During the Literature in the Human Condition
course, we have explored different ways of writing and assessing the various
readings discussed in class. The multi-genre activity set to incorporate
numerous genres in one journal entry to further our understanding and analysis
of the class’ literary works. In the beginning of this task, it was strange to
get used to a technique that I had never explored before or at least not
consciously. With each new entry, I gave more thought to the different readings in order to
represent them in a creative manner, which was what I enjoyed the most. This
method was a fun and challenging experience in which students of the course had
the opportunity to foster new mechanisms of expressing their points of view and
insight in the context of the class.
This
journal activity was an enjoyable experience as I had never incorporated many
genres in a single piece of work. Ever since I was in school, teachers would
separate one genre from the other. Usually, they would make
us do assignments such as short stories, reflections, poems; but mostly essays.
Although most of the readings were interesting, eventually my English classes
felt a little bit boring and/or monotonous regarding the techniques used. On
the contrary, when presented with this idea of a multi-genre activity, my
interest for English literature changed for the better.
Most of my life I had thought of the
many genres in literature as being different and totally independent from each
other; meaning that I could have never imagined incorporating two or more in
one task. Furthermore, the multi-genre journal served as a way of avoiding the
traditional four to five paragraph essays and the specificities of its format.
It offered more options to my way of thinking and writing about certain topics
by having the opportunity to choose from a long list of genres to write in.
Also, it changed the way I felt about literature and made me deepen my
connection to it.
The capability of choosing the
genres I wanted to use for the journal gave me a sense of ownership over my
written work. I felt like I had no limitation whatsoever when it came to my
writing; this liberty helped me open up and for my ideas to flow. Moreover, I
found myself questioning what was the purpose of my entry, what aspect of the
reading did I want to represent and who would be its audience. Naturally, these
are things I ask myself when doing an essay or short story; but with this
exercise, I was able to recognize that each written work has a specific
audience and purpose even though they could be portraying the same or similar
topics.
Since we had not discussed too many different
stories or novels in class because we spent most of the time analyzing and
discussing The Autobiography of Miss Jane
Pittman, one of the most difficult aspects was trying to decide what would
be the focus of my entry and not to repeat something written before regarding
this work of literature. Putting that aside, this was an amazing and new
experience where I learned that the way you choose to assess or represent a
reading is as important as the reading itself.
Links:
Videos:
1) 5 Benefits of Multi-genre Research Projects
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