Desire Lecture

             

             The lecture on desire captivated my interest greatly when we discussed whether the concept of desire, is something created or inherited. The class lesson was primarily based on the different aspects that allow us to believe desire is created and the ones that allow us to believe desire is instinctive alongside with examples for each. It’s quite riveting how we never really stop to think about these abstract ideas and concepts because we’re often too busy or ignorant about the world we live in. This lecture allowed my mind to reflect and ponder over what the Post-Modernism era elaborates on through the works of literature. In the short story A&P, Updike portrays Sammy’s desire to be inherent and physical towards the girls, but also created when he quits his job in order to feel acknowledged for his “noble action” by the girls and ultimately by Queenie. Although most of us wouldn’t quit our jobs to be acknowledged we all show traits of desire in everyday life. The desire to be successful and go to college to get a higher education could be both inherent and created. Originally human’s natural instinct and desire was to simply survive, but with time and technological advances our desires transcended into a more created one, our desire to be famous, have materialistic things, attain sums amount of money and our desire to be happy. These man-made desires are sometimes was make us forget about the inherent desires and sometimes make us selfish human beings. This lecture has and will continue to remind me of the truly important things in life. 

Hierarchy of Beauty Lecture

                   The lecture based on the short-story A White Woman of Color was primarily about the themes such as hierarchy of beauty and intersectionality. The White Woman of Color lecture, which transcended into a mini discussion on the hierarchy of beauty, opened my eyes up to how society has a huge impact on the way we see ourselves and sometimes plays a huge role on our desire to be “beautiful”. The hierarchy of beauty differs around the world and is set by fashion industries, media and society. Day after day we are exposed to models advertising for the fashion industry. These advertisements primarily give off a message that if you aspire and strive to resemble the models you will be seen as beautiful and popular. In an industry that in general leads its followers striving for perfection, it’s sad that the very exclusive standard has been applied to people all around the world. The concept of beauty, which was exemplified profoundly throughout the short story A White Woman of Color, has inspired and should inspire others to not feel pressured or lured into society norms and not to fall into what’s “mainstream”, but to be yourself and to be a human that doesn’t always rely on things that are aesthetically nicer, visually. 

Perception Lecture

              One lecture that I truly enjoyed and was enlightened by was the perception presentation. The perception lecture entailed the different ways in how others see us and how we see ourselves. It correlated with the play A Streetcar Named Desire and also with life in general. During the perception lecture Professor Brady’s lesson required us to think outside the box and not so surfaced and opened up my mind to a profound analysis of deception. The lecture pinpointed on the difference between illusion and the truth. Illusion can also be seen as magic, we can twist and alter the truth about ourselves in order to feel socially accepted and in turn it can be deceiving to the human eye. This lecture has helped me realize what is truly important in life and why many people lie and hide behind masks to prevent the unprepossessing aspects of the truth. Sometimes we have dark secrets to conceal and we do so by deceiving others, because nobody wants to face reality and eventually die a social death. Sometimes we have to step out of reality and into magic to survive. 

 

Reflection To A Great Semester

“Education is the most powerful weapon, which you can use to change the world,” these are the wise spoken words of Nelson Mandela. Coming into this class I was not enthusiastic about having to take “another Gen-Ed English course”. But of course that was before I met Professor Brady and her inspiring energy and passion for literature. Every class day her lectures and fishbowls required us to critically think which I was not trained to do in any other college course yet as a freshman. Throughout her intellectual lectures I was able to expand my knowledge on not only literature but also about the world around us. Reading literature out of the Norton Literature textbook wasn’t simply a homework assignment that I needed to complete in order to write a paper, but it was a way to slice pieces away from being ignorant to the situations and predicaments occurring around the world and a way to acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.

My writing before this English 102 class was simply to regurgitate information from a scholarly article and to paraphrase it to fulfill the requirements of my professor. All of that changed when I entered Professor Brady’s class. I can remember outlining my first published writing; I reached a barrier in which I did not know what to write about. All of the published writing’s, including the papers, required us to critically think, not only as a student, but also as a human being part of this world. They required us to analytically read the plays, shorts stories, and poems therefore enhancing our critical thinking and interpreting skills. Another aspect that helped me grow as a reader and writer were the discussion panels and fishbowls. The fishbowls allowed for on “the spot analytical thinking” and comprehension throughout the course.

I really enjoyed the short-story unit because I appreciate literature in a sense that I can relate to it. As a little girl I learned English at the age of 5 and used reading as a way to improve my vocabulary and enhance my reading skills and in turn that made me appreciate reading each and every year and become my form of an outlet. The idea that will truly resonate with me throughout my college career and experience is the fact that “literature is a product of its time period” and that oppression continues occur throughout the world. It has made me realize how fortunate I am to have the opportunity to expand and further my education. As a thinker I see myself going to dental school in five years and I have sanguine expectations that with this intro to critical and analytical thinking I will prosper in dental school and hopefully in life.