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When I signed up for this class, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to it. I expected this literature class to be full of busy work, writing long papers, and reading boring books. Thankfully I was wrong and Dr. Mortimore made this class very enjoyable. This class was a lot different than a typical class of lecture and notes which made it fun. The themes and texts we discussed were very interesting and they drew many questions and discussion. I liked expressing my opinions and thoughts as well as listening to what other people had to say. I really enjoyed the books we read in this class as well. I’m not a fan of reading, but these books kept my attention. I never really thought about how the themes and topics discussed in this class closely relate to our world today. Many of the topics we talked about in class reflect reality.

In this class, I learned how the major topics we talked about such as consumerism, censorship, technology, etc. relate to our society. It’s crazy how attached we are to technology as well as the media. It was shocking to watch The Second Skin and see people sit at their computers and play games all day and all night. It’s also disturbing to realize how we have become so far from the “natural world”. Many of us couldn’t survive in a log cabin in the woods for even a day. It was interesting to talk about how we like watching certain shows and are entertained at the cost of others. I find that disturbing as well. It’s also true how we “ burn” books and rely more on Sparknotes and the internet. We are known as the “Dumbest Generation” because we have become so lazy.  We know more about celebrities than we do history.

I found myself responding to literature throughout the entire semester. Each book contained big ideas that were either interesting, disturbing, shocking, surprising or alarming. I never really thought about these topics before this class. I felt like I always had a strong opinion on these subjects and it was neat to be able to talk about them with my small group and even in the large group. I think we need to look more at the important things in life rather than getting so involved in the media, technology, advertisement, or whatever else. We are always wanting more and even though we have enough, the idea of “plentitude” still plays out. We all have “feeds” in our own way. Corporations are beginning to “consume” us and that is horrible.

Overall, this class was very enjoyable. I’m glad I got to take this class and view literature in a different way. I never liked reading books, but I view them differently now than I have before. I’m sure I’ll find myself responding to readings more now. It’s much better to stop and think about what I’m reading instead of just trying to get it over with. This class taught me many things and it opened my eyes to reality.

No Books?

There are an infinite amount of books all around the world. Without them, the world would be a lot different and as a whole we wouldn’t be where we are today if there were no more books. Like I’ve stated in other blogs, I am not much of a reader. I think of reading more of a chore than it is a leisure. I probably wouldn’t instantly start crying if someone told me all the books disappeared. But I do, however, know the importance of books and reading. I believe reading makes a person smarter. Without books, I wouldn’t have half of the knowledge I have today. Many people love to read and they rely on books for so many things. I was in a Barnes and Nobles the other day, and I didn’t realize how many books there was for pretty much anything you could imagine. There was of course, fiction and nonfiction, then there were cook books, books specifically on one country, books on how to lose weight, educational textbooks, books on firefighting, books on how to stitch, every language dictionaries, etc. There were so many! I wouldn’t be totally heartbroken if there were no more books, but let’s be honest, we need them!

During my education, I have relied heavily on books. As much as I don’t like to read, I actually read a great deal for school. Ever since first grade, I have read the textbook involved because it helps me understand the subject a whole lot better. A lot of the time the teachers will go right out of the textbook and it makes it easy for me to follow along. Now that I’m in college, I honestly don’t think I ever read so much in my life than I have in the past two years! The textbooks I have for every class are huge! Without them, I’d probably be failing every class because the professor only covers so much, but we are required to know it all so reading the chapters makes the exams go a whole lot smoother. Many of us learn from books and they are very important in our education. Without books, I would probably not know as much as I do now. Education needs the involvement of books.

If there were no more books, it would be pretty scary. How would people learn? What would people do as a past time if reading was it? What would hold history? Books are very important in our world and we would be lost without them. Slowly, our generation is “burning books”. We are becoming too lazy to pick up a book to educate ourselves, since we can just “Google it”.  Books are becoming movies, which we would chose over rather than reading it. Many of us distance ourselves from books because we would rather be doing so many other things before it came down to reading. I don’t think many of us have patience for reading. Because it takes a lot longer to read than it is to watch a movie, many of us would choose the movie in a heartbeat. There are people who only read when they have to, or there are people who love to read and have read more books than I can count. Either way, it’d be horrible if we no longer had books. I like having the option of being able to read when I need to. I don’t know what I would do if I was told all the books are gone.

We “burn” books when we chose an alternative to finding the information. Because most of don’t have the patience or are too lazy, we chose not to read. But reading really is good for you! Reading is educational and it makes us more knowledgeable. Sometimes, when I have to read novels, I actually am surprised at how much I enjoy the book and end up reading the whole book in a short period of time. When someone tells me about a book that is super good, I’ll read it because I don’t want to miss out. My grandparents love to read to continue to educate themselves. When I’m older, I will probably look at reading as more of leisure then a chore just because it will be on my own time. Without books, this world would be a whole lot different. It would be a horrible thing, if there were no longer books. We will always need books. They are important in every person’s life, whether we chose to believe so or not.