Hi, everyone!
To wrap up the class for our final blog week, I'd like to ask you about the class as a whole. What did you learn/gain from this course? What text did you like best? What did you like best overall? Least? Would you change anything about this class?
Have at it! :)
This blog is for the “Legacy of the Family Story" course taught by Kathryn Collison in the University Honors Program at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM, USA. It provides an easily accessible, electronic space for 100-level Honors students to discuss texts and ideas, develop critical thinking skills, and practice college level writing. While anyone may read our work, only class members may post.
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8 comments:
I loved this class! To begin with, the variety of books that we read kept the class interesting. I also really enjoyed having a long discussion over every text in class. I felt that the discussions helped solidify my understanding of the contents of each book. It was also really fun to see how other people interpreted the the text or related the text to different aspects of society or their own life. I am definitely more confident talking about my thoughts. Prior to the class, I often doubted the relevance or importance of my opinions, but now I have absolutely no qualms about speaking my mind to a group of people.
I would have to say that The Glass Castle was my favorite text. I visited my best friend over Thanksgiving Break and was extremely excited to see that she has picked up the book for herself. The Glass Castle was unlike any other book I had read before; it has now become one of my favorite books!
I do not think I would change anything about this class. Although it was difficult to talk during discussion, the slight competition made me want to talk more and get my opinion out there. Overall, I really had a great experience in this class! The class not only made me appreciate my family more, but also helped me make time to read during the school year! :)
I've never had a class like this, and I loved it! I find many subjects interesting, but I loved how no matter what, we could always fall back on personal experiences during discussion. I think that whenever something becomes personal is when you learn the most.
I think I liked The Glass Castle the best as well (among the books I had not read before). It's a book I'm sure I'll end up reading again, before I pass it on to my sister of course. When I told her about how great the reading list is, she made me promise to loan her all of my books when I am finished with them.
I also loved the calm and intimate atmosphere of the class. I felt like we all became friends in a sense and could really talk to one another. I felt more like a voluntary member of a book club than a student ha ha-in a good way! What I'm trying to say basically is that I enjoyed this class so much and benefited so greatly from it that it didn't actually feel like work. Each assignment resulted in deep reflection on my part, which ultimately lead me to a better understanding of my own beliefs and morals.
What I liked the best overall was definitely the final project. I think you all could hear it in my voice today exactly how strongly I felt about this project. I think all of us learned about ourselves after doing this project.
Like Carolyn said, this class has definitely made me work on speaking up in discussion! It has also really made me analyze things from several different viewpoints. In doing activities like debates and putting characters on trial, I have learned to look at every perspective, even if it differs from my own opinion. Being able to take several perspectives into account is a great life skill!
I would have to agree with both Carolyn and Leah and say that one of my favorite books from this class was definitely The Glass Castle. It was so beautifully written and reflected reality. In terms of books chosen by the groups, I think My Sister's Keeper initiated some excellent conversation. That book poignantly demonstrated how tragic circumstances can affect a family and how it functions, and I thought it was excellent.
I liked reading several different books, especially since most of them are well-known classics! And I appreciated having the discussion over them. I enjoyed discussion as well as learning about each other's lives and getting to know one another a little better than a normal class. I gained a lot from this class!
I loved this class too, I really did. As far as classes go this has been one of my favorites of all time. I'm sure part of that was the fact that it was an all girls class had a little something to do with it, but I really did thoroughly enjoyed this class. The texts were classics, as well as very readable, and somehow our discussions were my favorite part of the class. I feel like we all really got to talk about real life things that matter; not all of the classes I've taken have been as 'real'. It was fun seeing how everyone else's life experiences affected their outlook on life, or their interpretation of a character, or a text. I also feel like we all got to know each other pretty well, and to me that was special. Usually when I take classes, I go to class, I do the work, and I go home. I've never really gotten to know people in my class like we did in this class, and I very much enjoyed the change of pace. I suppose my favorite text would have to be "The Glass Castle" as well. It was really touching, and I suppose the fact that I had never read it before this class also added to the novelty of it. I couldn't really say what I would have changed, because I really did enjoy this class. Thanks so much for everything!!! :)
This class was such a blast! Especially since it was all girls. I loved learning about all the different families in all the novels we read, as well as the differences between families just within the class. It was really fun to explore all these different angles. I think the text I enjoyed the most was...actually I liked quite a lot of them: The Lovely Bones, The Glass Castle, Love Among the Walnuts, To Kill a Mockingbird, and My Sister's Keeper. But if I were choosing from the texts assigned in class, I have to agree with everyone else and say that The Glass Castle was probably my favorite (To Kill a Mockingbird was a close tie). I loved how in this class we were able to talk about anything and I agree with Carolyn completely: it's really fun to see how other people think and interpret things. I also like her, doubted whether my opinion was relevant or important and now I have no problem with speaking up. I also have to agree with Leah when she said that whenever something becomes personal, that's when you learn the most. Which is why the interview was a good project to have because, like all the times we were able to bring discussion back to our everyday lives, with the interview we are able to explore some of the issues brought up in class and explore them in our everyday lives. I don't think I would change anything about this class, I loved how we could go into long, detailed discussions about each book and still have time to go on tangents and talk about everything we wanted to, learn about life and each other, and still relate it back to the book. Overall this was an amazing class that I liked very much and wouldn't change a thing (especially the all girl class ;P).
I really liked this class a lot. Even though I felt a bit overwhelmed with the amount of reading at times, the discussions we had about the texts were always really interesting and insightful. It was great to hear other people's opinions and be able to debate certain things, which the small class size allowed for.
I think my two favorite texts that I hadn't read before were My Sister's Keeper and The Glass Castle. Perhaps I liked them so much because they also sparked some really great discussion during classtime.
Like everyone else said, it was also interesting to see how people could relate the texts to situations in their own lives. I think that was also really beneficial because we were able to get to know each person in the class and where we all come from, on a deeper level than a normal conversation.
At first I was a little overwhelmed with the amount of reading that the class required, but as the year went on I realized it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I also really enjoyed all the class discussions. They really made reading all those books more enjoyable. Every time I read them and thought about my own opinions, i would look forward to hearing what everyone else thought about it during class.
Just like most of you said, my favorite text would have to have been "The Glass Castle". I had never read it before and I found it to be a really interesting/moving piece.
My favorite part of the class would have to be the final projects. I really enjoyed the whole process. It was really special to me, and I am so glad that this was a part of the class. I enjoyed hearing the other presentations as well, and I'm excited to hear the rest of them.
Thank you all for your wonderful comments! I am so happy you enjoyed the class. I did as well. It was nice having an all-girl class!
Thank you!!!
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