When I first walked into room 216 in August for English 203, I was nervous. I was anxiously waiting to see how my first day would go and I was nervous because I knew that this class was going to be a challenge. It was going to push me to work as hard as I’ve ever worked. But there was a reason I was put into this class. And as the semester lagged on, I realized that there was a point in everything that we did. Every task we were to complete had a purpose. There were constantly terms thrown at us from The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms by Ross Murfin and Supryia M. Ray and Literary Analysis by Celena Kusch. And each term tied back to the novel or play or book or movie we were reading/watching at that time. We talked about New Criticism and intertextuality which happen to be my two favorite terms. We talked about satires a picaresque novel. We talked about so many different concepts and were asked so many different questions and every single one of them had a purpose. It was all for a reason, just like me being put into this class. But why?
For example, a satire, according to The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms, is “A literary genre or mode that uses irony, wit, and sometimes sarcasm to expose humanity’s vices and foibles” (392). The novel that connects to this term is I am Not Sidney Poitier, written by Percival Everett. This novel is also a satire because Everett uses humor to bring the problem of racism to light. In one of my blog posts I talked about racism in literature and how racism will always be a part of it. There are always connections in different pieces of literature that present the issue of racism and race. As I’ve said before, there are reasons Everett did this and there are always connections to be made because of it. By using the terms that we’ve discussed in this class, we can tie together what we’ve done to find the reasoning and purpose behind these novels and poems we’ve read.
I can take all of the information I was given throughout the semester, every term, every person, every phrase, and use all of it to further my understanding when it comes to literature and when it comes to this class. Ever since Beth told us to unpack what we say, I have used that term outside of the classroom quite often. And to me, I think that’s a huge step in achieving my objectives when I first stepped foot into room 216. Sometimes when I’m with my friends and someone makes a statement, I will look at them and say, “Can you unpack that” or, I will simply say “unpack”. This word has gotten stuck in my head and now I feel like every sentence ever said needs to be unpacked.
Ultimately, I am glad I signed up to be in this class. I know that I’ve improved with every piece that I wrote. I’m leaving with an open mind and a new way to write thanks to Beth and my classmates and these novels and everything else we got to read this semester. I think it’s important when it comes to classes like these to slow down and give reasoning to what you do. Make connections to what you already know and in the end, tie everything together. This class has taught me how to take my time and to take everything one step at a time. I have learned that in literature it’s almost impossible to not use intertextuality. There are always connections to be made and that’s because we’re human. We seek to link what we are learning to what we already know. So yeah, I was nervous when I first started. But now, I’m excited to see where it will take me.