|
(2016
midterm assignment) Sample Student Midterm Answers 2016 #3: Web Highlights |
LITR 4328 |
 |
Burgundy Anderson
Peer Reviews:
I
chose to review one long essay, one short essay, and one research project. The
long essay was Karin Cooper’s “American Romantic Literature: Not the Lovey Dovey
Mush You Might Expect,” the short essay was Britini Pond’s “The All-Encompassing
Romance,” and the research project was Stephanie Taylor’s “Looking through the
Lens of the Romanticist: Examining Sexuality and its Transcendence over Time.” I
chose these essays because I found the titles interesting, and actually reading
these essays gave me some insight as to how I would best structure my own
essays.
Karin
Cooper’s essay was very thorough, and I really liked the way it was structured.
I particularly enjoyed the organization of the essay. Karin focused on the
gothic, the sublime, childhood innocence, and connections with nature. Each
focus had a unique textual example, which helps make the focus connected to the
student’s experience. Cooper seems to be able choose the exact right textual
moments to highlight his points. My favorite of Karin’s examples was the gothic.
The moment chosen to illustrate the gothic was from The Legend of the Sleepy
Hollow when Ichabod is riding home after the party and hears an odd sound
that he cannot explain. Unfortunately, I think Karin might have missed the mark
on the sublime, leaving the definition at a simple, “moments that take your
breath away.” To me, this just does not encompass the full meaning behind the
sublime; it must be something that is deeper. The sublime is better defined as
something that inspires both beauty and pain.
I
enjoyed reading Britini Pond’s essay about Romance. She starts by saying that
she thought she understood the genre, having read it most of her life. Britini
is able to skillfully pull selections of romance that transcends a simple
“woman’s love story” to help the reader understand why crossing romance with
other genres is so important. I particularly enjoyed what Britini wrote about
The Lamplighter. She observes that this could have been a work of realism based
on the fact that Gerty is an orphan left alone on the streets. But then Britini
is able to defend the first two chapters as a work of romance because of True’s
actions to save the girl. I had not thought about the story in the light, simply
because this is a non-typical romance. I love that Britini was able to expand my
horizon with The Lamplighter, and I honestly enjoy the story itself more, now. I
think she also did a great job talking about how loss relates to the romantic. I
enjoyed her thoughts and insights on the Romantic.
Stephanie Taylor’s research project was the last piece I read. The title,
“Examining Sexuality and its Transcendence over Time,” caught my eye. She starts
by stating that literature is a type of looking glass into the social and
cultural norms of the past. The bond created between the author and reader is a
unique relationship. Stephanie says Walt Whitman was best able to create this
bond using sexuality. Stephanie even claims that eroticism itself was introduced
to Literature within the Romantic Era. I am not entirely sure I agree with that
point; there are plenty of erotic scenes within stories before the time period.
However, I do think it is fair to say that Eroticism was used very heavily
during the Romantic Era. I particularly enjoyed Stephanie’s organization and
that she used three examples to talk about how Eroticism has stayed relevant
today. It was a bit unexpected, to me, that she brought up Sharon Olds, simply
because I am not familiar with her work so I think she seems out of place when
surrounded by Walt Whitman and Florence Welch. Altogether, I enjoyed her project
and thought it was really well done.
By
reading these essays I was able to clarify not only my own ideas and thoughts
about the class, but also gain new insights to what other students are thinking
about the class. I think each essay challenged by own thinking about the
different terms. Particularly, I think I now better understand my own definition
of the sublime, and will be able to better consider the concept with further
readings. I also liked being challenged on my own ideas about what constitutes
Romanticism, and how other elements play into the genre. I think reading the
research project made me think again about how I view Eroticism in literature
and how we find it. The best thing about reading other students work is watching
them go through the journey of learning and being able to articulate their own
thoughts, even when they challenge my own.
