Taking the Diagnostics Test and
working through multiple choice questions gave me an idea of what I need to
work on: interpreting poems, analyzing
works of literature, memorizing poetry terms.
The recommendations on how to read poems more effectively were good
starters for me when doing the forums assignment. I applied the techniques by first reading for
the layout, then reading sentence by sentence while defining unknown words, and
finally rereading carefully to begin analyzing.
Although Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor is directed toward analyzing
stories, it was a reminder to look for symbols.
Foster asks the question “…what does it mean, what does it stand for?”(97. Especially in “Mexican’s Begin Jogging” this
question was useful as I found a lot of symbolism. Directing my attention to one aspect of a poem
helped me understand its meaning.
Following the recommendations and only focusing on one aspect of a poem
is my goal for learning to analyze poems.
Working through the Foster Presentation taught
me to be more observant in regard to reading a piece of literature or watching
a film. While reading How to
Read Literature Like a Professor, I remembered books I have read and movies
I have watched, and I was able to relate Foster’s ideas to them. For example, when I read The Jungle I wondered why Jurgis’ life was filled with turmoil,
especially when his son drowns in the flooded street. Then when I read what Foster said, “…violence
is a symbolic action” (91), I realized his son’s death symbolizes all the immigrants’
hopelessness when they come to America.
They have no control over their lives, just as Jurgis’ son didn’t when
he was drowning. There is a greater
force that is directing them.
Even though it seems as if Harvey’s,
The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing,
tells us what we already know, I found it to be interesting and beneficial. I’m trying to follow the advice given, such
as being concise, making sure the piece flows and stating its point clearly. This connects to the three presentations that
we took notes on. I found that applying
Harvey’s ideas, the ideas pertaining to the rhetorical situation, and how to
write an argument all fit in to writing a good AP essay on the exam.
I really like how you tie in specific examples to help aid in your point. Especially your example regarding "The Jungle". This example even helps me rethink about the ideas found inside of Foster's book. I also believe that you did a very good job in reprocessing what we have learned and comparing that with assignments that we have already done. Overall, this blog post is very thorough and helps me, as a learner, as well. Though, I would in your last paragraph further explain HOW Harvey's work and the presentations are related... Yes, you state that they are connect but fail to explain how or why? This could be helpful come AP exam time.
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job relating what you learned to new assignments such as using Foster's book to help you focus your thoughts when doing the forums assignment with "Mexican's Begin Jogging". Also, like Gabriella said, your example of finding "new" symbolism in The Jungle is a thoughtful connection to Foster. Your examples show that new things are always being discovered in literature if you know what to look for. However at the end of your response I felt like you were just trying to cram in all the other assignments we did without truly reprocessing them. If you were to edit this assignment I would look at the last paragraph and expand on your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteWe wrote separate posts already for the diagnostics so you could have gotten away with not mentioning them, but I guess it's not bad to include them.
ReplyDeleteYou elaborated on a symbolic death in , which was good, but you didn't elaborate on the symbol(s) you found in "Mexicans Begin Jogging" which wasn't so good.
I agree that the end is basically saying "Oh yeah we did some other things too." Consider adding a paragraph to the end about the presentations, and maybe another one that examines the relationships between the assignments.