Throughout the course of the semester I have learned many important things. Every lesson was different and always taught me something new. The very first lesson I have found interesting was the lesson about Edgar Alan Poe. We went over his life, his writings and one of my favorite readings,
The Cask of Amontillado. During that lesson we also learned about different types of irony such as verbal and dramatic. I never knew there were various types of irony until that lesson. I really liked that we learned about Edgar Alan Poe because I was always intrigued by his writings. During that lesson we also learned about Gothic literature and how he fits that genre. Over all this lesson taught me how to analyze a story and find the meaning behind everything that the writer is including in his text. Every single detail is important for the reader to understand the story as well as formulate a conclusion and an important life lesson.
Another lesson that I found very educational and interesting was the lesson about Romanticism and writers of that particular time period. We learned that Romanticism deals with many aspects such as emotion over reason, appreciation of nature, sense of intellect, spiritual truth, human personalities and moods. Two poets we have learned about were Wordsworth and Keats. We learned about their similarities and differences. Both of them wrote about inspiration of beauty of nature and life as well as finding joy and relief the nature itself can bring. The difference between the two was that Wordsworth wanted to educate the reader, play a role of a teacher, where Keats was the opposite, Keats simply expressed his views. I personally liked Keats better because of his poem, "Ode on a Grecian Urn". It became one of my favorite poems because it simply shows the difference between the "dream world" and the "real world". Thanks to him I learned to appreciate the little things in life, such as blooming flowers or a sun shining on a beautiful day. He taught to simply slow down, look around and admire the beauty of this world.
The last lesson I found really interesting and full of information was the lesson about Greek tragedy and theater. During that lesson we went over characteristics of a tragic hero according to Aristotle. We used an example of Oedipus the King who fit the description perfectly. We also learned about parts of a Greek tragedy writings such as prologue, parados and exodus. I thought it was really cool that we did that web quest, it helped me understand the Greek theater better. Using such method of teaching was entertaining and educational at the same time. I also liked the play Oedipus the King. Thanks to the group works we've done in class it made me understand it better. It was a very unique and interesting story, I've never heard anything like it. I am a big fan of Greek mythology and stories, and this one definitely joined the list of my favorites. We also went over the difference between Aristotle's plot triangle and Freytag's pyramid. We've learned that Aristotle used only three points such as exposition, climax and resolution, where Freytag focused on more elements including rising and falling action. Filling out the pyramid in class really gave me a clear understanding of the story. It is an easy and fast way to summarize the story, I will be definitely using it while reading other stories in the future.
Over all this English 102 class has been very educational and fun to attend. I really liked the idea of using the internet and creating this blog. I think it is a unique way to teach the class and it makes it not as boring as just sitting in a classroom and reading countless books. Throughout this course I came upon many interesting and inspiring writers and poets. Their works were one of a kind and taught many important life lessons. This class has really taught me how to appreciate literature more and reminded me why I used to read a lot when I was younger. Thanks to this class my passion for reading came back and I sure will start to read again.
