Summative Blog

So I guess the class has come to the point where Dr. Sexson goes into hiding and we take the class over. In a way, even with the group presentations and individual presentations left, this time of the semester feels like the end... or at least reminds us that the end is upon us. For some of us graduating Seniors the end is so close that we can see it on the horizon of the month!

I have enjoyed this class immensely! At one point in the semester I didn't come to class a couple times and kind of fell off the face of the earth. I think at that point I was deeply infected with the senioritis bug and just couldn't get motivated for what we were doing. In the last couple of weeks I have returned to motivation and once again feel as if I'm doing my work the way it should be done and the way I've come to expect of myself... also I think it's been fun again!

Starting of with Haroun and the Sea of Stories was a fantastic beginning. It's just a good, enjoyable lowbrow book. I had read it before the class and found that it was just a fun read. It also did a good job of persuading me that I had made a good choice in the study of stories and avoided being a sniveling clerk. For me, one of the favorite things about reading the book was finding the many references-- from 1001 Arabian Nights to the Beatles.

I would have to say that my favorite book of this class to read was The Alchemist. It was just fun. At the end of my time here at MSU I needed some positive, easy to read book. It was fun. Probably the best book we read was Finnegans Wake. The fact that someone could so masterfully construct a text with such depth is astonishing. Obviously the most daunting book that one could try and "read". However the daunting presence of FW doesn't diminish it's appeal to the interested reader. I constantly thought about it like Sudoku for English majors. Trying to figure out the worldplay was highly enjoyable.

Anyway, I feel that the class has been a really good influence on the way I consider literature and hope to apply many of the lessons learned in the future!