The best part about this class was the readings. I never would’ve picked up a “comedy book” without this class. I was particularly struck by Fey’s “Rules of Improvisation.” This was interesting to me because it spoke to female empowerment as a whole. It also forced me to consider conversation from a new perspective. It never occurred to me that in order to be successful one must have an aggressive stance towards the concept of conversation.
I loved hearing my peer’s feedback. Not only did it make me reexamine my work, but having their work on display gave me insights I wouldn’t have had access to in a normal “on campus” class. The forum postings in particular, were enlightening. The online aspect of the public forum postings made me think about the structure of on campus classes all together. We would all have so much to gain by having a public “collection bank” of all of our classmates’ work. By sharing our work with everyone else I think everyone’s writing would get better. The comparing and contrasting of my peer’s work definitely had a large impact on me this summer.
Another thing was Nanette. What a thing. I had no idea going into this class on “funny women,” that I would be basing my final project on a lesbian comic. But she really was that phenomenal. I heard her message, and upon hearing it, I wanted more. So I based my major multi-modal project on her special.
Another thing that was fun was the formatting of the class. I never had a day without some kind of prep work. I find that most other classes provide large gaps with little work to be done just to throw people off their game. This class on the other hand was rigorous and kept me on my game. At the start, I didn’t think I would turn in all my work for this class. I thought I would lag behind and forget this or that but after I got into the swing of things I really started to improve. I also feel as through the rigorous nature of this class has made my writing that much more clear for my reader.
Not to mention Harris. I will keep his book around when I write essays for the plethora of English classes awaiting my next year at Shepherd. “Countering” was my favorite of his ideas.
at struck me was Wanda Sykes’s Not Normal. Not Normal was my second favorite part of the class. I loved hearing her well-formulated railings against Trump. She delivered very well thought out criticisms of “southern pride” and “Trump supporters.” Such lines as “Your heritage is trash” and “You’ve got to let the bachelor go” stuck with me. Two other lines that stuck with me were “You need a black friend” and “We’re not all the same, we’re different, but we’re equal.”
The material from class had me invested in the way I spent my time. There are so many classes that make you just go through the motions. They feel more like shoveling the walk than adding color to a canvas. This class felt like the latter. 372 really was both fun and interesting. Most professors and most classes can’t reach the point of student interest I reached just by reading and typing miles away.
Interesting post, Oliver! I also always really enjoy the peer reviews in Dr. H.’s classes. I find everyone’s advice so informative and helpful, which really helps me to reevaluate my work, making the revising process that much smoother. I think your idea about a “public collection” of peers work is neat. I think Dr. H. has peer reviews in most of her classes and it would be nice to see that in more classes because I find it super helpful, too. I’m glad you found the theme to your final project in a work that you were unfamiliar with. It’s always nice to learn new things that have a lasting impact.
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