Tag Archives: Conclusion

Conclusion

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This class has taught me so much and I do not think I will ever value a class as much as I do this one. When I first signed up for this course, I just wanted to improve my writing skills. But throughout the semester, I learned so much more than I could’ve hoped for. This class has helped me not only with my writing skills but also has helped me to grow my confidence in speaking in classes. 

I never knew how much literature can reveal about the views of the environment in different periods. It was amazing to be able to read such a variety of texts and be able to discuss them in class. I loved learning from my classmates by hearing their interpretations of the media we were talking about. The subject matter of the class was also so fascinating to learn about. I don’t think I will ever be able to read another book or piece of text and not think about how it discusses the ocean and whether it uses terracentric language. I am truly so grateful for all that this class has taught me and the skills I’ve gained from it!  

Conclusion/reflection:

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ECL 305 has been one the most transformative classes that I’ve ever taken. The first day of class I shared that I wanted to improve my close reading and analysis skills when it comes to interacting with the texts. With each blog post, in person discussion, and essay, I do believe that I’ve been able to meet this goal. Although it will take a lot more dedication on my part to continue to refine my skills, I think this class has given me the tools I need to continue this journey. Literature, just like the ocean, is incredibly vast and I feel like I’m still on a surface level of understanding everything that it has to offer. Other than honing my own understanding, simply being exposed to a variety of ocean centric literature has helped to open my mind and be more receptive to different forms of texts and the past and present histories behind them.

Concluding Thoughts

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This was by far the best college classroom experience I’ve had thus far.

I was a little nervous about starting this semester. I had no idea what a course about mermaids in literature would entail. I had never been interested in the subject, and I had no idea how enthralled I would become by it. I believe that if the class had been given by another professor, I would have missed the underlying relevance of these stories. Professor Pressman did an excellent job of making the class an engaging one to be a part of, and this was the first class in which I actually wanted to participate. Getting to know the text with you all has been fantastic, and it’s a shame it’s coming to an end.

One thing I didn’t expect from a Literature and Environment course was to learn so much about myself and my views. I didn’t anticipate to delve as deeply into human history as we did, and my perspective on the world changed as a result of our global studies of human values. This class, like any other history course, taught me to look at topics like sexism, religion, and capitalism from different perspectives. A quote I frequently thought about during these readings came from Detective Rust Cole in season 1 of True Detective, who says, “Certain linguistic anthropologists believe that religion is a language virus that rewrites the pathways in the brain, dulls critical thinking.” I believe this remark, while pessimistic as hell, accurately captures the mental state that many of these readings have put me in. Religion has spread many of our outdated beliefs, and religious populations have had the same societal framework for millennia. I’m rambling a lot, but I just wanted to highlight how deeply this class struck a chord with me, and I’m thankful I got to share this experience with you.

Thank you everyone!

Conclusion

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As a transfer student, especially coming out of Covid-induced online learning, I missed a lot of opportunities to meet people and interact with professors in classes. When I first came to SDSU, I thought most classes were going to be interactive the way this class has been. I was a bit disappointed when this was not the case, but I feel lucky that I took this class despite it not tying into my major directly. This class taught me to question what I would never think to question, as nothing is as it seems. In other english classes, I’ve learned to take an authors message and analyze it, but never have I learned to truly “close read” by considering every word, literary device, and grammar/punctuation as intentional. It was a fairly new concept to me but I believe it is an extremely useful analytical skill. On top of learning to close read, I have also learned to consider how different tellings of folklore and fairy tale can use the same story to teach things differently.

Overall, my favorite aspect of the class was my interactions with the class. When doing small group discussions, I felt like I was given completely new perspectives that I didn’t consider during my initial reading of the assigned reading for the week. Small group discussions also gave me the opportunity to see if people could build off of my ideas and help me further my understanding of the text. I have never been one to enjoy reading fiction, as I feel like I gravitate towards memoirs and non-fiction reading, but this class has taught me that I can learn a lot about the world through reading fiction. I like non-fiction because it is a clear indicator of history, but I never considered how fiction can also teach history. This is the last english class I ever have to take, and while it was challenging at some points, I am extremely happy that I got to end with this class, as I feel like it gave me an extremely important skill that is overlooked in a lot of other english classes.

Conclusion

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I have learned a variety of lessons and information from the ECL 305 course! When we first began this class I was not expecting to be learning about different mermaid tales each week. While it has been fun learning about these mythical creatures, I have also taken away many skills from this course. I am now much more confident in my close reading skills, essay writing, and thesis writing skills. The prompt of what, why, and how to write a thesis is something that I will always remember while writing it in the future. I have seen an immense improvement in my ability to close read since the beginning of the semester. I used to get confused while reading the passages and I can now analyze and understand the deeper meanings. I have also improved my speaking skills through this class. I am usually not the type to raise my hand in classes but this class brought that out of me. I have been able to express my thoughts and gain feedback which has been very helpful for me in not only this class but also other aspects of my life. Overall I really enjoyed this course and have learned a lot. I have made friends, learned real-life lessons, and learned academic skills that I will carry out through the rest of my time as a student.

Conclusion

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As I reflect on this semester and this class, I feel like I have truly learned and grown a lot. I am a business administration major so a majority of my classes are not structured like this one nor are they as engaging as this. When I signed up for this class, I was just filling a requirement but I am so glad that I chose it, as it has been very eye opening for me. I didn’t know about or hadn’t actually thought about most of the information that we read and discussed about. Diving into the topics of environmental literature, ecological themes in storytelling, and the symbolism of mermaids has been enlightening. It has challenged me to look at the interconnectedness between literature, culture, and the natural world in ways I would have never before. The ideas and different perspectives the people in this class have brought up in discussions have broadened my own perspective and have allowed me to learn in such a different way. This class has deepened my appreciation for literature and I now am able to look at text in a different way. My close reading skills have definitely been improved as I really didn’t have much experience before this. I love that now I am able to notice the deeper meaning when I read and can question the why’s and the so what’s. My writing has also gotten a lot better as a result of this class and I am excited to end the year a stronger writer. This class did challenge me a bit though as it was out of my comfort zone, but I found myself actually wanting to go to class and learn. Overall, I really enjoyed the time I had in this class and I am sad it’s coming to an end.

What I have learned in this class

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I do not even know where to start my reflection on what I’ve learned this semester. Even though I am an English major, none of my classes have ever helped me improve my writing skills as much as this one. But that’s not the only thing I’ve learned in the past few weeks.

My learning process certainly began in the first two weeks of the semester when we studied sirens and Christianity. Who would have thought that the beautiful image of Ariel I had in mind before taking this class would be changed forever?

Apart from that, I encountered so many different narratives about mermaids that I would never have discovered without this class. Mama Wati, Oannes, and others brought many new perspectives to the surface that I will never forget.

Through this class, I have learned a lot about how we perceive wilderness and the ocean. The narratives we’ve read have taught me how closely literature is connected to, for example, environmental crises—and that they offer lessons on life!

Literature and storytelling have always been important for diving into the archives of different cultures. Why did I grow up so narrow-minded as to forget about other histories? Thanks to this class, I now know that in the future, I want to incorporate narratives into my geography lessons when I become a teacher.

I could continue writing at length about the aspects I’ve learned in our class, but I feel I should stop before I start to get sad that my semester abroad is about to end. Thanks to everyone in that class, I feel like I have broadened my horizon. I got to know so many wonderful people and will surely keep the class atmosphere and even how to teach with such passion in my memories!