Week Twelve: Conclusion!

    So, we have finally reached the end of the semester. I thought that in this blog post, I would go over what I had originally written in my introduction post and see if I have succeeded in accomplishing my goals. As I mentioned in my introduction, when I first picked this class and registered myself into it, I only needed it to fulfill my literature requirement for my Arts degree. However, after the first lecture, I became hopeful that this class was going to serve as so much more than that - and I was right. During these past couple of months, I read a book a week, read genres that I had never touched before, became faster at typing out 400 words, and got the chance to be included in discussions on topics that I genuinely found fascinating. If I didn't have the contract looming over me constantly, I know that I would not have been able to keep with reading a book a week. There were days when I submitted the blogs early, and others where I submitted them last minute on Monday night. I truly appreciate the motivation that this class gave me to read regularly. I also appreciate the fact that through Romance Studies, I was exposed to a wider spectrum of genres. I tend to always reach for horror, but I actually enjoyed books like Bonjour Tristesse and The Society of Reluctant Dreamers. In fact, I'll probably start reading more historical fiction because I realized how ignorant I am on the history of certain areas in the world. That's not saying that I liked all the books we were assigned to read, but that's obviously to be expected.

At the end of my introduction blog post, I wrote that I hoped that this class would be as inspiring as it was promising to be at the time. I think I can now confidently say that it definitely has lived up to those hopes. 

I wasn't sure whether we were supposed to have a question prepared in this blog post, so I'll ask one just in case. It is a general question about the class. Out of the books that you read, did you have a favourite? That is, was there one that was so inspiring or eye-opening that it drastically changed your perspective on something? Was there a particular story that made you want to read more books on that topic or that genre?

Overall, thank you very much for a good semester and class!

Comments

  1. JonApril 4, 2022 at 12:39 AM

    Ha! Lots of people are asking about favorites... And you? Which was yours? And why?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sophia CinelliApril 4, 2022 at 8:38 AM

    Hi Lisa!
    To answer your question, I think the book that really stuck out to me was The Time of the Doves. I don't think I'll ever forget the part in the text where Nataliya plans to kill her own children, because she thinks they'll be better off dead, rather than suffering. This may sound naive, but I was in shock that she'd rather have her children and herself die than fight to survive the war. Nataliya's strength to keep persevering after she had lost everything really inspires me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Diya MannApril 4, 2022 at 2:53 PM

    Hi Lisa,
    Thank you for your post! My favourite books in this course were a tie between The Shrouded Woman by María Luisa Bombal and The Time of the Doves by Mercè Rodoreda. I found these books to be where I was the most captivated because they share a strong female narrative. Reading about these powerful women showcasing their vulnerability was really impactful and inspiring for me as a young woman.

    ReplyDelete

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