Introduction – RMST Blog Avery

Hurrah! We have done it! We have conquered the second semester, I don’t know about you all but I’m reeeally ready for this semester to be over! What I’m finding a little harder to let go of, however, is this class!
If you happen to be reading this post from a future Jon Beasley-Murray I encourage you to not be frightened by the different course structure! It looks inttimidating at first but you get the hang of it quick! If you are someone who likes self-direction and consistency I think you will enjoy this class structure. One of my favourite aspects of this class were the in-person discussions. I felt that so much was revealed to me through not only our professor and TA’s but by my classmates. I was actually awe-struck sometimes at the things my classmates picked up on from novels! I felt very greatful to be in a class with such passionate, observant, adn smart classmates that made me really think outside of some of my original thoughts.

My favourite book was “Death with Interruptions” by Saramago! I just thought it was so interesting to think about what would happen if we couldn’t die and the reprecutions that I didn’t even think of that the novel explored. I loved it even more as it got more fiction like with the death character and her experience. I just enjoyed it the most and the lecture that was done by the TA’s was very fun! I wish I had been able to read “The book of Chameleons” by Aqualusa. From the blog posts I skimmed over that week and the small bits mentions during our discussions it sounded like a funny yet interesting read! I mean a book told through the eyes of a chameleon/lizard/reptile (??) making comments on memory, identity, and life…who wouldn’t want to read that!
Currently I am reading the ACOTAR series (I’m on book 2 out of 5) which someone from this class suggested in a comment on my first blog post!

Well thats it for me! As I took this course as literature requirement I dont think I will be doing many more courses like this, though I saw this course as a “requirement” before I ended up really enjoying it and I loved the fact I got to be exposed to so many books that I wouldn’t have read otherwise!

My question to you is: What is on your TBR (To be read) list? Or are you planning to never look at a book until school starts again? Any summer book suggestions for me?

I hope you all have rejuvinating summer and are proud of yourself for getting through this year! See ya 🙂

Hi everyone! My name is Avery, I’m in my second year and I’m in Arts planning to major in visual arts, I’m also in the B+MM program so if you are in either of those let me know because I love meeting people in my program! I’m a North Van girly so I’m into all the classic North Shore things like snowboarding, hikes, and all things nature. I enjoy travelling and being immersed in different cultures, my favourite place so far is London and I am hopefully going to be visiting more places in Europe this year! (if anyone has recommendations let me know!). I also love music, and can often be spotted walking around campus with headphones on, if you stopped me to ask I’m most likely listening to SZA.

I’m very excited for this class because I enjoy reading (mostly fantasy, as a guilty pleasure) and I expect that by the end of the term, I will have expanded my bookish horizons as well as possibly learn some new strategies for analyzing texts. During the school year I never really have time to read, so this will be a change for me. I’ve also never done any sort of course like this (literature studies/language studies), as my degree contains mostly visual aspects, so I’m very curious to learn what it’s all about. I’m expecting to develop my reading abilities and engage in conversation with others about all that we are learning, hearing what others see that I might not. Another expectation of mine is to get better at analyzing texts, I’d say a weakness of mine is analyzing deeper meanings in texts, questioning and taking information further, a weakness I am hoping to improve on.

Watching the lecture video and conversation video I first of all learned that I know nothing about what Romance Studies actually is (!) and I’m sort of going into this blindly. The conversation of similarities and differences in works of literature that are all grouped under the “Romance Studies” category was very interesting to me and something I want to keep in mind while reading our novels. The idea brought up in the video lecture that “Romance studies belong nowhere, and it finds a place everywhere” and saying that not one person is closer than another to the source of “Romance Studies” allowing for expressive freedom and there is no language or way to speak “Romance”, to me this was almost reassuring as it felt like it levelled the playing field a bit!

RMST Blog Avery

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And the RMST 202 students lived happily ever after!

All About Me (Avery Patterson)