When I first came to A's class at the beginning of the semester, I honestly thought that this class was just going to be a hindrance on my study time and the rest of my schedule. I was not really looking forward to engaging in the class, reading four books, writing several essays, presenting class projects, and watching stereotypical Western movies for a subject that has absolutely nothing to do with my majors, minors, or any of my interests. I enrolled because I needed a 2000 level Honors course and it fit the bill. While I had heard good stories about A as a teacher, my expectations were rather low and going through the syllabus the first day only made me more annoyed for what was to come.
The first few homework assignments we had were to read short stories and poetry from “Nothing But the Truth” and I did so lacking all enthusiasm. When we came to class to discuss what we had read, there were a lot of awkward pauses and a general lack of input. In a class of nine students, one cannot afford to be introverted. It seemed like I was the only one contributing to the discussion that first week and it disheartened me further. However, I was pleasantly surprised by A’s analysis of the works and the focus of each of his discussions. I could tell based on our class time that he knew what he was doing and was passionate about the subject which was a nice change from Freshman Colloquium I and II.
As the class settled, the other eight members became more comfortable talking which was a relief to me because I did not feel as much pressure to keep the discussions afloat. While the poetry we read did not really appeal to me, the discussions became pleasurable anyway. The week-to-week load of work was lighter than I had previously imagined and so this class that I had deemed a thorn in my side was proving itself to not be so. My two presentations were getting taken care of via weekly meetings with my partners, the reading load was light, and the class time was actually being used. I was content and had reorganized my five classes such that Honors was no longer considered the bottom of the heap.
Then we switched to read “The Way to Rainy Mountain.” This book was terrible and I hate it with a passion. I did not realize the consistency of the three paragraph types across the pages (until it was brought up in class), instead it was just a block in my ability to read the story because the narration and the font kept changing. I did not like how it was written and in class everyone seemed to be praising it but it did not make sense and it just seemed like a sloppy children’s story that we had to read for some reason. The sense of place paper was introduced to us around this time as well and that became a stress on my schedule because I was dealing with examinations in my other classes as well as both of my presentations were coming up really soon and the work was not yet finalized. These two, three weeks were really rough and basically justified all of my previous uncertainties about taking this course to begin with.
My presentations followed right after and they were fine. I knew my material and I have no issues with public speaking so I was a little flippant about presenting because 20 minutes is not that long a time to lead a discussion, especially with a partner. The background one was rough due to technical issues that made S and I look like goofballs and in the discussion one, I sort of just let N lead because he got so passionate that I let him steal some of my material because he got invested in what he was saying. Around this time, Thompson pushed back the essay till after break so that stress was gone from my mind.
“The Surrounded” was probably my favorite book to read all semester which is really bizarre because going strictly off of titles, I totally thought that I was going enjoy “Blood Meridan” the most. It did help that I presented on the first third of the story so I got over invested in the tale due to all of my preparation for that. Spring break in the middle of the discussion for this novel really helped me to find time to finish reading it as well as collect some ancestral data for my essay. After finishing the novel a week late, we moved onto some short stories that I vaguely remember printing and reading but they were really boring and did not stay in memory.
Writing the essay was a struggle for me because I find it rather difficult to talk about myself and connecting my ancestry to my personal life. While I take a lot of pride in being a member of my family, I do not really think in such a way as the paper was asking. I knew a lot of the stories and the situations of my family but applying them to my life? That was just crazy talk. I spent quite a bit of time thinking and stressing over how I was to conduct the essay because it was unfamiliar to me. I also was unsure of how to incorporate the statement, “in the style of Momaday” to my writing technique so I broke the paper into three segments like “The Way to Rainy Mountain” and tried to mimic its pattern. I do not think I was very successful, though.
After this, we moved onto the movies in the course. We watched an introduction to an old TV show that was very stereotypical of cartoon Westerns and then we saw a 20 minute clip from The Searchers which was so boring that I struggled to not fall asleep while watching. I always have difficulties getting through an entire movie because movies are so boring. We then spent the next week of class watching the entire film of Unforgiven which was a nice break in my schedule from course work. I still find it weird to see Clint Eastwood perform roles outside of Paint Your Wagon because that film was my only exposure to him for so many years. A kept pressing us to start reading “Blood Meridan” around this time because we were going to start it the week after the film concluded but I was very busy in my other classes and I am a very fast reader so I ignored him.
When we moved onto “Blood Meridan”, we spent a lot of time on the introduction and how the novel initially presents itself which made me question if we would have time to finish the story even though A kept insisting that we would. The first chapter was kind of boring even though it was full of important information and it made the story have this initial languorous feel to it even though the story was fast-paced and full of drama. I feel like I did not get a lot of information out of it when I read it due to this. I probably should read it again over the summer so that the story can have a greater impact on my psyche. Finishing the book did not really resolve the story to the point that I questioned my eyes upon seeing “The End”. A was really focused on The Judge when we did our class discussions which is really cool to look at the book from that perspective but I did not share in his fascination with the character and so the discussions were not as fun as ones we had on previous works. Regardless, it was still enjoyable to learn more about the novel and different ways of looking upon the same scenario so I cannot complain too much.
Around this time, A formally introduced the precis, portfolio, and research paper assignments. I was a little grouchy that he had not given us more time to work on these things because of how many other projects, homework assignments, essays, lab reports, and examinations that I had to complete in the same amount of time but you deal with it. After we completed the novel, the only class activity I can think of that follows would be our outline discussions with him on our final day of class. I felt like I was a bit of a disappointment because I did not really come with an outline as much as a list of sources, quotes, and general ideas blotted randomly around on a piece of college-ruled paper but I don’t really write rough drafts and I find it hard to do so. Normally I just blot around ideas and put down all of the items that I want to include and then after contemplating for a few days about the mess, I write it out and then turn that in. So, it was my rough draft even though it was not a typical English class one.
That concludes my experiences in the class. I had a lot of fun and I learned quite a bit more than I had anticipated. I entered the class with very low expectations and a sour attitude but I left feeling disheartened that it was over because it was enjoyable and well-taught. I am sorry that I enrolled with such a negative attitude and if A taught me anything, it is that a teacher really can make all the difference.
As a thinker, I tend to think rather pragmatically but in a sporadic manner. If something catches my fancy, I can talk about it for days without too much struggle but if I do not find it interesting then it becomes very hard for me to engage even if the answers are easy. Generally, I write the way I talk unless I have to be super formal but I feel that my words are more genuine when they look like something I could have said in a face-to-face conversation with someone about the topic at hand. When I speak, generally what I say is exactly what I was thinking which can be dangerous because it can sound racy or offensive without that being my intent because the connections that lead me to that statement stayed inside my head with only the conclusion escaping my lips.
My artifact is a worn out rosary because I would not have gotten this far without my faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment