Midterm Blog

Jim Schulz
Dr. Paul Gleason
English 303
October 6, 2008
URL: jim4204a.blogspot.com

Midterm Blog

This essay will examine what stage of reading development I was at before the beginning of the semester, what stage I’m at now, and look at how I can move into the next stage.

To be very honest, I can truly say that my reading development in Non-Western literature was as low as it could possibly go. I would say I was at the very beginning stage of reading development in Non-Western literature. I really didn’t have any knowledge regarding this type of work and I couldn’t tell you anything about it. To be honest, I really didn’t know what I was getting into when I took the class.

I guess I really shouldn't say I didn’t know anything about Non-Western writing, as I did hear about Bollywood before the class started. I wouldn’t have even known that much if my wife and I didn’t know a couple who just visited there. I actually didn’t know what to expect when I would read or view Non-Western work. To show you how little I knew I thought that Non-Western work would be strange and hard to follow. My first blog entry dated August 28th reflects this; I stated that I felt Non-Western work, “would be boring, hard to follow, with English sub-titles or English dubbed in.” To my surprise the first movie we viewed, “Bride & Prejudice” reminded me very much of an American made movie. In fact, in the same blog, I compared “Bride & Prejudice” to “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” as both movies dealt with cultures and how the families wanted their daughters to marry within that culture.

After six weeks of class, I can say the stage of my reading development has improved. Far from an expert but I’m looking at things much differently. Exactly what stage I’m at is hard to say, but I feel I’m at least in the lower to middle developing stage of reading development. Our class discussions have helped to clear up a lot but there are still areas I have a little trouble understanding. My blog entry dated October 2nd regarding “language” is a good example of this. I realize that many perspectives on language were discussed; I’m just not sure if I fully understand everything that is being passed along. For this reason I feel I’m at the lower end of the developing stage.

On the other hand, I understand terms like intertextuality, which shapes the meaning of a text by other texts. My blog entry dated August 28th regarding the “Bride & Prejudice” and how it reminded me of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” is good example of this. How both movies put much emphasis on culture, and how one movie may have influenced the other.

I’m also learning to read stories and view various movies in more depth and look for things like stereotypes and racism. As mentioned in my blog dated September 25th, I stated that I would have never connected stereotypes or racism in “Indiana Jones – Temple of Doom.” When I watch a movie I tend to view it for enjoyment and never really look further then that. Our discussion in class brought this to my attention and I was able to see that stereotyping and racism did indeed play a part in the movie. Because of the last two examples, it gives me hope that I might be entering the middle area of the developing stage.

I would say that the next stage of reading development I will enter is possibly the upper end of the developing stage. It is really hard to say just how I will enter this but I feel I need to put more depth into what I read or view and try to examine things in different ways. I need to think out of the box. When viewing a movie for example, I need to look at it as more than just enjoyment. I need to spend the time examining what I’m watching and look beyond the enjoyment. I need to take the time to see if I can pick out things such as stereotypes and racism. I may have to start reading and rereading material if I don’t quite understand what is being presented or ask more questions in class. I might also have to resort to other sources such as the Internet to view various websites or use Wikipedia to see if I can get a better understanding of concepts, stories, terms, and words.

In conclusion, over the past six weeks I feel I have made good progress in my reading development in Non-Western literature. I may only be at the lower to middle end of the developing stage but I feel that’s good progress considering I really had no prior knowledge of Non-Western writing.