English 112L Introduction to Literature is a class meant to teach students how to read, interpret and write about various forms of literature, such as poems, plays and short stories. In this essay I will reflect on some of the assigned readings that I worked on in this course. 

What You Pawn I Will Redeem is a short story about a man named Jackson Jackson, who is a Native American. This is only one of many short stories in this course to be written by a Native American, but I feel like exposing readers to multiple stories written by different people can help readers understand other cultures. 

Sonny’s Blues is a short story about the narrator and his little brother, Sonny. The narrator is somewhat similar to the main character of another assigned reading in this course, Troy Maxson. However, unlike Troy the narrator is able to make amends with his brother and support his dream to become a jazz musician. Despite being a short story it is a little longer than some of the other writings in this course. This story is a good introduction to analysis due to its expressive language. There is a lot of symbolism that can be found within the text, especially around light and darkness. Sonny’s name itself may be referencing the sun. 

Fences is a play with many themes, which makes it a good play for critical analysis. Some of the themes present in the story are fatherhood, racism, segregation and the cycle of abuse. Having a play with so many themes can be beneficial in understanding how certain themes can overlap and impact the story, and may even help readers be able to point out themes in different stories. It also makes the play well rounded, as there isn’t just a singular theme or lesson to be taken from the story, but several. Critical analysis is an important skill as it can not only give the reader a deeper understanding of written works, but it can also help the reader think critically in other situations as well. 

Hamlet is by far one of the most recognizable pieces of literature that is discussed in this course. Even if you have never read Hamlet, you have likely been exposed to Hamlet in some other ways through pop-culture. Hamlet is a story about a prince who goes on a quest to avenge his father, then meets a tragic end. While Hamlet is by no means a completely accurate representation of the late Middle Ages, it can still be used to examine the thoughts and beliefs of the time period it was written in by comparing it to other more modern stories and retellings. Understanding how cultures change and develop over time is important when analyzing old literature, since it can help you understand the context for certain events in the story. 

Othello is a tragedy about racism and prejudice. Unlike many other works Shakespeare has written, I had never read this story before. While the other plays and poems I have read from Shakespeare were okay, I found it more interesting to read Othello due to the fact that I had hardly any previous experience with it. While I know that there are adaptations of Othello, I had never seen one before, and they aren’t as popular as adaptations of plays like Romeo and Juliet. Othello’s style of language helped me understand some of Shakespeare’s other works as well. 

These are just a few of the assigned readings for this course, but I think they all helped me understand writing in their own unique ways.