A Special Thanks

I am posting my reflection from my Senior Seminar class. I just wanted to take the time to say thank you to all of my English professors who have helped shaped me as a reader, writer, and educator.

Reflection

            The Spring Hill College English department has helped shaped me as a reader, writer, and educator in a variety of ways. Before attending Spring Hill College, I enjoyed my English classes in high school, but had nowhere near the interest and passion I have for English now. My freshman year here, I was originally a Biology major. By the end of my first semester, I was dissatisfied in my chosen career path, and I knew I truly held a higher interest in my English courses. So, after completing my first two English courses here at Spring Hill College, my initial major quickly changed. The English professors that I have had the opportunity of having here display a passion for both teaching and encouraging a love for literature. The professors in my English courses not only had a way of explaining and analyzing the texts in a way that I had never experienced before, but also had a way of encouraging students to share their own individual  insights. It is my professors who have influenced my love for English, and who have encouraged the enjoyment I now have when analyzing literature and sharing my own ideas and insights.

I remember my first English paper as a freshman was on As You Like It by William Shakespeare. Before college, Shakespeare’s writings had always intimidated me. However, my professor provided our class with unique ways to help us understand Shakespeare’s writings. We constructed character lists and concept maps, which aided me in my understanding and analysis of his work. After learning to read and analyze Shakespeare’s literature, the paper assignment became enjoyable rather than something I usually dreaded.  Ultimately, it was my professors’ passion and excitement that influenced me to switch my major, where I could have a concentration in English.  Although some of my later English courses have been challenging, I have enjoyed learning more about the world of literature. My professors have challenged me to write in an array of styles, write to a variety of audiences, and write simply for my own self expression. Ultimately, my English courses at Spring Hill College have prepared me to be a more well-rounded reader, writer, and educator. Being a future English teacher, I now have the opportunity to instill that same passion and excitement for English in my own students’ lives.

            Approaching my Senior Seminar project, I already had some idea of what I wanted to accomplish. My original idea was actually influenced by two of my courses during my time here at Spring Hill College. In my second English course as a freshman, our class was assigned to read Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko. Analyzing the themes and issues surrounding the text led me to discover an interest in American Indian literature. I remember writing my paper on kachina ceremonials in Laguna Pueblo culture. Kachina ceremonials tend to be very secretive in their culture, so much research was involved. However, after turning in my paper, I could honestly say I enjoyed doing the research because I was so interested in the topic and culture. It is hard to believe that it was a freshman English course that has inspired me to pursue my chosen topic my senior year.

I later had the opportunity of displaying my interest in American Indian literature again in my second American Literature class during my junior year. As part of the course requirements, we were asked to give presentations throughout the semester to help prepare us for our Senior Seminar projects. I slightly struggled in my first two presentations. So, in order to do better on my final presentation of the semester, I chose to do a topic that interested me. I chose a topic which focused on American Indian literature and culture. After giving my presentation, my professor commented on the interest I displayed and suggested I do something similar for my Senior Seminar project. My grade on that presentation reflected this as well. It was from this course, that my idea and enthusiasm for my Senior Seminar project began to heighten.

            At the beginning of the semester, I decided that for my Senior Seminar project, I wanted to discuss the significance of storytelling in American Indian literature. From my previous readings of American Indian literature, I noticed that storytelling was a prevalent characteristic in American Indian writings, and thought it would be interesting to research. Starting out, the aim of my research was to illustrate not only how culture has affected the literature, but also how many American Indian writers have used literature to affect the culture. I wanted to particularly examine the use of oral narratives communicated in written text, and how American Indian writers such as Leslie Marmon Silko, N. Scott Momaday, and Louise Erdrich utilize this approach to recover or recreate oral tradition in their communities. However, after learning so much more about American Indian culture and storytelling, I discovered that storytelling is much more complex than I initially thought. From there, I shifted my analysis to the meaning of the stories. I asked myself questions like “what are the differences between ancient, historical, and personal stories?” and “why are they used?” It was the research and musing of stories that then led my interest to shift to the meaning and use of the narrative forms. Reading Ceremony my freshman year, I noticed how different the text was laid out on the page. Silko continuously uses strange spacing and blocking of the ancient stories in her novel, which I had always been perplexed about. I noticed that the layout and structure in N. Scott Momaday’s A Way to Rainy Mountain and Louise Erdrich’s The Plague of Doves were also arranged in unique ways. This led me to consider the meaning behind these complex narrative forms.

Analyzing and writing about the structures and layouts of the texts I chose proved to be very challenging. Although we had discussed the physical features of texts in my previous English courses, I have never had the opportunity to truly analyze and write about them. Yet, because Senior Seminar is a capstone course and my last college English project, I wanted to challenge myself. Honestly, I am so glad I did. Throughout the semester, I often doubted myself and was anxious about tackling such a unique and complex topic. I went back and forth on ideas in an attempt to stray away from my own insights. However, my mentor, Dr. Litwiller, steered me back on course and encouraged me to embrace my own insights every step along the way. As a result, my final work was creative and original, which was the most rewarding of the entire process. Although the process was both stressful and challenging, I enjoyed branching out of my comfort zone to work on a topic I am extremely interested in and passionate about. Overall, my experience in Spring Hill College’s English department has challenged me to achieve far more than I ever thought I could.

Looking Back

At the beginning of the semester, I set three goals for myself: to be able to write for a variety of audiences, to be able to incorporate all aspects of the writing process into my writing preparation, and to be able to collaborate with others in writing. Looking back at my writing assignments, I had the opportunity to address two of these goals.

One of my goals for this semester was to be able to write for a variety of audiences, purposes, and contexts. Before this class, I had trouble in this area, because I was used to strictly writing academic papers. I wanted to leave college knowing how to write more than just academic essays. After this class, I feel confident in writing in multiple genres. Two particular assignments that helped me achieve this goal were the blog and the restaurant review.

For the blog assignment, audience, purpose, and persona were three essential things I had to think about. For my audience, I had to consider if my blog would be private or public. I asked my self questions like "will this blog be open to strictly my classmates?" or "will this blog be open for an array of readers?". Ultimately, I decided to make my blog public because of the blog's purpose. Regarding purpose, I had to consider what the purpose of my blog would be. I decided to create my blog for both students and teachers, so that it could be a collaborative sharing and learning environment. I hope to continue posting, in hopes, that it will one day reach the collaborative process where both writers and readers can share and learn from one another. Lastly, I had to think about my persona. Looking at my purpose, I decided my persona would be that of a student pursuing a teaching degree. Because of my chosen persona, I have had the opportunity to share my writing and receive feedback, which I found to be very helpful. Ultimately, the blog assignment challenged me to think about how I was portraying myself, as well as, my writing on the World Wide Web.

The restaurant review, which is here on my blog, challenged me to really consider my audience. I think the hardest part was determining how much detail was needed. When experiencing a restaurant yourself, it is hard to think about what details need to be included to make your reader part of that same experience. I had to consider what information was necessary, and what information was not so necessary. The restaurant review put me in a position where I had to pretend as if I was a reader. I had to defamiliarize myself in order to pick up on details I would normally ignore. Doing so allowed me to figure out what was needed, and what was too much. Overall, the review challenged me to write in a genre very different from what I was used to.

Another goal I had set for myself was to be able to collaborate with others in writing. One assignment in particular that helped me accomplish this goal was the proposal, which is also here on my blog. Before this class, I had never worked with someone on a collaborative writing assignment. Looking back, I think one of the most difficult things was coalescing mine and my partner's styles in a coherent way. The proposal assignment also challenged me to be prompt in scheduling meeting times with partners, to be communicative when it came to the purpose and process of the assignment, and to be patient in the overall process, which ultimately prepared me for future collaborative experiences.

Overall, this semester has taught me to consider the rhetorical situation for every individual assignment. Having practiced writing in different genres and collaborating with others in writing, I feel more confident entering into future work experiences.