The Western Tradition Analysis

The Saint Mary’s seminar classes are so unlike traditional teacher-centered learning. The Western Tradition II focuses on three learning goals; shared inquiry, critical thinking, and written and oral communication. These three learning goals really help students explore the Western Tradition by examine the themes written by the authors we discussed. De Las Casas, Rene Descartes, and Voltaire really influenced the way I thought about how our culture started and the major flaws we stay face today within our society. If everyone read and discussed the themes that these authors purposefully wrote in their text maybe people would have realized the underlying issues that have been around for forever have solutions.
Shared Inquiry is the ability …show more content…
This is done by raising clear questions, gathering and assessing information, and thinking open mindedly about alternative ideas. It requires effective communication and problem solving as well as a drive to overcome naïve egocentric behavior. I prepared for class by always coming with thought provoking questions. I tried to practice this with my peers by asking other students why they shared their idea or how they understood the reading. By understanding how my classmates were thinking it furthered my own understanding of the reading. The most important learning outcome under critical thinking is to identify and understand assumptions and theses that exist in the work of others. I found this to be challenging but through the formal write ups I quickly began to master this. I was able to identify the thesis and message the author was …show more content…
As well as ask questions and persuade the reader or listener in a clear and concise way. I was very worried about textual analysis paper (quote the write up) But I ended up doing well on the first paper and improved greatly on the second. Textual analysis papers were unfamiliar and scary but I overcame the uncertainty and improved my skills as a writer. I have always been a talker and have never struggled with effectively verbal expressing myself but seminar allowed me the opportunity to be in a position where my thoughts were changing so quickly from the ideas presented by my peers that I did not have time to pre-think of my answer but speak on the spot and communicate my ideas. The most important learning outcome under written and oral communication is using the process of writing to enhance intellectual discovery and unravel complexities of thought. Writing is an opportunity to explore your thoughts and convey even convince the reader of your opinions. Writing has the potential to be powerful not only for the reader but the writer as