Lectures

Intro to poetry

In this lecture you tried to get the class to understand and appreciate the power of poetry. Maybe it was the tone you set for the class but I found it inspiring as everyone read a song out loud as if it were a poem, as you walked around the class in silence as we closed our eyes and envisioned the words coming to life. This was an interesting approach to get the entire class interested in poetry since it is the least favorite part of literature for most people. You related poetry to the interests and music of millennial, such as Eminem and pink. I remember after every song was read the entire class new who the singer was and as the class continued I looked around and although not everyone, but more people looked intrigued by the end of the class. I have to admit it helped me appreciate poetry a little bit more.

Empathy VS Sympathy lecture

            This was one of my favorite lectures because the difference between empathy and sympathy were made clear. Professor you brought up a great point that people can be sympathetic, but at the end of the day it is not going to really affect their life, while some who can empathize might be a little more understanding. I know from past experiences that unless you are accompanied by someone who doesn’t know what you are going through, they are not going to be able to help you, no matter how hard they try. What’s that old saying? Misery loves company?

            Also for some reason the Alzheimer’s poem really affected me. I don’t know why maybe because I can empathize with the author and honestly, it made me want to jump into the book and help that family because there is absolutely nothing worse than everything you’ve ever known changing faster than  the blink of an eye. The poem was depressing but the meaning was powerful.

Identity lecture

First you discussed with us the phenomenal poem “Identity” which is hanging on my wall now. The poem at first sounded cliché to me but after going over it in class and analyzing the descriptive and colorful vocabulary it inspired me. What really got to be though was trying to compare myself to something. I chose a candle which I thought not twice but three times about before choosing it because I wasn’t completely satisfied with it. However this lecture kind of served as a latent function, because after the class I tried hard to find something to compare myself too and I still can’t find one single object that describes me fully. So the lecture actually didn’t really affect me until after the class was over but since them I’m still trying to find something comparable to me.