Final(ly) Post

Before taking this class, I expected something totally different. Before taking this class, I also had no idea what "hidden narratives" were either. Who would've expected that we learned about all the things we did learned about in an English/Composition class? I expected to learn about mainly structures for essays (i.e. introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions). I also expected to read simple articles and poems. I didn't expect to learn about all the different structures for different types of writing. I also didn't expect to learn about the hidden meanings behind subtle messages in writing, media, and much more.

Taking this class was like obtaining a "lens" in my life; a different way of viewing life in general and all its little details. Leaving this class, I have now opened my eyes to the different kinds of things that I have been exposed to that I had no idea were being thrown at me. I also learned about all the injustices in our society from the articles that were given to us. After this class ends, I feel like I will take home so many new things I learned about the world of hidden narratives. Taking this class is like learning about a whole new world.

For the diagnostic essay, I literally just wrote about what I felt without thinking about the different meanings and hidden meanings my message might've sent out. After learning about hidden narratives, I wrote my essays with more thought. When I started writing the paper for my discourse, we had to analyze the hidden meanings for the papers and that's when I started realizing how words are written can impact on what one thinks of the subject written about. The ideologies and metaphors that I carry inside of me now include the little details in which things are portrayed. Such as guys holding doors for ladies, list of professor names with men first before women, etc.

In order to lessen the impact that these narratives have on others or even myself as I heard out into the world on a certain career path, I can be more sensitive when saying or writing things being careful about how I say or write it. I can also read carefully when it comes to readings because everything says something. For example, I learned about how diction or the way a word is written can really morph nothing into something either negatively or positively.

If I do end up writing research papers or papers in general for my discourse, I can speak in a more sensitive manner and make sure that I'm not writing "blindly" because I learned that everyone is racist on the inside (I think that's what I've been taught) because of the way that society raises us (and the thoughts that each race gives us). So in order to avoid that, I could definitely just be more careful about the way I write things, like I should write in a neutral manner. I can also break the stereotypes that are put out into our society. For example, girls don't always need boys to hold the door for them. So I could open the door for a boy instead. All the little things count!