Me, Literature, and my Bishop

In the midst of finals, work, and summer plans our English 251 class has itself at the end of our time together! We have had a very unique experience together and I have learned a lot of things that I was not anticipating when I signed up for a class on analyzing literature.

When I initially registered for this class to fulfill a university requirement I had a very specific idea of what I thought I was going to get out of the class. I have always been intimidated a little bit by literature. It always seemed like something for people who were more cultured and educated than me. I was hoping that by taking this class I would never have another experience like one I had when I was having dinner once with one of my ecclesiastical leaders (In my faith his position is called a "Bishop") and I could not tell him what my opinion of Anna Karenina was, or any of the other titles he quizzed me on.

It turns out that I still don't know much about Tolstoy, but through this class I have learned something about what my experience with literature can be in the future. Our class had a specific focus on digital learning. We explored different avenues and resources that are available for us through the internet and technology that make it possible for us to become "life-long learners" (which is one of the objectives of our university, BYU). The techniques that I have learned in this class will enable me to take greater control over my own learning and will help me to do so without feeling intimidated.

One of our experiences that we had with literature was with the novella Heart of Darkness. Now this novel exactly the sort of thing that would have scared me to death before this class. But as a class we took advantage of sites such as Goodreads and Amazon to learn more about how people interpret the novel through resources such as reviews and forums. I found that I was not alone in my confusion! And I also found insights that helped me formulate my own analyzation of the text. This means that I could become an active participant in literary criticism and not just another student that summarizes the content found on "Sparknotes" or "Cliffnotes."

Another experience that I had, another "aha" moment was when I was trying to conduct research on the subject of borrowing ebooks from local libraries. Dr. Burton had taught us about the value of "social" research. The idea behind social research is that we don't have to be restricted to only looking for information through books or websites, that we can gain valuable information from real people. One way that we did this was through a Facebook post. Dr. Burton simply asked people about their experience with elending and we had a huge response! I was able to gain valuable information through this and my vision for how we can conduct research was expanded. Another experience I had with this was that I was able to reach out to local librarians via email and learn about their experience. These new techniques will help me in my future schooling and learning.

Although my experience was not what I anticipated, I feel like I am now better equipped to become the kind of reader that I want to be. I now know how to function more completely as a modern reader of literature and that will shape my future experience. Bishop Ashton and Tolstoy won't know what hit 'em.