The Good and The Bad

This semester the class read many works that were very good and some that even after discussing them in class I felt indifferent about. The first three works of the semester I really enjoyed. The obsolete man was a very good video and the first two stories out of the anthology were very good. Honestly after that most of the stories chosen from the anthology did not interest me that much. All of the poems chosen this semester were very good. I did not understand all of them and had trouble when reading them for the first time, but they did all bring up very interesting discussions and by reading several poems from one author I could really get into the insight of the author. I believe that the novels chosen for this class did allow the class to view several different types of literature that all fall under the category of contemporary literature. I enjoyed reading Sula, Atonement, and the Watchmen. The only novel I did not enjoy was Streetcar and I am really not sure why. I guess I just never got involved in the story. My personal favorite was the Watchmen and my only regret is that we did not have more time to discuss the novel. My suggestions for the class would be to remove Street Car and the anthology from the syllabus. I think a few short stories from the anthology would be nice to read such as Rudy Elmenhurst and Man from Mars, but as a whole the anthology was not a great collection of stories.To fill this gap I would add an adventure story such as a Clive Cussler novel or Harry Potter book that involves a little more imagination and a different perspective on contemporary literature.

Comics for Kids

I can’t say that my anticipation of reading the Watchmen was at quite the level of Burtan, but I was a little more excited about reading this book than most I start. I am not much of a reader but I guess because I read a few comics as a child, this book interested that part of me. As I began reading the book my view of comics was very similar to Burtan’s. I was immediately drawn into the story and at the same time turned off by the format. I believe as a child it was easier to skip around and read because of how quickly a child’s mind can be distracted. We have all been trained to read a novel and stay focused and it became a challenge to break this habit. I also agree that reading the novel was exhausting. Many times I found myself stopping, not because I was tired of reading, but because my mind needed to catch up and take a break as it attempted to keep up with everything going on. In the end the story did entertain me but I believe my favorite part was going back into the story after reading and picking out pieces we discussed in class. The depth of the story amazed me and for a genre I had always related with childhood this new type of comic created a new joy for reading. I completely agree with Burtan about the fascination with reading the novel and the feelings experienced while reading. I believe that many of my initial feelings about the novel were based on the comic book readings of my childhood. After reading the Watchmen my views on comic books have changed and can see how it may soon be a interesting part of contemporary literature. It was an exciting story and a type of novel that with a little more practice I could see myself truly enjoying.