Hi everyone, my name is Simi Braich and I am in my second year of my degree here at UBC. I have a dog named Caesar who is a cane corso and is almost as tall as me. I am very excited to be in this course because I enjoy reading and want to continue to expand my horizons in terms of the literature I read. In my spare time I enjoy playing and watching football, reading (not for coursework), baking and spending time with my family and friends.

Now that I have been to a lecture and also used the online materials, I have realized what my expectations are of this course, beyond the surface level of reading and discussing books. One of the biggest expectations I have for the course is that we will analyze literature with the scope of many different themes. Meaning, I expect that in this course we will not just determine what the plot of these novels are and why the author chose to take a story in a certain direction, but we will consider themes of gender, sexuality, race, class and attempt to reveal what larger messages the texts intend to impose on readers. Furthermore, I expect that because we are reading these novels in chronological order, we will take these novels into a contemporary understanding and examine the changes that occur in writing style, plot and characters. Moreover, I also expect to learn about some of the social and/or historical contexts that were present during the times of each of these novels and how this may have influenced the authors voice.

Responding to the online lecture, I think an important idea that was mentioned was the fact that we will be reading translated versions of all of these novels. I think it is very important to note this because regardless of the quality of translation, there will always be some social context that will be absent in translated versions. This is because translations are literal and for the most part, do not encompass the history of words or phrases in other languages and struggle to contain the full meaning of language, both surface level and beyond. However, based on my expectations of the course and what was said in our first class meeting, I think by considering cultural influences within these pieces of literature, it will help to regain a deeper understanding of the novels we will be reading. I have never taken a romance studies course before, so I found it interesting to hear how the romance world does not know physical boundaries and that different people will tend to visualize different parts of the world when asked about the romance world. Since the romance world has no physical borders, I think it will make the literature very interesting and diverse to read, since it will likely draw from an array of culture and experiences. Furthermore, since UBC is very diverse and like it was said in the lecture, I am excited that everyone will bring their own perspectives to the text because there is no ownership of this world.

Thanks for reading!