Final Blog

To begin, as always I enjoyed this class immensely and am a little bit sad that this will not only be the last class that I take from Dr. Sexon, but the last class that I have with everyone else. It has been a journey like no other, and one that I will never forget. I will miss the truly revelational insights brought to class by each individual throughout the years. However, most of all I think I will miss having people to discuss literature that nobody else want or likes to read. Perhaps I will have to join a book club of some sorts.

I think the thing that I took the most out of this course was simply to forever question what is told to me and just reality in general. It all must be taken with a grain of salt. And although in the long run people place such a huge importance on what is real and what is not, all in all it is not that important. I have learned to question, but to not necessarily need to find an absolute answer, for nothing is absolute. I have most definitely gained a greater appreciation for highbrow literature, and hope to someday make it through Finnegans Wake. And in doing so, I don't believe I have lost my appreciation for the lowbrow. In fact, I think I may have found a greater appreciation for it because I feel like it is what you make it. One can find highbrow ideas within every lowbrow piece, and if one takes the time to look for them and ponder them, I think one can get just as much out of a lowbrow piece of literature.

I think I have learned more about myself from taking this class as well. By emptying out what I thought I knew (because I obviously knew nothing when it came to Eliot) I was able to find new facets of my being that I had not seen before. I am a firm believer that every book one reads has an effect on them somehow. Each piece of literature begs different questions and promotes different musings. It is through such thought, sometimes a way of no ecstasy, that one truly comes to understand oneself on a deeper level. This class, alongside the Nabokov class, has taught me patience and helped me build the ability to look deeper into the words in front of me. It has taught me that with each re-reading of a novel will come new discoveries and new insights. I have learned to never "judge a book by its cover," and recognise that even the lowest of the lowbrow material has value. And I hope I have learned some of what I need to remain and avid and informed reader from here on.

I suppose now that I am moving on I will have to look elsewhere for my literary fix, although I have an idea that Dr. Sexon will always be there to provide me with the stuff if absolutely needed.