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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.