English 351 was very different than any class I had taken before. It was called the Philosophy of Literature and it was a joint class that focused on both philosophy and literature that had two different professors. I learned a lot from this class about different works of literature and what constitutes writings to be considered literature. Some of the works we examined, such as the Heart of Darkness, I had previously read in high school English classes, so it was interesting to examine them again in the college setting and apply certain philosophical principles to them. In preparation for each class we had reading responses we had to complete that corresponded to readings. I learned that I better grasped the class material when I completed the readings prior to that specific class. Because we were only required to complete 16 reading responses, I finished them a few weeks prior to the end of the semester. This proved to me that I was a lot more engaged in the class content when I had completed the reading responses. Over the course of the semester I learned how to adapt due to the pandemic forcing the class to become online. I learned how to schedule my days so that I prioritized my classes and got work done well in advance of the due dates. This helped me reduce stress and get better grades.

My artifact is my final paper I completed which examined metaphors in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. To support the philosophy aspect of the class I referenced certain philosophical theories on what constitutes metaphors and how metaphors help embellish works of literature.