Hello! My name is Alyssa Almerling, and I am a third year studying sociology and family studies at UBC. I am taking this course for my arts literature requirement, but I did take RMST 202 with Professor Beasley-Murray last year. I really enjoyed his style of class and contract grading. I feel like contract grading takes a lot of pressure off of students because there is no clear right or wrong answer, and students can decide how much they want to read depending on what works for their schedule.
I look forward to learning and reading more literature, discussing the themes in class and seeing the differences in what people took from the book.
A little more about me! I am from North Vancouver but have moved lots around the metro Vancouver area. I enjoy hiking, walking on trails with my dog, and reading outside-of-class material, mostly non-fiction. I have also recently picked up journaling over the break, and I am excited to get back into yoga classes at UBC! I work part-time at the university golf club as a server on weekends. I am super interested in studying families, how they work and function and the different forms of families. I also have this new passion for reading literature, thanks to my RMST 202 course!
Literature I have learnt comes in many forms, like poetry or memoirs and is also written with different styles, such as surrealism. I have mostly read literature from the romance languages, and Spanish does fall under romance studies and literature. My expectations for this course are much like what I experienced in RMST 202. Class discussions are a central part of this course, sharing what we all took from the book. I expect to fall in love with more literature and learn new themes and styles of literature. In addition, I am excited to learn more about Spanish culture and history from these books.
After watching the lecture, I wanted to point out one crucial thing. The fact that literature and history are at play together. From what we discussed in class today and the lecture, play and games involve different rules and ways to go about the game. These differences make each game unique to whoever is playing it. With this in mind, when reading literature, history is essential, but it is not to be taken literally. History and literature are unique to the person experiencing them. They are at play, so history does affect literature, but it will not be like a textbook, pointing out everything that happened. Instead, history shapes the story's plot, so when we study literature, we don't focus on what happened in history but rather understand its importance and how it pushed the author to write their story.
Here are a few questions I have! What experience do you have with reading literature? What are some things you love about literature? Also, have you read any/ are you familiar with Latin-American literature?
Hi Alyssa! I really enjoyed reading your post and liked how you described the way literature can be learnt. I feel like we tend to have a very black and white perspective on what literature is, when in reality it can be expressed, in essentially, many different ways. Also, I liked how you pointed out how history can be a part of literature but that it isn't meant to be read like a textbook, I think that was a very clear-cut comparison.
ReplyDeleteHello Alyssa! My name is Kelly and I am also a recreational (?) book reader :). We actually share a lot of interests! I really enjoy journalling to and am also looking into doing Yoga and other class activities at UBC so maybe I'll even get to see you there! To answer your question, I am really into reading fiction and spend most of my time reading what's recently popular (I guess contemporary books), or mainly the books that my friends recommend to me. I think the thing I love most about reading is just getting to understand these characters, where they come from and go through their experiences with them as they draw them out for us. I've read a couple books that have author's who were born in Latin America and have there stories centred there, although it would be a lie to say that I am in any way familiar.
ReplyDeleteHi Alyssa! Thank you for your introduction post and for sharing a little bit about yourself! To answer your question I think what I love about literature and pieces I often gravitate towards are historical fiction. I think I like to read something that distracts me from my current reality and Ive also always loved history, so reading something that sparks my imagination while describing a completely different time period intrigue me. However, I totally agree with your statement that literature isn't meant to be like a textbook, and I think its the story line and artistic nature of literature that sets it apart while still portraying a certain time period.
ReplyDeleteHi Alyssa! Your creative title for your introductory post caught my attention. This is my first class with Professor Beasley-Muray and also my first time getting to experience a class structured in this way. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed this format, I am expecting I will feel the same by the end of the semester. I appreciate the way you were able to concisely speak to how literature and history are at play, and should be taken as such, rather than taken as literal references and facts.
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