Throughout the class, I’ve noticed actual growth in all four SLO area’s (reading widely, interpreting, analyzing and evaluating critically). The weekly journal assignments definitely helped me slow down and actually reflect on each story instead of just rushing through it. And writing my reactions made the readings feel more personal and meaningful. Our play reading activity also stood out to me because hearing how other people understood certain scenes or characters in the play made me see things I wouldn’t have caught on my own. The LitFest low-stakes assignments were also pretty significant to me. They took the pressure off and let me experiment a bit with my work, which made reading and writing feel less like a task and more like something I could actually engage in. Working on the poetry/song analysis taught me to pay attention to small details. I pay more attention to identifying figurative language and the tone of a speaker, and I’ve also started noticing them in other readings too. The social media review assignment was surprisingly helpful too because it allowed me to explain a story’s significance in a short and creative way. When I look back at everything I completed this semester, I can see growth in my ability to interpret and analyze different readings. Overall, this class pushed me to be more open-minded, thoughtful, and active in the way I approach literature.