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.
