death was a moving experience for me and it is something that will stay with me for a long time after this class is finished.

Another assignment that I have learnt a lot from is the one about the little house in the woods. I felt I could relate to the experiences that Thoreau encountered during this social experiment and also relate to his intensions. Learning and writing about this particular event in our history strengthened my courage to enjoy what I already have with my family and not worry about buying more.

By the end of Early American Literature, students should have acquired a number of skills that will aid them in future learning. This includes internet research skills that go beyond just Google and Wikipedia. I have learnt how to save links and create blogs etc, all of which I didn’t know before. Our writing skills should also have improved, form structuring our paragraphs to wording our newly gained knowledge in a manner that is easy to read and understand for everyone in the class. And thirdly our research and memory skills should have improved, from sourcing information in books and the internet etc; to remembering key words in certain chapters that we may have had to re-visit for other assignments that we have been handed.

All in all, my experience in Early American Literature has been a positive one, and it is a class which has tested me on many levels but one that I believe I have grown in also. I have enjoyed reading the feedback of my classmates and sharing my information I look forward now to the next step in my studies and putting all that I have learnt in this course to good use with the rest of my degree.