To conclude the term, I want to say that this course is different from what I had initially expected. I did not expect to be exploring the themes that I have in this class, including but not limited to; memory, war, betrayal, and loss. To start off, I enjoyed most of the texts in the course and felt as though they were different than what I had expected and had read in classes so far. Additionally, something I found interesting was that I was able to make connections between the texts that I had decided to read. That’s something that I enjoyed about the way that the course is structured, that the texts in the course are inadvertently related to each other in one way or another. Whether that be through similar themes or similar historical contexts and events occurring within the novels. Such as, when we read the text W, or the Memory of Childhood, with the theme of memory, I related the text to The Old Gringo. The expectations that I have for myself when it comes to reading or tackling texts have evolved while being a part of this course. For example, now I know how to analyze texts and read long texts without being intimidated by the prospect of reading them.

Additionally, I also believe that now with the texts that I have read sometimes they are confusing and difficult to understand, and after this course, I do not penalize myself for that. Sometimes, more than I would like to admit, with the texts in the course, I have found that some specific themes and ideas jump out at me and that I understand as opposed to others. Such as, when we read Soldiers of Salamis, for some reason, the theme of loss became clear to me when reading the novel. That was surprising to me with this course, to say the least. One of the expectations that I had set for myself in this course was to understand Latin American literature better, even though I have lived in different countries in Latin America. I can state now that I have a decent understanding of Latin American literature. On top of that, I do have a better experience of European literature as well. Also another expectation that I had made for myself in this course was to better my writing skills. Though I cannot state that my writing skills have improved with my time in this course, I can say that doing blog posts and comments weekly has aided me in bettering that skill. Thank you for a great and exciting semester. 

I would ask my peers: have you guys set expectations for yourself at the start of the semester, and do you believe you have better or achieved those expectations?