Hi everyone, welcome to my last blog of this semester. It was great to meet you all as well as read some of your blogs. Something very interesting and weird happened this week, so I was looking on Facebook marketplace for different houses because I am trying to relocate. I found this one room way off campus that had the option to sublet over the summer, and coincidentally it was a person in this same course! I just felt like I needed to share that lol.
Anyway back to the reflection for this term, I read 11 books!! It wasn’t easy I’ll tell you that. Some of the books were enjoyable and some were just miserable. But overall both the online lectures (which tbh I didn’t watch every single one) and the in-person classes were very fun to attend and participate in. Earlier in the term, Prof mentioned how all the books were connected and had very similar themes which I found over the term to be true. I felt like the biggest themes all term was identity and love. This class format is honestly the best I’ve ever experienced. The contract grading where you pick what grade you want, I absolutely loved. It took hard work and dedication as well as getting into a routine of writing my initial blog post of 400-500 words and then commenting on other classmates’ blogs.
At the start of the term, I’m pretty sure I mentioned that I wasn’t much of a reader and couldn’t decide if I was a “good’ or “bad” reader. But over this term, I’ve realized that I’m not that bad of a reader, I’m just a lazy reader and reading pieces of literature and novels isn’t just something that I was meant to do. Am I ever going to read this many books in such a short amount of time? No, actually maybe but probably not. I also mentioned in my first blog “My goal is to get above this obstacle, develop a passion for reading and novels that will last a lifetime, and build a strong bond with literature.” I didn’t fully build a strong bond with literature, but it’s a start.
I am taking another romance studies course this summer to complete my requirements for my degree, ah well. Although reading isn’t my most fun activity to do, however this class, the big guy Mr Jon, my fellow classmates, as well as the format of the class discussions made this class a lot easier and enjoyable for me.
Question For the Class
What did you think the biggest theme was?
Hi! Honestly I really do believe that the biggest theme of this class is identity as well. Honestly having identity being such a big theme is something that made me enjoy this class so much! I’m happy to hear that you want to build a better relationship with literature tho! There’s always a big out there for someone and I hope you find it! Best of luck next year!
– Maxene Uy
The biggest theme of the course had to be “love”. It was explored in pretty much every book and was the main focus in most books and even this course.
I can only think of one book (Duras’s The Lover) which had “love” as its main focus.
Sorry let me rephrase, I found broken love, broken relationships, and even just strange relationship dynamics as a theme that stood out to me. So I’d say “relationships” Not just in romantic relationships but in friendships and family as well.
OK!
Hi! Congrats on reading 11 books this semester, that’s so impressive! I think that the biggest theme in this class might be identity… or maybe memory? There were quite a lot of themes in the course but I think those two are the ones that stood out to me and reoccured the most in the novels I chose.
KP, I’m glad you enjoyed the course, and that if you didn’t quite “bond with literature,” then at least you made “a start.” (Perhaps if you’d watched all the lectures… 😉 )
Thanks for all your contributions, and I hope you enjoy your summer course in Romance Studies!