Link to Multi-Modal Portion of this reflection.

Angela Fields

Eportfolio Assignment Part 2 Written Reflection

Connections are everywhere! From the invisible ties between us drawn digitally, pulled together emotionally, and written in the words crafted carefully, whispering through our minds, or passed on eternally. In the poetic words that play to one another in the coy circling in the section here in poetry, I learned sounds and slights, mark meaning in many criticisms uncountable in so small a mentioning here. In the metaphoric denial of death both in disbelieve and in jest found in the works of drama demonstrating finality but yet flowing forward, further into fiction. Walking on we look behind, we find these truths, we find these hidden signs somewhere, sometimes we lose our mind, sometimes our truth is fiction and to act blind is to forget that fact and fiction are often intertwined. So sprouts the seeds of memory, so shouts the voice the history, so should we hear them, learn from them, and find that which walks us away from such atrocity. If we draw these connections than never again will it then be.

I believe our personal choice papers on text we either read in this course or ones of our choosing, along with a type of criticism of our choosing, gave us the opportunity to explore the text in a way we never before thought to do. Due to the analyses I have been assigned in this class when I read a piece of literature I can instantly see patterns that I would not have prior to this course and what I have learned in it. My own attitudes towards the genres we have studied have expanded to see the versatility that can be found in each one, some styles appealing to me more than other. I now believe more than ever that there is connection in the world when you take a closer look at the human nature in the works I choose to focus on in part one of this project.

    Using many of the texts assigned, the discussion posts, the critical theories, and my own experiences that create my personal impression of the works, I feel that this multi-modal project synthesizes my favorites, shows the connections I have made, uses quotes directly from the text to imply these connections and uses image, meme, and video to hopefully illustrate these connections to you--the viewer. Based on the goals and outcomes given at the start of this course, I feel my awareness of the elements in the various genres have improved, such as how a sound can create a mood in poetry, how stage direction in a play can help an audience understand what is going on with simple actions and how metaphor can be woven throughout fiction and nonfiction to help better connect to the reader. I also learned how the various types of criticism can put a different lens to a text depending on the one chosen. An example of this would be to choose Reader Response versus Feminist Criticism when analyzing “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell. One may empathize with the poem as a common love poem in Reader Response but when looked at through Feminist Criticism may well write something against the work as A.D. Hope did with his “From His Coy Mistress to Mr. Marvell.” I also believe that my writing here and in my discussion posts demonstrate my progression of my “practice writing within the discipline(s)” we have been assigned, along with my choice of text beyond those assigned. The papers I wrote on these alternative readings can infer to the research I have conducted set by this goal. I even incorporated studies of the work in the same type of criticism I choose to use to further prove my views and to enhance my argument of commonality among analyses.

    The final thoughts I wish to convey about this course; is that anyone who is interested in studying English or who wants to understand the world, an author, or a single work better should take this course. The only stupid question is the one never asked and when you look this deep into a literary work you will always find more to ask about it. However, with practice you can also learn a lot from each as well.

Image cite:Devatsy, Dr. “40 Avatar the Last Airbender Wallpaper for Download.” Cartoon District, 27 Feb. 2015, www.cartoondistrict.com/avatar-the-last-airbender-wallpaper/.