An Anual Literary Reflectioon

As I recently watched X-Men: Days of Future Past in the theater, I understood what was said in the beginning of the year: everything I see from now on will be analyzed. I could no longer watch the movie for only the plot, but now something inside of me could not help but to analyze each aspect of the movie, from lighting to costume design to specific phrases each character said. I saw how the storyline reflected a hero’s journey and how the each character reflected an archetype.

Throughout my junior year enrolled in AP Literature and Composition, my reading journal mirrored the growth I made by the means of the quality of my notes. Before the school year even began, my notes were steadily based in plot summary. Looking back and reflecting, I understand my notes bend and break under the attempt at an analytical approach. In my very first notes for this class, I simply retold the plot like an underachieving sparknote author. In a segment from chapter four in book two from George Orwell’s 1984, I wrote “Winston rents the room above Charrington’s. Woman outside singing. Winston wishes they were married” (1984). When I wrote, I was focused on the “what” of the story and not the “why”. As days progressed to weeks and weeks progressed to months, I was still left wondering what exactly “good notes” and “analysis” looked like. Lessons were taught and I learned to decipher the needed from the unneeded and noted what I saw as symbols and larger meanings. In understanding Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, I looked at the what I thought was important from How to Read Literature Like a Professor and from what I could use in timed essays. I scrawled what I thought to be important, “The cherry orchard is a symbol of M Ranevsky’s childhood and innoc...

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...is symbolic of a part of each person. Shelley’s opinion on our darker selves” (Frankenstein). In all, understanding intertextuality and the authors ultimate purpose, my analytical skills blossomed.

Throughout my year enrolled in AP Literature and Composition, the skills I have learned from my reader’s journal has helped me create a different outlook on the world that helps create an order to the meaningless entertainment that would otherwise take over. I now have an insight on the world; the world’s tales are more than just happy accidents. They’re constantly inspired by other works and constantly racing to see who can create the most memorable and meaningful message. Whether I am now watching a quick flick at the movies or reading a Shakespearean play, I can see the dramatic effects of the literary world and how each event corresponds to a determined meaning.