Mythology and Folklore 2020

So far, I am pretty pleased with my progress. According to Laura's progress chart, I'm on track for a good grade, which isn't my top priority like it was freshman year (I think we were all still caught up in the idea then that grades meant everything ) but it still is nice to see that the work you're putting in is getting results like that. I try to keep up with the assignments, and even work ahead sometimes, and so far I've been doing well on that front. As the semester goes on, that might become harder, as aside from this class, I have two graduate seminars and my thesis to work on, all of which are pretty research- and writing-heavy. Since the assignments for this class are never overly complicated or burdensome, it shouldn't be a major problem. I actually find myself looking forward to these assignments, as they are easy to manage and a refreshing change from the kind of stuff I do for my major. Looking forward, my biggest concern is, as I've said, keep...

Overall, I've found everybody's comments helpful. While I may not always agree with certain stylistic comments, I appreciate getting to hear different points of view on my work, because sometimes it is so hard to see past our own mental blocks when reviewing our own work. That's something that happens to me in my research papers for my grad classes, too, so it's nice to have this setting where I can hear different perspectives on my fiction work. I find that the more specific the comments, especially in terms of my weak areas, the more helpful they are. I think in my own comments on other peoples' work, I could be more constructive. I always try to fill my comments with positives, because I genuinely like my classmates' stories, and also because I don't want to offend anyone. But we're here to learn from each other, and if I have a question or a concern with something, I should be more confident to identify that to them. Reading other people's'...

Looking back over the reading and writing assignments of the past few weeks, I'm pretty satisfied with my progress. I noticed that my stories have gotten a lot more confident; I'm more willing to tap into my literary side and bring some writing elements of my favorite kinds of books into my own writing. At first, it felt very strange, and somehow almost egotistical, to write and publish fiction for all the world (but in reality probably just this class is reading this, and maybe a couple of other people) to see. But the more I write, the less strange it feels. I've always liked writing and reading; my favorite class in high school was freshman year English, and to this day the teacher I had for that class is one of my favorite people (hey, Mrs. Gross!). When I came to college, however, my writing ended up being either school-related, and therefore decidedly non-fiction and mostly research-based or just me writing for myself in my journal. It has been a great experience so f...