Throughout this course, I have learned more than I ever imagined possible in

such a short period of time. I feel that I have grown tremendously as both a reader
and a writer. I have gained and sharpened many various skills that will contribute to
my success in all aspects of life. I have truly enjoyed this course and the readings
that I have been exposed to, that I may have never been exposed to. It has been a
pleasure.
My ePortfolio is a great that I have used to summarize my growth and
acquisition of new skills and knowledge. For my artifacts, I chose the morning
pages, reading journals, online discussions/feedback, and the collaborative mid
term/team final presentation. I feel that every one of these assignments has
benefitted my academic career, each in different ways. These artifacts have not
only provided me with the improvement of skills I already have, but I have obtained
new skills that will be put to use in everyday life. These artifacts will also go on to
benefit future students, just as they have benefitted me.
My favorite piece of work from this course was the Tao Te Ching. I feel like I
can put these ideas and ways of life to use, in order to better myself in many ways. I
appreciated reading this book through the lense of the Feminist Criticism. The
authors interchangeable use of he and she speaks mountains in terms of
equality amongst men and women. Using my three themes of literature, I was able
to view this book much more in depth than I would have been able to without these
themes. Crime does not pay could have referred to the crime of not letting go of the
Self, and in turn, one would not be able to achieve harmony. The importance of
family in regard to this, is to view all as family, and equals as well. And lastly,
overcoming adversity, to me, relates to overcoming the difficulty of being able to let
go of the Self for ones benefit of achieving harmony.
The second reading I enjoyed most was the Bahgavad Gita. Looking at this
from the lense of the Marxist criticism. Krishna goes on and on about achieving
self-realization through equality, compassion, and moderation. From this point of
view, one thing that stood out to me was the rajas, or rajasic people that give in to
the desires of wealth, power, ego, and selfishness. Using my literary themes, I was
able to see a relation between the theme crime does not pay, and the building up of
karmic debt. The importance of family is incredibly important in this book, because
Arjuna is faced with deciding whether or not to fulfil his dharma by going to battle
with his relatives. Also, overcoming adversity is apparent when Arjuna is faced with
making this decision of battling his family or not.
Throughout the process of the collaborative mid term and team final
presentation, I have learned so much. I have learned the value of team work and
time management, and I have learned to be receptive of other classmates ideas,
when different than my own. This has helped me grow into more of a team player,
and also how to be productive in an environment where everyone has different
schedules. It was not an easy task, but we made it through!
Throughout this course, I have been able to put the course objectives to good
use. I have learned to use critical reading and writing skills to engage and analyze
literary texts, in the form of completing our weekly reading journals. I have learned

to connect and contexualize literary works, by being able to relate them to my

chosen themes of literature and theories of literary criticism. Lastly, I have gained
the awareness that literature reflects the diversity of human experience across
time, by critically reading and analyzing the very different pieces of cultural work
that we have been assigned.
If I had to offer up any advice to future students, it would be to get ahead in
the beginning. Keeping up with an accelerated 4 week course can be difficult, due to
the amount of assignments due, as well as the group work, as everyone has
different schedules and it can sometimes be difficult to connect. The internet is such
a great resource, but I found that my other classmates writings, input, and
feedback was the best resource from me in this course. I wish all future students
success in this course, and that they will be able to enjoy it and reap the many
benefits of this course, just as I have!
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