Blogs

My favourite books in this course were Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan, The Shrouded Woman by María Luisa Bombal, and The Time of the Doves by Mercè Rodoreda. I found these books to be where I was the most captivated and could easily write 400-500 words on these blog posts. These three novels share a strong female narrative and reading about these powerful women showcasing their vulnerability was really interesting to me. All three of them were different in their own ways as well but all had deep moments that left an impact on me and had me thinking about how I would deal if I were in their situations. 

Thank you, Jon, Patricio, and Jennifer, for an amazing term and for expanding my bookshelf in a fun and innovative way! And thank you to all my fellow classmates. It was really interesting reading everyone's thoughts and comments on the books we read. My final questions for this class are: What was your favourite book(s)? What specific themes stood out to you from these books?

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This was probably my favorite course this term! At first, I took this for my requirement because the description sounded so interesting even though I had never heard about Romance Studies, and I am SO glad I took that chance because I thoroughly not only enjoyed the content of this course, but also the structure […] read full post >>

I loved this book! This was probably my favorite novel to read in this course, and I really enjoyed the way it was told to the fantastical elements of dream that kept my interest in the development of the story as a reader. I found that the various perspectives emphasized in the passage where Moira […] read full post >>

This week I read My Brilliant Friend, a novel about the touching friendship of Lila and Elena.At the beginning of the novel, it is evident through the protagonist's childhood memories that they are very different from each other. Lila is calm and deter... read full post >>

This week I read My Brilliant Friend, a novel about the touching friendship of Lila and Elena.At the beginning of the novel, it is evident through the protagonist's childhood memories that they are very different from each other. Lila is calm and deter... read full post >>

 It was a blessing for me to be able to choose RMST202 out of the many courses I took. I initially chose this class for the credit requirement, and I had no idea about the content of the type. But when I participated in the class, I was pleasantly surprised by the new grading format and the amount of class discussion. In this situation, I found that I could read every novel recommended by the professor without the pressure of a grade, and the weekly blog I was required to write was a lighter load than in my other classes. This assignment felt less like mandatory learning and more like developing good reading habits. When I learned that I needed to complete a book each week, I would schedule my time wisely and read for two hours a day, Monday through Friday, to complete the book in an even but modest way. These two hours of reading allow me to quiet my mind, feel the words, and start my college day. In fact, it had been a long time since I had read a book in its entirety and carefully, and the existence of this class added an extra layer of reading to my schedule.

On the other hand, I was able to read different perspectives and questions from my classmates' blogs for each book, which deepened my understanding and thinking about each novel. It doesn't stop at the end of a book; it's just as important to reflect deeply on what you've read afterwards. I learned a lot of different perspectives on reading from talking with my classmates.

In addition, the class recommended many books that were worth reading. Some of these books I had heard of, some I hadn't, but without exception, greatly increased my knowledge and understanding of the author of each book after completing them. In the reading process, some of the books were relatively difficult for me to read, so I needed to extend my daily reading time to understand these somewhat difficult novels. My favourite of these books was Roberto Bolaño's Amulet. I was fascinated by Auxilio Lacouture's interesting way of speaking and his identity as the storyteller, and the time structure of the book was worthy of careful consideration. Auxilio Lacouture's role as a historical inscriber added to my admiration and understanding of the history that has passed. In other books, we can also find a search for history and its exposition. Although these books tell different stories, they all give me a sense of mission to remember history as the main character.

All in all, the course was advantageous for me.

read full post >>

 It was a blessing for me to be able to choose RMST202 out of the many courses I took. I initially chose this class for the credit requirement, and I had no idea about the content of the type. But when I participated in the class, I was pleasantly surprised by the new grading format and the amount of class discussion. In this situation, I found that I could read every novel recommended by the professor without the pressure of a grade, and the weekly blog I was required to write was a lighter load than in my other classes. This assignment felt less like mandatory learning and more like developing good reading habits. When I learned that I needed to complete a book each week, I would schedule my time wisely and read for two hours a day, Monday through Friday, to complete the book in an even but modest way. These two hours of reading allow me to quiet my mind, feel the words, and start my college day. In fact, it had been a long time since I had read a book in its entirety and carefully, and the existence of this class added an extra layer of reading to my schedule.

On the other hand, I was able to read different perspectives and questions from my classmates' blogs for each book, which deepened my understanding and thinking about each novel. It doesn't stop at the end of a book; it's just as important to reflect deeply on what you've read afterwards. I learned a lot of different perspectives on reading from talking with my classmates.

In addition, the class recommended many books that were worth reading. Some of these books I had heard of, some I hadn't, but without exception, greatly increased my knowledge and understanding of the author of each book after completing them. In the reading process, some of the books were relatively difficult for me to read, so I needed to extend my daily reading time to understand these somewhat difficult novels. My favourite of these books was Roberto Bolaño's Amulet. I was fascinated by Auxilio Lacouture's interesting way of speaking and his identity as the storyteller, and the time structure of the book was worthy of careful consideration. Auxilio Lacouture's role as a historical inscriber added to my admiration and understanding of the history that has passed. In other books, we can also find a search for history and its exposition. Although these books tell different stories, they all give me a sense of mission to remember history as the main character.

All in all, the course was advantageous for me.

read full post >>

This course has been very different from all of my other ones, but very enjoyable! I really appreciated the unique approach with the contracts and the freedom to be allowed to pick the grade we wanted to achieve. Personally, I think this motivated me to be consistent and loyal to the choices I had made, […] read full post >>

“The Society of Reluctant Dreamers” was an interesting one! There were a lot of aspects to this book surrounding the past/future, dreams, love, and politics. Personally I appreciated the letters being included in the pages because it made it feel very personable and you got to see how Moira and Daniel’s relationship formed.   “To […] read full post >>

“I had not ceased while sleeping to form reflections on what I had just read, but these reflections had taken a rather peculiar turn; it seemed to me that I myself was what the book was talking about,” – Combray, Part I. I’ve never done a proper literature course before, save for my GCE A-Levels, […] read full post >>