Experiences as an SVSU English major
My freshman year at SVSU began in a way that I could only explain as equal parts terrifying and exhilarating. There I was, three hours away from home, surrounded by (and living with) seven complete strangers who I somehow felt like I had nothing in common with. I came in with pretty much no idea what I was doing, who I wanted to be, or what the next four years would be like, and a tentatively declared English major. I didn’t know where I was headed, I didn’t really even know what I wanted, but I did know that I liked books and English class in my past years of school. I actually almost went to Western to major in business, but that’s a story for another time.
When I’d met with the academic advisors during …show more content…
Taking 301 was pretty helpful for this, and was a great way to really get down into it and learn about many theories in different ways. Before coming to college English classes, I knew very little about literary theory to be completely honest. I believe in high school, we dipped into Marxist and Freudian, and maybe the tiniest bit into feminist, and that was just about it. Getting to learn about so many new ones was actually a bit of a shock in that regard. I have to say, my very favorite literature class would have had to have been 307, Native American literature. This was one hundred percent a class that helped me grow in actually being able to apply theory on a very personal level for me. Previously, yeah, I could understand how people could get different views, etcetera but this class really helped flip a switch for me. I think a large part of that was the gradual but crucial part that is to have to learn how to really immerse yourself in a culture that is not your own. To understand something is to dig deep. You might not relate to every single part of it, but that’s okay. In fact, that’s probably going to happen. Not having the same experiences or views does not make something less valid or less worthy. I think a lot of this was dealing with this idea that is formed that “real literature” is what we read in …show more content…
Peer reviews in class are always a helpful addition and I find they tend to be much more effective in literature classes than any other class in which you may write a paper. I also thought it was really helpful in 313 a few semesters ago where we did virtual peer reviews over canvas. Not having to spend an entire class time in small groups meant we didn’t fall behind on readings but still got the added benefit of feedback of multiple people on our papers that we were in the process of writing. When a whole class is devoted to such a task, more often than not, conversations get side tracked and not much actual work gets done. Doing the peer review online meant we could get feedback from more people and I find that what I got back was actually more helpful in that people were more concise and in-depth when they typed out a response vs verbally discussing a paper or thesis in a room of a bunch of people all doing the same
My freshman year at SVSU began in a way that I could only explain as equal parts terrifying and exhilarating. There I was, three hours away from home, surrounded by (and living with) seven complete strangers who I somehow felt like I had nothing in common with. I came in with pretty much no idea what I was doing, who I wanted to be, or what the next four years would be like, and a tentatively declared English major. I didn’t know where I was headed, I didn’t really even know what I wanted, but I did know that I liked books and English class in my past years of school. I actually almost went to Western to major in business, but that’s a story for another time.
When I’d met with the academic advisors during …show more content…
Taking 301 was pretty helpful for this, and was a great way to really get down into it and learn about many theories in different ways. Before coming to college English classes, I knew very little about literary theory to be completely honest. I believe in high school, we dipped into Marxist and Freudian, and maybe the tiniest bit into feminist, and that was just about it. Getting to learn about so many new ones was actually a bit of a shock in that regard. I have to say, my very favorite literature class would have had to have been 307, Native American literature. This was one hundred percent a class that helped me grow in actually being able to apply theory on a very personal level for me. Previously, yeah, I could understand how people could get different views, etcetera but this class really helped flip a switch for me. I think a large part of that was the gradual but crucial part that is to have to learn how to really immerse yourself in a culture that is not your own. To understand something is to dig deep. You might not relate to every single part of it, but that’s okay. In fact, that’s probably going to happen. Not having the same experiences or views does not make something less valid or less worthy. I think a lot of this was dealing with this idea that is formed that “real literature” is what we read in …show more content…
Peer reviews in class are always a helpful addition and I find they tend to be much more effective in literature classes than any other class in which you may write a paper. I also thought it was really helpful in 313 a few semesters ago where we did virtual peer reviews over canvas. Not having to spend an entire class time in small groups meant we didn’t fall behind on readings but still got the added benefit of feedback of multiple people on our papers that we were in the process of writing. When a whole class is devoted to such a task, more often than not, conversations get side tracked and not much actual work gets done. Doing the peer review online meant we could get feedback from more people and I find that what I got back was actually more helpful in that people were more concise and in-depth when they typed out a response vs verbally discussing a paper or thesis in a room of a bunch of people all doing the same