Reflective Learning Essay
After a semester in Marc Bousquet's English 212W class, Melodrama in Culture and Politics, I can definitely say that it was not what I originally anticipated. While the description of the class and our first lecture gave me an idea that it would be different from any other English class I have ever taken, I don't think I truly took this to heart until perhaps halfway through the semester. We started off the semester looking at cartoon clips like Dudley-Do-Right and Rocky and Bullwinkle, as well as two silent films, and we posted responses to the course blog that Marc organized for us. I thoroughly enjoyed viewing fellow classmates' responses on the blog, as it allowed me to see how my peers felt about the same material. This continued as we began to discuss what melodrama was, and how it was applicable to our lives, as well as how we've seen it manifest in literature like Harry Potter, "The Poor of New York", and "The People's Lawyer", and "Birth of A Nation" as well as and how we've seen it manifest in various events that have occurred throughout our lives. For example, looking at Elisabeth Anker's critique of 9/11 and how melodrama destroyed it vs. Linda Williams's impression of how melodrama impacted the O.J. Simpson case broadened my view of melodrama and made me see how truly influential it has been in writing our U.S. history. After looking at these various critiques of melodrama, our class formed a more well-rounded definition of the term, and how it can be used in both good and bad ways to persuade a large audience.
Next, we embarked on looking at topics of our own that we were passionate about and could use melodrama to help describe and enhance our argument for change. Eventually, this topic was going to be the focus of a full-fledged website that would require a fair bit of research. I struggled with this part of the class in particular in that I switched topics several times. Originally, I had planned on looking at sexual assault on college campuses, but this wasn't a narrow enough topic and I didn't relate to it as much as I could with the topic I settled with, support for depression at Emory. Deciding to focus on this topic came to me in a split second, and I'm so glad that I decided to stick with it because it has lead to extremely interesting findings, which can be found on my new project site! I can't believe after a semester of this class that I've produced so much work that is readily available to the general public. Looking back to previous English classes that I have taken both in high school and in college, I wish my work had made more of a difference and could have been seen by more than just my professor and myself, especially if I was proud of the work I had done. This class allowed me to save my work for posterity, and I feel as if I have truly made a difference with the research that I have done. I hope my initiatives continue to spread and invigorate the rest of the campus to make a difference as well!
Prior to this class, I don't think I had any idea what melodrama was, other than hearing terms like "melodramatic" to describe people as being extremely theatrical and extreme exaggeration. I have come to realize, after taking this class, how important melodrama is in our society. I would not have been able to write and build my website, create my tactical media project, or even write this essay without melodrama. I've come to realize how the work I did at the start of the class has all tied together in the manifestation of a research project of a topic that I care about. I hope I can persuade and convince the general public to care about it too.
Lastly, I wanted to extend some thanks to some people that were involved in the making of this website and my project website. First, I wanted to thank everyone in this class for being such a wonderful classmate and always a source of entertainment and help. I've enjoyed getting to know all of you this semester, and I hope we can keep in touch! And last, but certainly not least, thank you to Professor Marc Bousquet in supporting me in my endeavors to educate Emory students about depression and how prevalent it is on our campus. You've truly helped me learn what it is to be a citizen and how melodrama in various forms of literature can help us make a difference where we want it to. Thank you so much for a great semester!
Next, we embarked on looking at topics of our own that we were passionate about and could use melodrama to help describe and enhance our argument for change. Eventually, this topic was going to be the focus of a full-fledged website that would require a fair bit of research. I struggled with this part of the class in particular in that I switched topics several times. Originally, I had planned on looking at sexual assault on college campuses, but this wasn't a narrow enough topic and I didn't relate to it as much as I could with the topic I settled with, support for depression at Emory. Deciding to focus on this topic came to me in a split second, and I'm so glad that I decided to stick with it because it has lead to extremely interesting findings, which can be found on my new project site! I can't believe after a semester of this class that I've produced so much work that is readily available to the general public. Looking back to previous English classes that I have taken both in high school and in college, I wish my work had made more of a difference and could have been seen by more than just my professor and myself, especially if I was proud of the work I had done. This class allowed me to save my work for posterity, and I feel as if I have truly made a difference with the research that I have done. I hope my initiatives continue to spread and invigorate the rest of the campus to make a difference as well!
Prior to this class, I don't think I had any idea what melodrama was, other than hearing terms like "melodramatic" to describe people as being extremely theatrical and extreme exaggeration. I have come to realize, after taking this class, how important melodrama is in our society. I would not have been able to write and build my website, create my tactical media project, or even write this essay without melodrama. I've come to realize how the work I did at the start of the class has all tied together in the manifestation of a research project of a topic that I care about. I hope I can persuade and convince the general public to care about it too.
Lastly, I wanted to extend some thanks to some people that were involved in the making of this website and my project website. First, I wanted to thank everyone in this class for being such a wonderful classmate and always a source of entertainment and help. I've enjoyed getting to know all of you this semester, and I hope we can keep in touch! And last, but certainly not least, thank you to Professor Marc Bousquet in supporting me in my endeavors to educate Emory students about depression and how prevalent it is on our campus. You've truly helped me learn what it is to be a citizen and how melodrama in various forms of literature can help us make a difference where we want it to. Thank you so much for a great semester!