Unique paper concepts and characteristics

¶ … English classes

Skills

When I first embarked upon the serious study of the written word, I tended to see historical literature, such as William Shakespeare's plays, as entirely removed from my personal experiences in present-day society. However, after studying Shakespeare and getting more comfortable and familiar with his language and style, I can now see the similarities between myself and different characters from Shakespeare's plays. I am self-searching like Hamlet, impulsive like Romeo, and even overly ambitious at times, like Macbeth. The most critical skill conveyed to me by my English classes has been the enhancement of my ability to draw connections between the past and the present, and between myself and others. Being able to appreciate a wider range of different character types and stories is a critical aspect of reaching maturity. In the context of this course, I was able to look at the Bible, for example, not as something that I believed in or did not believe in but as a series of tales, produced by a particular group, in response to specific community needs. I can apply the Bible to my own life yet understand that the Bible has been applied to other historical circumstances than my own.

Gaining an education in literary criticism makes a person more rather than less tolerant, despite the connotations of the verb 'to criticize.' By understanding the author's perspective and seeing the world in a fresh way through the eyes of a specific character, the reader receives an education in a different lifestyle and 'way of being' in the world. However, to enter the world of another era, a student must engage in proper research and study to appreciate the language, struggles, and obsessions of different characters. Careful listening is essential when meeting someone new: careful reading is needed when meeting someone who is new on the page, because of one's unfamiliarity with the character's culture.

I used to read uncritically for pleasure, and while I still enjoy reading 'page turners' at night, I also have discovered the pleasure of reading more slowly and deliberately. Reading with a critical eye is like the difference between getting to know someone on a superficial level and truly having a relationship or a friendship with someone.

Attitudes

This class has made me appreciate my own education much more than I did previously. Seeing how African-American authors struggle to achieve literacy, in the face of tremendous obstacles, reminded me how I should never take my own education for granted. African-Americans struggled for centuries to simply have the right to learn how to read, write, and vote. Education is not a chore, I have learned, it is a right and a privilege. By seeing the world from an African-American's perspective during the antebellum period, I have come to understand the extraordinary gift of my own freedom, and also the deep and intractable social divides fostered by racial conflicts in the United States.

The study of literature enables people to become better citizens by allowing them to understand history from a broader and more appreciative perspective. The subtlety of approaching issues fostered within the discipline of literature also encourages more reasoned debate, a social development from which everyone may benefit. Because there are no definite rights and wrongs in the study of literature, a student is encouraged to see similar blacks and whites in his own life.

Even when studying stories that seem to be about good and evil, there are nuances. For example, in Shakespeare's Hamlet, although Hamlet's mother commits a terrible action -- marrying the murderer of her husband -- she seems to do so only half-knowingly. Surely Gertrude has a right to find her own sense of happiness after her husband dies, even though Hamlet only sees her as a mother. Also, Hamlet is far from perfect and treats Ophelia very cruelly.

Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart also contains complex heroes and villains. The central protagonist is a brutal man named Okonkwo who ruthlessly estranges his own son because he seems 'weak.' But this tribal leader is also sympathetic because it is clear his way of life is being destroyed by British colonizers. Not all of the British are portrayed as bad -- some of them seem to mean well and genuinely believe that their faith and civilization are better than that of the native population. But the toxic mix of misunderstanding and miscommunication results in the death of the Igbo's influence and reign in Nigeria.

Approaching Nigerian history from a fictional perspective makes the reader care more about what might otherwise seem like an unfamiliar and closed chapter in the history of the world, the history of colonization. Yet it is essential to learn about this history to understand the anger and resentment that continues to characterize relations between Africa and the developed world today. The reader, through reading fiction in a critical manner, gains an emotional as well as an intellectual investment in what transpires in the book -- and in real life, long after he or she puts the book back on the shelf.

The ability of dialogue to create a sense of identification with a character is not limited to fiction. Even Plato's philosophical dialogues use creative, fictional techniques to encourage the reader to empathize with as well as support the intellectual perspective of Socrates.