What I have Learned

This class has exposed me to many interesting works. Each piece has taught me much about the world we live in. for example, Persepolis by Marjane Strape revealed the horrors of the islamic regime from the perspective of a young child. This graphic novel had such an impact on my perspective of iraq, but i never would have discovered it if it wasnt for this class. I also learned much about our own local history through John Steinbeck's In Dubious Battle. Though this novel is fiction, it still opened my mind to San Jose history as well as the farm works movement. through reading this book, i was better able to understand the various movements that are occurring today, such as the occupy wallstreet movement. everything we covered in this class has been relevant to todays society.
in addition to that, my writing abilities have expanded. throughout school, i have been taught never to use my personal experiences as evidence within a paper. but because i am a college student taking higher levels of writing, i now know it is acceptable to add in my experiences. this is called reader response, and i enjoy writing in this style. i now will use my this reader response theory as a tool to improve papers if it is appropriate.
This class has left a positive impression on my life. through the works we covered, and the different critical theories we learned, i have improved myself as a writer, and as a person.