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How my Views
of Literature Have Changed
Throughout the last quarter my view of what literature have changed quite
drastically. Before I enrolled in this course I thought that literature entailed
only the great works throughout history, such as Mark Twain's, "Huckleberry
Finn." I also believed that literature was only the books that were dull
and high school children were forced to read throughout their school years. This
was also a reason why I did not enjoy reading literary pieces until after I
graduated from high school. I could sit down and enjoy reading these novels and
poems without the threat of a poor grade for false interpretations of the
writings. Or an interpretation that is different from the instructor of the
class. During the duration of this course I found myself enjoying the readings
and looking forward to reading the next assignment. Literature is not just
stupid little stories that children are forced to read. They are poetry, short
stories, novels, essays, anything that explains the inner feelings of a person's
heart.
I have found that literature is a great combination of a great many things. The
first being poetry, an amazing and unique way to develop an idea in a short,
more condensed version of a story. Poetry can be the gateway into a person's
heart and soul, to what makes them who and what they are in life. You can
release excess anger and hurt through a poem, such as Sylvia Plath does in her
poem, "Daddy (59)." This is one of my favorite poems in the entire
Bridges book. It brings in so many points of view throughout the entire poem
that can be interpreted in so many ways. I love the feelings that this poem
evokes about a father and about an entire nation in a state of shambles. This
poem can mean many different things to many different people.
Another aspect of poetry is the emotions of love for life and for the people in
your life. I find it most compelling to hear how many love poems are turned into
song lyrics in our society today, and very few people even make the connection
between the poem and the lyrics. The only difference between a poem and a song
lyric is that the song lyric is usually already interpreted and put into a form
that more people can understand. The poems are still open for interpretation by
whomever makes the choice to read them. I find myself compelled to read Theodore
Roetke's "My Papa's Waltz (61)" over and over again. This is a
description of love that is both good and bad.
While reading some of the short stories for an English class in high school, I
came across one that intrigued me and I found it once more in the Bridges book.
That story was and is Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery (849-855)." I
find this story one that is hard to believe, and yet very believable through the
eyes of the author. I would never have seen that from the point of view in which
I learned to fake what I thought about a piece of writing, so as to get a better
grade in high school. This is an amazing eye-opening class and am very glad I
partook in the learning.
I am often intrigued now with how many forms of literature that I have enjoyed
for many years and never knew it was literature. As a child I read Colleen
McCollough's "The Thorn Birds" many times and enjoyed reading the
hundreds of pages over and over again. If I had known it was a work of
literature I still would have enjoyed reading it, but with a more adult feeling
of being able to handle such a task. I now understand why my favorite books are
literature. They have many different aspects, point of view, setting,
characterization, theme and dialogue. It is through all of these aspects of
literature that we understand an author's points and ideas.
Literature is not just works that are published in a bound book, but also what I
write may also be literature. Whether my writing is good, bad, or despicable, it
is still literature. Some of the best poets of our time were considered the
worst poets of their own time. This class may make a few of the next amazing
authors and poets in the world that is to come. I thank you Jan for teaching me
not only to find out what literature is to me, but for also helping me to learn
how to voice my beliefs about pieces in a whole new way. Through writing and
speaking about the pieces of work, I may now express myself in a new light. I
have learned so many things not only from you, but also from each and every
person in the class, and most of all from myself. You taught me how to teach
myself by giving me the open opportunity to write about anything I wanted to and
then having me write about what you wanted me to write about also. I will now
read and write literature from a better point of view. Literature is fun and
enlightening for all those who are willing to partake with an open mind.
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