What You Pawn I Redeem Analysis

As a freshman, this was the first of many Seminar courses I am to take. This course was entitled “Critical Strategies and Great Questions”, concepts that seemed vague at the beginning of the semester. For the first time I was exposed to the writings of ancient philosophers. Reading their work as well as the work of other great thinkers throughout history gave me a new perspective on how people understand the world around them. To me, the critical strategies are the critical thinking skills and the ability to deeply analyze what I read. The great questions are the ones my classmates and I formulate during discussion that probe not only the meanings of the texts, but find their relevance to ourselves and the world around us.
As a result of

In the world in which we live, critical thinking is an invaluable skill that helps people to make informed decisions and discriminate truth from fiction. One of the ways I developed this skill in Seminar was by evaluating and synthesizing evidence in order to draw conclusions consistent with the text. In particular, the textual analysis paper I wrote pushed me to expand my critical thinking skills. I analyzed the themes present in the text What You Pawn I Will Redeem by Sherman Alexie and thought about the points the author was trying to make. Some of the themes, like racial issues between whites and natives, and drug abuse, were explicit in the text. Others, like the main character’s redemption through acts of sharing, were less explicit and took time to discover and even more to argue. Seminar helped me to grow my critical thinking skills to the point that I was able to confidently write my textual analysis essay and address complex themes

One of the goals of this course was to be able to use discussion and the process of writing to enhance intellectual discovery and unravel complexities of thought. The in class discussions helped me to make intellectual discoveries by introducing me to points of view that differed from my own. I was exposed to opposing points of view that had just as sound of an informational base as my own, teaching me that two people can believe different things and both of them can be right. This was one of the most important of the intellectual discoveries that Seminar had to me and offer the students taking it. One of the times this realization proved to be true was during a discussion about Omelas and the rights of the few versus the well-being of the many. People had valid arguments supporting both sides of the issue. This is one example of a time that Seminar showed me two people can have conflicting viewpoints that are both valid. Writing discussion questions and essays helped me to unravel the complexities of my thoughts. Frequently I would have an idea about the text that I could not fully express. When I began to write, however, the idea would begin to form coherently on the page. Similarly, I was able to discern the details of what I was thinking during in class discussions when my ideas were challenged and I was forced to explain my thought process. In these ways