In Lorde's "Poetry Is Not A Luxury", she presents to the readers how to think critically and look at a certain something from many and all aspects, in order to get a full look at that certain something.
In Kate Daniel's "Mr. Greenberg", a full class discussion was sparked on the meaning behind the poem and furthermore the meaning Daniel's stances on race.
The first critical piece we looked at, on the authenticity of Wheatley titled "Phyllis Wheatley on Trial", also sparked my interest but not only because of the class discussion, but also my interest in critic's responses. Since this, I have read many critic's responses to other novels, in particular "Moby-Dick" in my English 310. It was great, and definitely a better critique of the novel than this of Wheatley's authenticity.
My main point here is that, this class has carried over into almost every other class this semester. I am witnessing the beauty of a Liberal Arts education each semester here at Wabash, and as an english major I believe it carries over into every aspect of education. I've had discussions in other classes on nearly the same topics that broaden my spectrum and increase my knowledge on these topics, making me more understanding and more knowledgable in these topics than before. I look forward to discussions every day because I know it will only help me by either challenging or teaching me.
I agree with your general stance as to the continuity of the subject matter. On the whole, I expected the themes of race, sexuality, and belonging to be prevalent in all of the books that we have read. I think that that is consistent with the aim of tackling such issues, because, in some way or another, we encounter them.
ReplyDeleteThe subjects of race and gender, as have been demonstrated, are hard ideas to tackle, especially with there being so many different perspectives, all not likely to come close to totally agreeing with each other. But I think that this is the beauty of such a class, because it is really impossible to have a wrong way of looking at a text.