Wednesday, November 13, 2019
I've come a long way from the thinker I was over the summer. That much is clear to me. Coming into the class after completing the summer work, I was totally confused and was really worried about my success in the class. Texts weren't making sense, I was having trouble pulling meaning out of class, and felt like I'd have little to nothing to contribute. Luckily, that's changed, and I think I've worked really hard to make that happened. Over the past few weeks and months, I've grown to be better at analyzing texts and coming to class ready with observations and comments. I'm participating more in class, and feel more confident with the things I say, stances I take, and comments I make on other people's ideas. I'm also proud of how I've been using my commonplace book. I think it's starting to show in the things I write in my commonplace book.
The reason why I chose this first page is because this is one of the first times I can remember where I actively commonplaced a thought down when I was able to synthesize all the points people were giving, and when things clicked. We were dealing with A.O. Scott, and talking about his argument, and trying to break it down and figure out what he was really saying. After looking at all the components, something clicked and I immediately wrote down my thoughts. While I may not have been right (or maybe I was) I was really proud of this moment. I think it was a huge step from where I was in the summer. In my mind, it was a real turning point that told me I was improving, that I was learning, and that I was growing as a reader and a thinker. I think it was also a sign that I was growing with my commonplacing as well. Instead of just writing down whatever was on the board, or whatever we were told to do, I was starting to use it as a tool for my thoughts, not just a journal for the class. I truly think this was the start of my confidence in the class.
This one's from not too long ago. Actually, I wrote this yesterday. To truly show how far I feel like I've come, I wanted to compare something from near the beginning to now. I think the most important thing with this is to realize that I had absolutely no idea what Renaissance Self-Fashioning was even remotely about. Reading it for the first time over the summer, I felt incredibly confused and extremely unprepared for class discussions. But with the time and effort I put into understanding class discussions, thoughtfully doing homework, and coming to class ready to learn, I think I really challenged and pushed myself to conceptualize some complex ideas. A lot of what I commonplaced on those two pages were all my ideas from what others said. It wasn't me copying things down from the board or writing something we were instructed to do. That's me, writing down what I understood, after the long hard journey of understanding the dense texts of Greenblatt (though I'm sure we're not done yet). I'm really proud that I've come to that point as a thinker, considering how I felt at the beginning of the semester. I really hope that carries on with me as we move onto other texts throughout the rest of the year.
I suspect we'll do plenty more of what we've been doing in class in the future: reading texts, and pulling them apart piece by piece to truly grapple with what these texts are telling us, and how they can help us develop ourselves as individuals. After working through Greenblatt, I'm feeling optimistic that I'll be able to work through whatever piece we tackle next. I think I've grown a lot as a student and as a thinker so far, and I'm beyond ready to continue doing so.