How Learning Literary Criticisms Have Influenced my Understanding of Texts and Improved my English Skills

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Real-Life Applications

I am now be able to look at situations and determine the underlying context and how I should react. I will be able to analyze any future texts with these lenses and, in turn, accordingly change my attitude towards them.

- Responsibility/Initiative: Took responsibility for my learning into my own hands by further looking into each lens and the vocabulary linked to each one - Organization: I learned how to write from each lens by making a layout and touching on how the lens furthers my learning

- My next steps are to stay in a constant tense, correct my word choice, and edit quotes so my writing flows better. - My plan to do so is to keep a sticky note beside me with these points so I do not forget - I feel as though I have become better in the other aspects I needed to work on

- Mark for first formal paper (fairy tale analysis): 83% - Mark for final essay (applied all feedback given from teacher and on the rubric): 93% This is a 10% boost compared to the beginning from the end which proves how I have learned to improve my writing and use the feedback provided. The use of multiple drafts was helpful with my phrases, tone, grammar, punctuation, etc. However, I learned that I still need to edit my quotes to stay in present tense.

- Repetitive phrasing - Check punctuation (comma splices) - Fix grammar - Less summary of the plot and more analysis - More concise - More of a formal tone - Check sentence structure (awkward sentences) - Fix tense

Evidence of Learning

Postcolonial Lens

Examining media through the postcolonial lens has helped me to realize just how much colonization has affected us as a world. Not only in communities, but systemic racism runs deep and is the reason why many people of colour are overlooked in professional settings.

When I wrote about the novel Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, I used the postcolonial lens because the book revolves around the cause and effect of colonization. While reading, I learned that the effects of the European hegemony run deep into today’s society. Many prejudices took root during the 18th century like police brutality against Black people, the assimilation into Christianity, and the bias that Black people perform “voodoo.” This lens caused me to think deeper than surface level for the whole novel.

- After finishing my rough draft, I edit it and make multiple more drafts including peer and teacher feedback - Glance over the rubric again to see if I have followed the success criteria - If I am writing based on a specific lens, I make sure to touch upon it multiple times

- Collect research on the topic I am writing on - Look at multiple resources, if possible - If I am writing based on a book, I like to collect any annotations made - Create a layout and checklist to keep myself organized - Have the success criteria and different resources open like a transition word cheat sheets

- Fill in my layout and try to get all of my ideas out before editing - Ask the teacher for any assistance, if needed - Refer back to the source I am writing on and make sure I am correctly referring/citing sources - Keep everything in the same tense

The common plot of the descent into danger for the Syed case led to me sensing that he is guilty. The eerie music in many secondary sources also suggested this making sure to end off on a low note.

Archetypal Lens

Viewing various forms of media through the archetypal lens has led to me acknowledging symbols that affect my behaviour.

- Made sure to make it interesting by adding photos, videos, and tags, - I look into the story through different lenses and, although it is non-fiction, I recognized the plot archetype of the descent into danger

- Checked it over to make sure it was in chronological order and unbiased, so the readers can come to their own conclusions

- For the media project, I made a Facebook account on the details of the Adnan Syed case based on the true crime podcast, Serial - Made a rough outline as to what each post would touch on - Listened to the podcast, but I wish I had looked into different sources because I would have more information

Before discussing our thoughts on the case of Adnan Syed, I made sure to look at many secondary resources. This assisted me because the podcast (which was our main source of information) was extremely biased and I learned more information through YouTube videos. This is what led me to change my verdict of innocence to guilty.

- Respond to my peers with insightful comments making sure to include what I enjoyed about their post, my own thoughts, and further questions I have - View and respond to the comments left on my own posts

- Include conventions such as tags, photos, titles, and links, making my post more interesting - Utilize informal language and I care more about context, rather than grammar

- Discussions/blog posts are similar to oral discussions as they are casual written conversations with classmates - Ensure to complete any reading or watch any videos pertaining to the discussion

Feminist Lens

After discussing the case of a jealous ex-boyfriend murdering his ex-girlfriend, the case of Adnan Syed, I started to view it through a feminist lens. It is unjust how many women must live in fear of their partners hurting them, either during or after the relationship. His case is proof that many women must live with the fear that men are always capable of hurting them, even if they once loved them.

Learning to use a feminist criticism has assisted me in understanding how the world is built on an oppressive foundation and is actively working against women, especially women of colour.

When reading Snow White through a feminist lens, I learned that this story has a phallocentric narrative and pushes the idea of a patriarchal society. I did not realize how Snow White gets saved by a man every time she needs protection, and this lens has caused me to inspect future stories with similar lenses.

For the first third of a book, I may focus on making annotations with a feminist criticism and highlight examples of toxic masculinity.

- Go over my annotations and gather what I can based on what I just read - Connect what I just read to the real world, especially if I examine them through a particular lens - Learning to read through these different lenses has caused me to learn underlying messages and connect them to todays world

- Make annotations on the book based on which lens I am focusing on - Use a variety of sticky notes based on what I am annotating for such as yellow for characters, green for quotes, pink for important plot points, and black pen for questions

- View the title, cover, synopsis, and reviews, then makes inferences and predictions of the book - Research the author and the types of books they write, in order to get a better sense of what I am going to read

How Learning Literary Criticisms Have Influenced my Understanding of Texts and Improved my English Skills

Media

Writing

Oral - Discussions

Reading