Reflection
One class that I will never forget is my English 205 science fiction with Mrs. Arnold. She inspired us to look back at the time periods for each story we read in her class. This observation allowed for us to explore and understand the changes going on in the world, to better explain why these authors were writing about these particular topics. By observing the time periods, we could construct a more complex understanding of the cultural and historical problems facing the world at these times and why it was so important to note in science fiction. She gave us the tools to understanding science-fiction literature and how it does reflect our world and the technological advances that are continuing to shape our world. This class alone allowed me to view literature from another perspective of history and how much it does influence what we write and how we write it.
Another class I feel left its mark on my education is Dr. Smith’s composition and rhetoric class. This class allowed me to explore and understand rhetoric and why I write the way I write. This class pushed me to my technological and social media boundaries. Before this class I was not currently involved in social media or did I write a lot outside of class. For this class, we had to compose and record our own podcasts. We not only had to explore our own rhetoric but how we as humans shape our rhetoric to the groups we socially interact with daily. This allowed me to search within myself to find my own voice and how I wished to present it to my desired audience.
The technology we used besides podcasts were Medium and twitter. On Medium we had to post writing prompts that made me more comfortable with online publications of my writing, which I was afraid to do before. In the class I learned that everyone has their own unique way of constructing information and how we understand the information that is put in front of us. We also can write with our intended audience in mind to share our thoughts on a more open forum. This class took me through the individual steps of writing and made me focus on how to break down the technique I use in the time I write any piece. Dr. Smith opened my eyes to the technology we employ on a day to day basis that allowed me to push beyond my anxiety of publicly posting on online forms.
Many of the upper level English classes pushed me further towards an overall understanding of literature and linguistics that I never understood or realized. The linguistic courses I have taken have shown me that there are many communities within the larger community and the identification process to recognize how and when I use certain features and what they convey to each group when I use them. Each linguistic feature in the communities we all employ in different situations. These features we learn from the time we are born to each encounter we have with different groups.
The linguistic classes from development of the English language to African American Vernacular English displayed to me the origins of the dialects and how they have changed overtime. These helped me understand how language change and evolves to fit the society in which it is presented. This evolution helps us understand and research how people change little features overtime. Those features can have big implications on how the community in which they are used convey their identity or to establish their power within the said community.
These linguistic features of individual groups can help us create a timeline to see the progression of each group. This progression can then be applied to works of literature that show linguistic features for characters. When authors use these features for characters they are displaying the culture and history of a language. This gives the reader a more in-depth look at the character/s. This also raises the question of why certain authors use linguistic features for certain characters, possible to show their difference from others in the story or to identify the culture within a culture. All of these classes have left me with a more enlighten way of understanding the world we live in past and present.
Through these years, I have learned so much from so many gifted professors at Coastal Carolina University. Every professor I have had the pleasure of being a part of their class has left a valuable impression on me. They have encouraged me to go beyond what I thought I was capable of doing. I hope that in my continued journey that I take a little piece of their wisdom with me.