Thinking out of the box is over rated...

I'm not sure how to describe my experience in this particular English class. Let me begin with: all english classes should be like the one I just completed.

Eugenia Loli

Entering this class, my first paper had academic standard plastered all over it, not saying it's a bad thing but it reads awkward. Perhaps it was my topic, writing about such casual experience in an academic paper was quite difficult. Anyway, the catch here was that my professor didn't set any standards, all she said was "write about something that you believe in". Short and simple I wrote about how I believe people should travel and experience as much as the world as they can. 

As students we have created metaphors and excepted all the narratives without question. Here I was in college writing my first paper about something I believe in, constraining my writing abilities to what the regular English class professor would find acceptable. Now, reflecting back on class discussions, argumentative essays and Malcolm Gladwell everything makes a bit more sense. The way I read, understand, think and write has been immensely "disturbed" by this class. The reason for the quotation is because that's what some English teachers would refer it as; disturbing the normal though process of an english student. In deed it disturbed my way of though but in a satisfying way. 

Now I'm able to read a piece and nitpick all of the different narratives and reveal the metaphors created by society. However, this is more than just analyzing a piece of literature, the way people act and identify is because all the rules and expectations society as feed us at a young age. In this course we talked about discourses and how a person can successfully be a part of multiple discourses. Education facilitates the transition between discourses and it allows us to break those rules and expectations and create our own way of living.

The unique aspect of this English class was that once I stepped out of the classroom, the lessons taught did not vanish. Discussions were making me question the readings and views in my other classes, particularly in my future career path.

Being an International Relations major entails interacting with people that have different views and beliefs, that is mainly the reason why this major intrigues me. This course made me expand my way of thinking and critically explain the reason behind my personal opinion. I'm walking out of this English course with a better understanding of literature and its influence on society.