FINAL REFLECTION

English 241 has taught me so much about Early American Literature that I did not know. In English 241, we studied authors such as Emerson, Franklin, and Thoreau to name a few. While studying several pieces of Literature, I was able to understand the impact the American Literature had on America. I have learned a lot about Early America, American Literature, numerous of authors during that time, and even myself.

America was a new world where very little about it was known. The Europeans thought that the Americas was a narrow strip of land east of Europe. America was a new world that came out of no where and changed Europe tremendously. From the mini-lectures about Early America, I learned that when the frontier was closed in 1870, Americans were still discovering what it meant to live on this land because there was still so much unknown about America. Although most of the discovering was done back in the 17th and 18th century, we are still discovering new things about America today.

In this class, I learned that Early American Literature had a big role in forming the United States, modern social and political life, and the character of the American people. Most of the literature written during those times were journals, letter, diaries, and sermons which were all personal literature that had a major impact on the lives of Americans. In this course we studied several pieces of literatures that had a role in forming the United States. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, and Self-Reliance are three of the pieces of Early American Literature that had an impact on the forming of America. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin not only tells us about his own life but it also gives us an insight on how to live better lives. Just like Franklin, I made a list of virtues that I can attempt to master for my moral being. The Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl tells us about Jacob’s life as a slave. The Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was written to help in end slavery. As an assignment, I wrote about an unsolved social problem that must be resolved in order to maintain a society based on equality and shared rights which is the point that Jacob’s was trying to get across by writing The Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Self-Reliance by Emerson which is basically about trusting yourself. “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men” (Emerson). In this quote, I think Emerson is simply saying we should think for ourselves. In order to discover America we must discover who we are first and that is what Self-Reliance tell us.  Self-Reliance falls in that group with building character of the American people. After reading this essay by Emerson, I was able to write an essay on “Who my best self is” which made me realize who I am at my best.

Through readings from authors such as Crevecoeur, my writings, and writings from my peers my thoughts on what it means to be an American changed . In de Crevecoeur’s letter “What is an American?”,  he explains his love for America and what it means to be an American. Before reading this letter by Crevecoeur, I use to think that being American meant just being a citizen of the United States. I learned that being American is so much more than just being a citizen.  Just like de Crevecoeur, I got the chance to explain “What is an American?” by writing to a modern day immigrant. I thought that by me being a native of America it would have been easier for me to explain to someone else what it means to be American but I learned that it is harder to explain to someone who has never been here what it means to be an American. "They are a mixture of English, Scotch, Irish, French, Dutch, Germans, and Swedes (Crevecoeur)”. In this quote from Crevecoeur essay, I understand that Americans are very diverse. You can’t use a person’s culture or race to identify them as an American. In Belen and Tyler essays, they both talk about how they came from other countries to be an American. Tyler Workman and Belen Selassie essays helped me to realize that Americans aren’t just individuals from America as they came from other countries to be an American and live the American dream.

Although this class was meant to gain an understanding on America and the impact that American Literature had on America, I learned so much more. I have never been in a class where I was able to learn something about myself. In this class, I learned so much about myself. In this class, I had to chance to write an essay about “Who is my best self?”. I got the chance to find how who I am at my best. I also write about “What I live for”?. I got to tell what living a full life to means to me and the things I need. I also came to the conclusion that I spend too much time with worldly things that I do not enough time to spend with Nature. I got the chance to go on a walk on a trail and engage with nature. It made me realize that everyday we take the small things for granted. I was able to walk around that trail and just block out thoughts. It was like I was in my own zone. Now I have started to do it at least once a week as I found out it is a way to clear my mind and has been very helpful in helping me to slow down my pace.

Overall this course has been really helpful in gaining an understanding of Early American Literature. The mini-lectures and the detailed information given for assignments were very beneficial in making sure that I knew what was being taught. I have never taken a class where a teacher would teach me online which is something new for me but it really helped. Something else that stunned me was how Professor Brandon made English 241 very interesting. I was able to take something from the literature to learn something about myself. I hope that I earn a “B” for my grade in this class. I must admit that I slipped off sometimes but I always tried to make sure that my assignments were completed and I was active with discussions. This class has definitely had a positive impact on my life as it made me more interested in Early American Literature and left me with a desire to learn more. I am excited and eager to move on to Early American Literature Part II and I hope that I will be able to take this journey with Professor Brandon.


 ***THANKS PROFESSOR BRANDON FOR EVERYTHING! EVERY CLASS THAT I TAKE WITH YOU I CONTINUE TO LEARN MORE AND MORE!