First Reading Assignment Blog

I thought the first section was pretty straight forward. I like the way the text is written, it has a little flair not necessarily found in the average textbook. I really did not have any trouble understanding the concepts at hand. I like the inclusion of multiple references to material we will be reading in the future. In particular, I enjoyed the examples of Flannery O'Conner and the concept of regionalism. When authors stick to their roots, the reader seems to get a complete picture of what life is like in that area, in that era, in that time, in that moment. I am not a big fan of note taking, and I felt that most of the material covered in the first section was common sense. Note taking may be my biggest challenge in this class. I do not mind reading the assignments though. It is interesting how the plot can be developed in so many ways, yet the sequence of events always has to come together to create a cohesive story line. The narrator is such an important part of any novel, but I find that I rarely question the validity of what I am being told. Through repetition at a young age we are classically conditioned to ignore any inconsistencies involving the narration of what we are reading. I think that this will be about as effective as a textbook can be. I have not perused any of the short stories, but I have glanced at several titles included in the anthology and I am actually interested to read a few of the selections.