minimum 1000 words ). part 1 W r i t i n g

Assignment 2. Reflection on Reading (minimum 1000 words).

Part 1. Start by thinking about yourself as a reader. What kinds of
books do you normally read? Do you attend poetry or theatre
performances, or listen to audio books? Do you do anything creative in
response to reading? Do you discuss books with others? Please make your
examples specific (give the names of authors and works) and meaningful (explain why these examples have meaning for you). Please also keep this section authentic – don’t fall into the trap of writing down a list of classic authors whose works you haven’t read!

Part 2. Reflection. In the second section, reflect on your interpretation or your experience
of specific texts (ideally focusing on 2 or 3) discussed in the course
so far. You could talk about Langston Hughes, ‘Theme for English B’ and Burnside – The Old Gods (The Poem and the Journey), p. 77 which you alr wrote about. Did certain aspects interest you more than others? What became
clear and what remains unclear? Which aspects of your interpretation are you unsure about? Make sure to illustrate this section with specific examples drawn from the primary text, referring to the words the author used (quotations). please see attachment below on how to source correctly

In this assignment, you will also
be required to demonstrate your ability to refer to secondary
literature and use proper citation and referencing (in-text citation and
list of sources). You will find relevant articles in the sourcebook
(uploaded below). Please make sure to refer to at least FIVE of the
articles in this collection in a meaningful way.

Langston Hughes, ‘Theme for English B’ ( if you remember when you wrote this)

I
view the text as an attempt by the poet to explore the concept of race
and self-identity. From the text, the poet is trying to understand
himself and his position in the school where he is the only colored
student in his class. I see the poet pointing out that people are just
people despite their race. The poet says that he likes the same things
that other ‘folks like who are other races.’ In my opinion, I understand
the poet mentioning that despite the professor being “somewhat more
free”, they still learn from each other. From this, I see the poet
passing the message of how racism awards privileges to the whites
leaving out the coloreds.
I see the poet advocating the true connection between him and the
professor is that they are American. In my opinion, the image of the
college being on the hill portrays that the school is above the class of
the poet and is evident by being attended mostly by white students. His
walking downhill every evening gives the impression that he always
walks back to the low class that racism has labeled him. In my opinion, I
agree with the poet that people are equal and they should be united on
the basis that they are all Americans no matter their race.

Burnside – The Old Gods (The Poem and the Journey), p. 77

In
my understanding of this poem, it is about ancient spirituality as
perceived by the contemporary society of the current generation. Our
generation does not pay attention to the ‘old gods’ which is why they
are described as being ‘condemned’ in the first stanza. Additionally,
they speak in a neglected language as mentioned in the second stanza to
empty space. Space means no one cares to listen or pay attention to
them. In my opinion, the poem perfectly describes the current generation
and society and their regard for religion and spirituality. The
contemporary forms of worship are significantly different from the
ancient ones which can be attributed to the changes in the current
environment in terms of our needs and way of life. We have neglected
ancient spirituality because we are a different generation that has a
lot on our hands and time. For instance, I spend a good amount of my
time online or interacting with various forms of technology and the
thought of an ancient ‘God’ or deity rarely crosses my mind. If this is
the case for most individuals in my generation, then the first two lines
of the second stanza “speaking a derelict language to an empty space”
are true.