Joseph Jerris Lit 2000 Prof.

McGriff 4/18/2014 Reflection Essay Over the course of this class I have learned many different things involving literature. Each of these things are concepts that can be applied in life in general and in later classes. Out of all the concepts that were learned this semester three stick in my mind as the most important of all these skills. These three concepts are the different types of criticism, analyzing short stories, and analyzing poems. To begin with, one of the most important skills that I learned in this class is the different types of criticisms. Although they may not seem like much the different types of criticisms can be very useful in life when reading anything from books to articles. They help you understand the work more and get more into certain aspects of what one is reading. Remembering all the different types of criticisms such as feminine criticism, Marxist criticism, and post-colonial criticism can be very useful especially in future English classes and it is definite one of the more important concepts that was learned in the class. In addition, another useful skill that was learned was how to analyze a short story. This was such a helpful tool when reading short stories that helps one pick apart the story for a deeper meaning or for something like symbols or different literary devices. Although it can be difficult at times this tactic helps give the story a deeper meaning and it also gives one something to think

about while they read a story. This skill will be useful in later English classes when having to read short stories and this skill can also be transferred to longer stories as well. Furthermore, the last of the three most important skills that were learned in class was how to analyze poetry. This skill uses analysis and knowledge of poetry to pick apart a poem and analyze different points about it these points range from the line structure to the tone to who is the speaker of the poem. This strategy can be used to find the meaning behind the poem as well as seeing different patterns in the poem with rhyming forms and tone of a poem. This skill was especially useful during the poetry explication essay. This skill will be a very useful one in later literature classes when studying poetry. In conclusion, in this class many different skills and concepts were learned. Among these skills three stand out and those three are the different types of criticism, how to analyze a short story and how to analyze a poem. These skills can and definitely will be taken on into the future not only in classes but life outside of class as well.