Looking back on English 203 Reader and Text, one can say it was not only challenging, stressful, and frustrating but also, enlightening. I was able to find myself not only as a student but as a human being because this class made me extend my thoughts, skills and lifestyle. Throughout this semester we studied seven poems, and seven books, as well as analyze two films. The books, Adventures of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, and Walden, by Henry David Thoreau resonated with me the most because these pieces really speaks to the idea of identity and morals, understanding who we are and knowing the difference between right and wrong. These pieces taught me frustration because there a constant fight between myself and the writer. I was trying to understand their outlook while trying to find my own outlook.
In Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, at first sight, I concluded it to be nonsensical since it made me question the content within the text, . The book entails the protagonist, Alice, going through a hole , a caterpillar that smokes a hookah, and a disappearing cat as if that isn’t nonsensical in itself. Alice tries to make sense of various nonsensical situations since she comes from a reality with a different set of rules where there are a higher set of expectations for individuals in terms of their behavior that go unnoticed. For instance, in Alice’s conversation with the Cheshire Cat, the Cheshire Cat states,
By no means does the Cheshire Cat find this conversation unusual because this is his reality, not only catching Alice by surprise because of the different world she’s in but also the audience. Since this alternate reality differs from Alice’s reality it seems rather foolish to her. This idea made me wonder that maybe what makes sense to us may not make sense in the “World of Wonderland” and vice versa. Even the idea that maybe our reality isn’t real; but rather, it is a figment of our imagination.
By the same token, another text that resonated with me was, Walden, by Henry David Thoreau. In the chapter, Economy, Thoreau makes an analogy about an Indian Man and his white neighbor (paragraph 31), as the Indian man tries to sell his baskets the white male although he rejects them. This rejection leads the Indian man to be frustrated and angry at the neighbor who was trying to understand his rejection. In addition, Thoreau replies to this text with the idea,”He had not discovered that it was necessary for him to make it worth the other’s while to buy them, or at least make him think that it was so, or to make something else which it would be worth his while to buy.” To Thoreau, the Indian hadn’t realized that if he’s making something, make it worth someone’s while, or even persuade others to think it’s worth it. The story of the Indian man is an example of an artist at work struggling to please others. Similarly, Thoreau states, “I too had woven a kind of basket of a delicate texture, but I had not made it worth any one’s while to buy them. Yet not the less, in my case, did I think it worth my while to weave them, and instead of studying how to make it worth men’s while to buy my baskets, I studied rather how to avoid the necessity of selling them.”. Thoreau makes the move to experience to theory, that he studied and experience the idea of creative work. He made his writings but then rather than selling them he withheld himself, kept it for his own worth. He came to the conclusion that we should just enjoy the art we have made. As artists we should craft enjoyment for ourselves not to exploit it for others to take, discard, or change. Individuals may think this analogy is about how we should work for the eye of the beholder, although, I took this analogy as a guide. It should teach individuals to do two things: understand both backgrounds; who knows why the Indian man is only selling baskets or why the white man said no, and that as an artist we should work for ourselves first. If we please other it should be a coincidence because they find our work interesting and something to consider. Everything will fall in place if individuals choose to stay true to themselves because we need to keep our work for ourselves;not for others to exploit.
Throughout the class, two recurrent words that cycled my mind were identity and theory. Identity is knowing who you are inside and out; knowing your traits and actions, while theory is a thought or multiple ideas that intend to explain something. With each of these texts a theory has been created and/or someone’s identity is being questioned or explained. These texts not only made me think about what they meant but question who I am as a person. I have come to the conclusion that as a student, I’m a procrastinator who works hard and questions everything piece of work I hand in. As a human being, I’m unpredictable, and people never know my next move. With this class, I’ve learned that it’s okay to express your thoughts and be yourself no matter the circumstances.