Hello Everyone,

My name is Esther Zhou and I am a second-year student majoring in psychology. I am an international student born in China and grew up in Spain, France, and Italy. Since a child, I have enjoyed listening to classical music and playing the piano. Music makes me relax and escape from this noisy, fast-paced world. During my childhood in Europe, every day after school, I could hear musicians playing classical music by the metro station, couples chatting and kissing at the coffee shop, the Eiffel Tower lights up at night, and elders reading on the bus. Therefore, after physically experiencing European cultures of living and languages, I am particularly interested in the topic of romance, and romance literature.

To be honest, I am not a reader and rarely read books. Instead, I often enjoy activities that require more physical activity like dancing and swimming. Therefore, I only read books when it was mandatory and required by the school or my professors. For this semester, I hope to establish a habit and pattern of reading as well as analyzing books and novels. This class is an especially good opportunity for me to do so. This class allows me to fulfill the literature requirement for my graduation but also blends my interest in the culture of romance with literature. My expectations for this class and myself are to really understand the meaning of reading literature and gradually start to enjoy reading. Like the  question we were asked in the first intro class today, Professor Beasley-Murray asked us, “What makes a “good” reading?” The answer I have is that the reading that makes me reflect on my own life, inspires, me, or motivates me. Similarly, I think good reading is never forced, it should be volunteered, immersed, and experiencing a “flow”. I really hope for this class, after reading 11 novels, I can truly discover my interest in reading, and be able to understand some of the meaning and themes behind them! As Professor Beasley-Murray said, it requires time and practice.

Moreover,  I am interested in and love the structure of this course. I love how we can have flexibility in choosing 1 of the 2 novels each week, and how we can choose the grade we want and sign the contrast. The contrast really serves as a motivation for me to read, and do my best effort in this course. The contrast is also a sign of trust from the professor, which I really hope not to break! I’m very excited to learn more about Romance literature explore the topic and dive into the deeper theme in it!

To end my introduction, I am also interested in what makes you all interested in romance culture and literature?