Hi Everyone!
I’m Jonathan, a 3rd-year Combined Business and Computer Science Student from Texas! I think if I was an animal, I would be a bear. I like to do things that take me away from the harsh reality of the world, like playing video games, listening to music, or watching movies. Most recently I had the chance to watch Golden Globes winner Emma Stone’s Poor Things which I thought was a graphic yet beautiful story of one learning what it means to be human and see the world. As someone who likes to give everything a rating, I’d say the movie was a solid 4/5, but don’t come at me for that. I look forward to reading a plethora of literature this semester and also reading everyone’s thoughts on these works.
Coming into this course I knew that it would challenge me as a student but also even beyond as a human being. As a child I remember loving to read books of almost all genres, going as far as even using the dim light of the car to squeeze in more time to read during commutes from school or other activities. I soon lost that love as my parents began to force non-fiction books onto me, banning me from fiction entirely. That along with the introduction of mandatory books for school classes drained any previous notion of reading for me, but I’m ready to revitalize that passion once more, hopefully through the gauntlet of books in this course. I hope that my experience from this course and the interactions I have with other students will allow me to learn a new aspect of reading that will allow me to appreciate it as a crucial part of human life.
I thought it was interesting that this course asks very open-ended questions regarding literature and the books we’re reading rather than requiring students to learn about a certain literary element or style, or forcing us to pull a certain point from the material. This open-ended, “no right answers” style is very appealing to me a highlights the fact that literature can be understood differently based on whoever is reading it. The personal search for patterns between each of these works is intriguing and I’m excited to read others’ thoughts on these books. I also appreciate the diversity of these Romance books that, as stated, are not tied to a distinct geographical region but rather are “mutants” or “offspring” of Latin.
A question to those who read this blog post: If you found out that half the world also found your favourite book to be their favourite, would you change your favourite book? why or why not?
I am going to try and answer your question. I would like to think that I would stay true to my interests and identity and keep my favourite. But in all honesty, I do enjoy feeling like my interests are rare and only my own. I’m hoping my authenticity to my preferences would prevail.
Hello Jonathan,
I’m sorry to hear that your parent barred you from reading the books you wanted to read, that sounds quite sad. To answer your question, my favourite book being extremely popular wouldn’t dissuade me from liking it, since my favourite book series, Harry Potter, is probably the most popular in the world. I don’t read much outside of school, but when I do, it’s almost always Harry Potter. Anyway, very interesting post.
-Nathan Harris
I’ll do my best to answer your question. I wouldn’t change my favorite book at that moment, but if the media were to “destroy” it for me, I may reconsider.
Hi Jonathan,
I think I would be a cat if I were an animal. I can relate to you being drained from reading mandatory school books, but I am also looking forward to getting back to truly enjoying reading again! To answer your question, I think I would change it because I tend to be indecisive and change my “favourites” a lot.
Hey Jonathan, I don’t think if half the population of the world had the same favorite book as me it would necessarily ruin the book for me since it would simply give me something in common with half the world.
I like your question, and no, if it was meaningful to that many people I think it is probably a very profound work of art. However, it would make me feel not unique or special and would probably send me into an existential crisis. I am also excited to get into the course! Open-ended questions are definitely great, but it’s sometimes awkward when they are so broad that no one wants to try to answer lol
-Dalia
Welcome to the course, Jonathan! I hope we can help you with your goal of learning new aspects to reading.
Hi Jonathan! I’m also a big fan of the course format that really encourages free thinking and open engagement as opposed to more textbook learning styles. To respond to your question, I think I would really enjoy having half the world have the same favourite book as me. Then I could bond over it with more people and I will easily think most people have pretty good taste since it’s more relatable. I actually think some of that is already true I feel like most people like SpongeBob, or ice cream etc. it sort of becomes a given.