Category: Summary and Evaluation

That’s all she wrote, folks! I am now 2/6 (or 1/3 for all you math people) done with essays in ENGL 305. Here is the obligatory celebration gif:

And yes, I do think all of my final blog posts for each essay will be song titles, thank you for asking. Actually, you know what, I might just change all of my blog posts to song titles and then insert YouTube clips of the songs. Now that’s an idea.

After receiving Dr. Pennington’s comments on my first revision of the Summary and Eval paper, I was extremely happy to see that I wouldn’t have to do a second revision. Yes, revisions are great and all, but now I have more time to start my psychoanalytic draft and figure out what I want to write about. There are definitely a few things I can do before I put a final draft stamp on this essay, but nothing major enough to warrant a whole new revision.

Overall, I’m really happy with how this essay turned out. It was a struggle at first to try and make sure I had all the correct information in the summary. The Eagleton article was complex but really interesting, so thankfully, I didn’t have too much trouble with that. I think the evaluation was obviously a lot more fun to write because I got to insert my own opinion about literature (because at the end of the day, it’s all about my opinion, right?)

Aaaanyway, I’m very happy to be two essays down (even though there are four to go), and I’m looking forward to moving on to the next one!

Comments on the first draft of the Summary and Eval essay were handed back and… *drumroll*… they’re not as bad as I thought!

I really felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants on this assignment, but I’m glad that it turned out as well as it did. I was especially worried about my evaluation because I wasn’t sure if my ideas were concrete enough, but I got some really helpful comments about how to make it even stronger.

I really enjoyed writing and editing the evaluation section more than the other sections, though, because I’m able to be a lot more personal and analytical of my own experiences and Eagleton’s definition of literature. I get to explain what I think literature is based on my past experiences, and I think that’s really cool.

In my first revision, I decided to add a bit more detail to my evaluation and make it a little more personal in order to really get my point across. I did this by making specific references to authors and works that have shaped my experience with Eagleton’s definition of literature.

Overall, I’d say I had a pretty successful first draft for this assignment, and I’m even more confident in my first revision. Here’s to more successful first drafts.

Well, the first ENGL 305 essay has come and gone, and it’s now time to move on to the next one. The Summary and Evaluation assignment is definitely unlike any other assignment I have received in an English class, but is it weird to say that I’m kind of excited for it? Who am I becoming?

I feel like I finally have my schedule down (yes, I know we’re already almost five weeks into the semester), and I have newfound confidence with one essay under my belt. Even though this assignment does seem very different than the other ones in this class, I think it’s a good break from the more analytical essays we’re going to have to write later. It’s nice to write an essay where I can give my opinion without having to pile on textual evidence, just my own experience.

I’m sure it also helps that I really enjoyed the Eagleton reading. I thought it was really intriguing to see how the different definitions of literature have changed throughout history and how Eagleton shows the complications with each definition. Though a bit confusing at first, I found the Russian Formalist definition of literature to be really fascinating. It was cool to see how the New Critics took parts of the Formalist’s definition and used it in how they believed literature should be criticized.

Spoiler alert for my Summary and Evaluation paper (go read that!), but I do agree with what Eagleton proposes in his thesis. I definitely think that we value what we’re told to value by social groups in a higher power than us. It makes the most sense to me and doesn’t quite have the complications that the other definitions have.

Anyway, happy fifth week of the semester! I wish all my fellow English 305ers well in writing their Summary and Evaluation drafts! Godspeed.