While people participate in various methods of everyday reading and writing, there are extensive benefits to be gained from extending the experience to apply these abilities to literature. In the beginning chapter of Literature: A Portable Anthology, third edition the benefits of reading, analyzing, and writing about literature is explored, while also explaining literature class expectations, at a college or university level. Reading literature expands horizons by exposing readers to various perspectives, locations, and interactions, which molds opinions, attitudes, and behaviors. Taking this a step further to include analysis of the reading serves to train the brain to contemplate information and expand attention spans. Finally, writing about
Thomas C. Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor is a very well thought out book that would be great for most students to read before taking on a professional and a more eloquent piece of literature. Foster asserts that books are constructed in a meaningful way beyond the plot, and I agree with him to a certain extent. Yes, a majority of books have meanings beyond their plots, however, there are some basic books that were written just to tell a simple and entertaining story, for example, some children's books. Although, any person in the world could take the most simplistic story and digest it so that it has an ulterior meaning than what the author intended. Overall, I do agree with Foster in the assertion that books are constructed
You must understand the importance of what books do, so you appreciate and experience what they offer. In Fahrenheit 451, people in the society can’t comprehend what books actual purpose is. When Montag first realizes the significance of books, he has to rethink everything: “There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a women stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing”(Bradbury 48). Almost all the people in the society don’t even think twice about someone dying like that.
The titles I enjoyed most in the past year that were required included "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" by Thomas Foster, which analyzed how to go beyond the surface of literature. "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton condensed the majority of mythology into one piece, aiding in the identification of allusions in other works that I have read. Another piece I surprisingly enjoyed to read was the piece "Everything's an Argument" by Andrea Lunsford, which explained the different fundamental pieces of arguments and how an effective argument is developed. I enjoyed these three readings the most during the past year because they went beyond the usual school reading assignment. Each of these provide a new tool
Textbooks can gloss over issues and give a more generalized view on something that takes time to develop. Additionally, reading different articles allows one to gather multiple sides and perspectives and use that to shape their own views. This allows for a more educated, thought out and complete understanding of the subject. Shorto’s article, “How Christian Were the Founders?” was a catalyst in me seeing how people wanting to pursue their own agendas in the interest of preserving their power has been happening since the establishment of
The next step was going over how to describe students viewpoints by focusing on the characters actions, how they feel, and what they see through the story. When reading the book, I insured to make pauses
How to Read Literature like a Professor Analysis This was a very informative book that pointed out a lot of aspects of literature I had never really paid attention to. It really showed me how important it is to find similarities between works of literature. It especially made me realize how while all three of my summer readings were drastically different, they shared common themes, plots and even sometimes character developments.
Lord of the Flies Essay No matter how civilized humans, when they are taken away from society, they tend to return to their animalistic ways. Being away from civilization causes a person to inhibit certain characteristics or habits that lead them to become more savage. In The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, ack serves as a foil to Ralph which illustrates Golding’s theme that when humans are taken away from civilization, they are detremented to the effect of becoming savage and wild .
Although AP English requires a great deal of reading, this can be beneficial. Reading can help inspire creativity and it also improves one’s writing, both areas in which I could use positive influence. One way to help manage all the reading is to manage time properly. Another way is to already have the books in possession so that once the book is needed, it will not have to be searched for. When writing an essay important information to keep in mind would be to stay organized, not only with your thoughts, but also with the writing itself.
In my sophomore year of high school, my English teacher assigned the class to a read a novel of our choice and report back what we liked most about it. My choice was Ethan Frome and I read the book repeatedly just so I could connect back to the characters and the setting of the novel. When I completed my sophomore year in high school, I discovered my passion for literature and the genres that accompanied it. I always knew that undergraduate studies would be my chance to grow more with my new found interest. .After high school I attended Mississippi Valley State University, a Historically Black University, where I majored in English and graduated with honors.
Kellie- It is my understanding that 58 students are registered for AP Literature next year and will be placed in only two sections. This is highly concerning as it is not what is best for our brightest students, especially those who have so much at stake (scores, scholarships, etc.). Placing this many students per class will not only make it virtually impossible to conduct writing conferences, an integral part of the course, but will also drastically reduce the amount of individualized attention and could possibly ultimately lower scores on the AP Exam for individual students and our campus alike. Understanding it is necessary to maximize class size, a class of almost 30 students who are reading and writing on a daily basis is not conducive
The Benefits of Taking AP Classes in High School Why spend hours doing homework in college, when you could have done it in high school? “The Advanced Placement program has revolutionized high school classrooms around the United States. The program offers rigorous, college-level education to motivated students, and offers the benefit of college credit.” (Mattimore A33).
As a former AP Lang student, I feel that this class has been very beneficial for me in that it has allowed me to apply the techniques and strategies I learned last year toward more relevant subjects. Having the freedom of choosing topics to write about for our various essays made this class more enjoyable than the other English classes that I have taken. AP Lang focused heavily on the techniques of writing solid essays, but instead of writing about useful topics, we analyzed the short stories provided on the exams. Writing a personal narrative essay was very helpful in my college application process and allowed me to employ the same kind of strategies that I learned in class into my college essays.
The collective inner book acts as groundwork for one’s individual inner book. Students can take cues from the professor and those in the class who have done the reading on how to discuss it. Those who have not read the book are able to maintain an inner book independant from the book being discussed. Students can make attempt to study how the book is held in our society while also drawing upon previous experiences in reading and in life to make valuable commentary. Bayard uses the concept of the inner book to delve deeper into the psychology of reading.
All of which helped tremendously with becoming a more precise writer and developing my identity as a writer. In the beginning of this course we worked with different readings that were intended to challenge us intellectully. Readings such as “To see your story clearly, start by pulling the wool over your own eyes” which is found the New York Times and “All Writing is Autobiography” by Donald M. Murray where readings that were meant to be challenging yet unfamiliar to us as well. This concept helped me greatly because it proved that I can be a flexible reader.
