Reflective Essay on Works by Diverse Writers

Part 1: Context and Works

This assignment gives you the opportunity to reflect on the scope of the course and evaluate your own learning. Pick works by 8 different writers from the course readings that stand out to you. The writers you choose should reflect a diversity of perspectives in gender, race and historical time and place. You must address at least one play, one poem and one piece of fiction (novel or short story). In other words, don’t pick all female writers, or all short stories, or all Harlem Renaissance poetry, etc. but rather, show the span of the course in your selections.  Your essay should be about 1500- 2000 words (6-8 pages) Be sure to double space.  Complete all 3 parts.

In preparing to write this essay, you should utilize the body of work you have completed in the class.  Go back and review not just the course notes, but your group discussions and major assignments to help you remember what we covered and refer to these assignments in your reflection. For example, If you found your remix assignment about one of the poems particularly insightful, talk about what you did in that assignment, or what you learned from it. If someone in your discussion group helped you understand a particular story better, refer to what was said, by who, and how it helped you etc. 

Part 1: Begin your essay with a short introduction that gives context for your work in the course and introduces the works you will discuss. As a reflection you may use “I” but don’t just address the essay to me as an instructor.  Rather, think of your audience as yourself (as in a journal you might look back on later) as well as others who might take the class in the future. (10 points)

Part 2: In the body, for each writer, develop a paragraph in which you:

1. Consider how the subject matter and themes of each work is relevant to life today.  In doing so, evaluate to what extent each work challenged your thinking or helped you consider alternate perspectives? Or, In what way did it express an idea or feeling you already held in a new way?  For full credit, don’t just give your opinion, but also the reasons for your opinion. This may take some thinking to dig into why you responded to the work the way you did.

2. In answering for each, refer back to the literary works you choose for textual evidence in giving specific examples that speak to your reasoning. You are encouraged to reference insights from other students in your group discussions that may have helped you as well as your own work in these forums or in response to the larger assignments when applicable. No formal works cited is needed but do use parenthetical citations to indicate page or line #’s when needed for quotes and give credit to your peers by name when referring to discussion groups.

3. Do not summarize the Work- don’t waste time and space in your response rehashing the plot.  That is not what is being asked here. Focus on how you interpreted the works (what it means) and showing how the writer gets that meaning across with your examples. 

80 Points:10 points each writer/ 10 point deduction for omission of a required form (play/poem/short-story).

Part 3: Conclude your essay with a paragraph that summarizes what you believe you have gained overall from reading the literature assigned in this course. (10 points)

• Examine how some of the works you chose to discuss relate to each other and how might you apply the ideas, perspectives, or ways of thinking?
• Evaluate how you see yourself as a reader now versus at the beginning of the class.  Are there authors or genres you would like to read now that you would not have considered before? Are you more confident in your ability to interpret texts and/or analyze why you responded to a work in a particular way? Even if you don’t see yourself all that differently or desire to now become an avid reader, point to at least one way you benefited from the experience of this course.