A reflective portfolio by Michael Opoku-Arthur
Literature Reflection
As we have concluded this course, my relationship with literature has undergone a shift. I have developed the ability to read and interpret various types of texts across different forms. Had I not taken this class, I would not have developed the skills I obtained from taking this course. Through this reflection and portfolio, you will be able to navigate my work and see the outcome of the challenging but educational moments that allowed me to create.
This course introduced me to various types of literary texts, including those that I would not have encountered otherwise. One of those texts was the short story Rape Fantasies. The genre, which I am not certain of but will assume is feminist commentary expressed through a culmination of dark humor and satire, is not one that I generally gravitate towards. Typically, when I read, I look for texts that provide entertainment or a slice of life; texts that provide discomfort, such as this one, were not the best to stomach. Already having difficulties interpreting satire, I found myself reminded that I am searching for the irony beneath the casual conversation in the story. Although I struggled at first, I was surprised that after taking it head-on, I eventually understood the more profound meaning the author was conveying through “girl-talk”. This story prompts us to acknowledge and identify how social issues can be addressed through indirect means. My advice to a first-time reader would be to look past the surface-level conversation and focus on what Atwood is actually critiquing. Having an understanding that satire is key, a reader can then connect to the issues of sexual violence.
Following the text I had never encountered, there were also texts that I found challenging to interpret. One of those was “Not an Elegy for Mike Brown”. What made this poem difficult was the dense imagery that Smith provided; rather than being a straightforward read, it demanded a close reading to recognize the metaphoric language that Smith employs. When Smith mentioned how the black boy got shot, and it was just a Tuesday, I then began to understand the literal and historical meaning. To ensure I was interpreting the poem accurately, I adopted the strategy of breaking it down into smaller sections and analyzing each stanza. I was focusing on the idea that each stanza accomplished and how that contributed to the overall theme of the poem. The poem does not want us to grieve Mike Brown, but it wants us to understand the full magnitude of the crisis. I think Smith succeeded, because the poem’s emotional intensity and vivid imagery make it nearly impossible to read without reflecting on the larger issue of racialized violence.
Moving on, I think of the novels that I felt a deeper connection to due to the author’s technical and word choices, and the one that tops them all is Akhil Sharma’s “Family Life”. Sharma consistently understates the language to describe these traumatic events, the simplistic deliveries with not much following. When Birju becomes permanently brain dead, I believe that Sharma intentionally utilizes the dull tone and avoids the use of dramatic and emotional language. These restrained sentences can be connected to how a child might process trauma. This choice of style makes every moment more impactful, as a reader can immediately feel the emotional weight of each scene.
In my opinion, Sharma makes a meaningful decision to incorporate cultural details, accurately portraying an Indian immigrant’s life without overexplaining or placing too much emphasis on the matter. It is as if Sharma writes within the community rather than trying to broaden his work for outside audiences. To me, Sharma writes in a manner that assumes the reader understands the cultural contexts. After engaging with “Family Life”, I now find myself able to analyze everyday moments with more intention. For example, I often think back on times when my family placed extra responsibility on me simply because I am the oldest. Before, I saw this as usual; now, I recognize how cultural expectations shaped that dynamic, just as Sharma demonstrates how Ajay’s identity is formed through subtle family moments. Literature taught me to see meaning in experiences I once overlooked.
The text I would most recommend to someone else is Noor Hindi’s poem “Fuck Your Lecture on Craft, My People Are Dying.” Specifically, to my cousin Bryanna, who loves poetry, and my friend Ida, who is deeply committed to activism. I believe this poem merges their interests perfectly: it confronts political violence while challenging traditional ideas of what poetry is supposed to be. Hindi rejects the notion that poems must prioritize beauty or craft over real-world suffering, demanding that art respond to crisis rather than escape it. I would hope that Bryanna and Ida, after reading the poem, can come together and combine their strengths, Bryanna’s understanding of poetry and Ida’s understanding of activism, to further discuss their interpretations. I would hope that they could help one another see new layers in the poem’s message and reach a shared understanding of its urgency. If I had to give one piece of advice before they read it, I would tell them: you understand this poem more than you think, trust your emotional response. The poem is meant to provoke, unsettle, and push readers toward discomfort.
Engaging with literature in this class had challenging and natural moments. It became difficult when weekly discussion prompts required me to think from unexpected angles. Week 11 on The Meursault Investigation is a clear example: I had to slow down, reread, and reinterpret the text beyond my initial understanding. The questions prompted me to explore deeper layers and challenge my assumptions. I had to trace the author’s intentions, the novel’s broader political context, and the analytical methods we practiced in class. That depth made the assignment both rewarding and mentally demanding, as I had to reshape my approach to each text actively.
In contrast, Week 9’s Wide Sargasso Sea discussion felt much more natural and intuitive. The material also resonated with me more directly because madness, stereotypes, and narrative framing are topics that I find easier to break down and analyze. The passages provided concrete evidence to work with, and I felt confident applying literary devices and class concepts to interpret how madness was portrayed. As a result, my responses that week came together more fluidly.
Although these discussions varied in difficulty, both experiences have shaped my understanding of analysis as a skill. Entering the class, analysis meant forming an opinion based on what I read. Now, I see that accurate analysis means breaking down a text’s structure, questioning its assumptions, and understanding how meaning is constructed through language, perspective, and context. This shift is why the reparative retelling assignment remains the submission I’m most proud of. It allowed me to apply creativity and critical thinking together, reimagining a scene while still grounding it in the course’s themes and analytical expectations. Even though it wasn’t my highest score, it felt like my strongest demonstration of what I’ve learned.
Ultimately, analysis is the learning outcome that has proven most useful to me, both in this class and in my broader academic and professional interests. As someone who thinks in terms of logistics, strategy, and process, the ability to break things down, examine their components, and understand how they function aligns perfectly with how I problem-solve. This class helped me refine that skill, not just as a practical tool, but as a way of approaching literature with intention, curiosity, and depth.
Tired Tropes
Repairative Retelling
Discussion 1: Week 4 – Poetry
Question 1
Reading both poems shows that both narrators are writing and coming from a place of hurt and frustration. There seems to be a common denominator between the two poems: what is the point of writing poetic craft when there are real-world issues happening? The title of “Fuck Your Lecture on Craft, My People Are Dying” gives off the idea that the narrator does not care about lessons on how to craft poetry and instead is going to do their own thing. However, the irony is that while the narrator claims they do not care about craft, they actually produce a carefully written and emotionally powerful poem.
For example, the line, “I know I’m American because when I walk into a room, something dies,” has a deeper meaning that stems from the origins of America. The second half of the quote, “something dies,” reflects how America was built on the colonization of Indigenous people and the theft of their land, where destruction and taking became part of the nation’s identity. However, the first half of the quote, “I know I’m American,” is just as important. The narrator is not separate from this nation; she belongs to it. Her frustration comes from the fact that she is American and feels connected to this violent history even if she did not personally create it. The use of metaphor here shows that the narrator believes that simply standing in American identity carries historical violence with it. Although the narrator claims not to care about crafting this poem carefully, the use of this metaphor shows otherwise because it is clearly deliberate and meaningful.
When the narrator says she does not care about “craft,” it raises the question of what careful craft really means. Usually, when people think of carefully crafted poetry, they think of formal structure, polished language, and emotional restraint. In this poem, the language feels raw, emotional, and unfiltered, which may suggest the rejection of traditional poetic rules. However, the arrangement of the poem and the specific choice of words show that it is not careless. Instead, it appears that the narrator is rejecting poetic rules that feel disconnected from real pain rather than rejecting craft itself. This is what creates the irony: the poem looks unpolished on the surface, but its emotional impact proves that it is deeply intentional.
Smith’s poem is very similar in emotional tone but comes from a slightly different place. The narrator is tired of writing this poem, but not necessarily tired of poetry itself. Instead, he seems exhausted by having to speak on the same issue over and over again: the killing of Black boys by police. The “poem” he is sick of is not the paper or the words, but the constant state of mourning. Lines that suggest repetition and weariness show that the real subject is not art, but loss. Unlike Hindi, who appears angry at poetic “craft,” Smith does not seem angry with poetry at all. Poetry is not the problem; reality is. He continues to write not because he enjoys it, but because it is the only way not to forget what is happening.
Question 3
The narrator of “38” is demanding that the reader understand that this is not simply a “fun” or “cute” poem. When the narrator says, “You may like to know, I do not consider this a ‘creative piece,’” she makes it clear that she does not want the reader to approach the poem for entertainment. Instead, she wants the reader to treat the poem seriously, as something that requires emotional and mental attention. When she states, “I will compose each sentence with care, by minding what the rules of writing dictate,” she is letting the reader know that every sentence has been written on purpose and with thought. She also explains that historical events will not be dramatized, which suggests that she does not want to exaggerate the tragedy but rather present it as truth.
What kind of response satisfies these demands is not comfort, but attention and emotional engagement. The reader is supposed to feel disturbed, unsettled, and aware. The poem is not meant to be enjoyed; it is meant to be felt. This is exactly how I responded to the poem. I felt uneasy reading it because I had never learned about the Dakota 38 before. That feeling of discomfort turned into anger and distrust because I started wondering how many other historical events have happened that were never taught to me in school. The poem made me question what has been left out of education and why.
If I had learned about the Dakota 38 through a textbook or lecture, it probably would have felt distant and easier to forget. However, learning through poetry made it personal. The structure of the poem forces the reader to slow down and think instead of just skimming through facts. Rather than being dramatic, the poem is straightforward, which makes the information hit harder. This made the event feel more real and human than it ever would have in a normal history class.
Discussion 2: Week 6- Family Life
Question 1
In this first scene, Ajay lets himself know that his acceptance to Princeton University does not feel like his own, but instead like his mother’s. I believe this is a feeling that many children face today. Even when they achieve something big, their parents are often more excited than they are because many children grow up trying to fulfill their parents’ dreams rather than their own. You see this a lot among athletes as well. Because of this, Ajay feels guilt for leaving his family behind. He even says, “To receive credit for getting into Princeton was to be responsible for having a life that would take me away from my family.” To me, Ajay is saying that taking full credit for this accomplishment would also mean accepting responsibility for walking away from his family. He wants no credit because he associates his success with abandonment. In this moment, Ajay is clearly emotional, conflicted, and overwhelmed. He feels proud but also ashamed, and instead of accepting the moment as his own, he gives the success entirely to his mother. This shows how deeply his love for his family is connected to his sense of guilt.
As a whole, Ajay gains access to understanding, connection, and an audience through telling stories. There is a saying that people bond through trauma, and Ajay’s storytelling allows others to understand his pain even if they have never experienced it themselves. In the real world, people are often required to tell difficult stories in order to receive help or resources. For example, people applying for asylum must explain the trauma or danger they experienced in their home countries to be allowed to stay somewhere safe. Students applying for financial aid often have to explain family struggles, income issues, or personal hardships just to receive assistance. Even in hospitals, patients must describe their pain to be taken seriously or receive treatment. Ajay’s story shows that survival often depends on being able to explain your suffering in the “right” way. What the novel seems to be suggesting is that constantly retelling painful stories can be emotionally exhausting. While storytelling creates connection, it also forces people to relive their trauma over and over again in order to survive.
Question 3
Ajay’s classmates bully him because they are uncomfortable and unable to understand what he is going through with Birju. After the accident, when Ajay shares the “gruesome” details about Birju’s condition, he is met not with sympathy, but with indifference and even physical aggression. They do not know how to process his pain, so they reject it. The bullying shows how children sometimes respond to fear with cruelty. Birju’s condition makes them uneasy because it forces them to face the reality that tragedy can happen to anyone, and instead of showing empathy, they push that reality away.
In contrast, the Indian-American community responds by elevating Birju to a goddess-like figure and treating Shuba as sacred. Scenes in the novel show people bringing gifts, praising Shuba’s strength, and treating Birju as almost holy rather than offering real emotional support. Rather than helping the family confront their suffering, the community transforms it into something spiritual and symbolic. This might be their way of coping with something too painful or complicated to face. By worshipping Birju instead of acknowledging the family’s pain, the community avoids the discomfort of a child’s suffering in reality.
For Ajay’s classmates to respond better, there would need to be conversations about disability, empathy, and sensitivity both at home and in school. They needed guidance on how to treat people experiencing tragedy instead of reacting with fear or mockery. For the Indian-American community, meaningful support would require action rather than symbolism. They could have brought meals, offered childcare, checked in emotionally, or simply asked how the family was coping. Instead of worshipping Birju, they could have supported him. Instead of praising Shuba from a distance, they could have stood beside her.
Discussion 3: Week 7- Family Life
Question 1
In this scene, although Ajay’s father sounds optimistic about recovery, Ajay senses something very different. The line you picked, “The more he spoke, the more I had the sense that I was losing him, that he was somehow fading away right before me,” works because it focuses attention on what Rajinder is saying and how he is saying it. Rajinder’s words, “There are good doctors here… ‘In one month I will be better’… ‘These Americans are experts. They know A to Z’,” are full of rehearsed assurances and borrowed authority. He repeatedly credits the doctors and psychologists, as if the problem is now someone else’s to fix. Because Rajinder presents his recovery as a tidy, externally-managed process, “These Americans are experts,” Ajay hears not honesty but a performance. The smiling face and confident claims feel disconnected from the messy history Ajay has lived through: the missed dinners, the drunken nights, and the broken promises. When Rajinder speaks in this glossy, certain way, Ajay interprets it as fading: his father is taking on a new voice, the institutional or medical voice, that replaces the particular father Ajay knew. That is why this line matters, because it ties Ajay’s sense of loss to Rajinder’s speech. The words themselves show Rajinder stepping into a scripted role, the patient, compliant, optimistic figure, and stepping away from the relational person who once answered Ajay differently. Ajay does not just lose a sober father; he loses the father who used to be present and real to him.
Thinking about addiction in my own life, I see it as both a social problem and an individual struggle. From school, books, and movies, I learned the narrative of relapse, denial, and the “one-month cure” optimism—stories that make recovery look like a tidy, linear process. From family and religion, I learned shame and moral failure, that addiction is a weakness you hide. From classes and public-health sources, I learned addiction is also socially embedded, shaped by stress, trauma, and access to care. Both perspectives are true: addiction is a medical and mental health condition, but it also exists within social structures. Society’s stigma and the availability or lack of resources shape how people fall into and recover from addiction, but at the same time, individual choices and psychological vulnerabilities matter. That is why Rajinder’s speech, borrowing institutional language while smiling, feels hollow to Ajay. Treating recovery as a simple fix ignores the relational and social damage addiction has already caused.
Question 2
In the final scene on vacation with Hema, Ajay seems to have everything he thought he wanted, career success, a girlfriend, comfort, but he suddenly realizes something is missing. Ajay’s problem is unresolved emotional absence. The “that” he refers to is the missing connection, the emptiness left by what he left behind, family, responsibility, and a sense of home that wasn’t repaired. He becomes aware of it in this moment because success has removed the day-to-day busyness that once distracted him. On vacation, with time and space to breathe and a partner beside him, the silence allows old feelings to surface. Hema and leisure act as mirrors, they show Ajay that he can afford comforts now, but they cannot fill the specific void left by Rajinder’s decline and the family losses he has carried through the years.
Why here, specifically? When you are grinding toward goals, you often defer feeling. Achieving them forces the question, “Why do I feel empty now that I have what I wanted?” The vacation collapses his schedule and invites reflection. Being with Hema, someone outside the family, highlights his separation from the people who shaped him. He realizes the cost: he has the material markers of success, but not the relational repair or rootedness that would make him feel whole. In short, the “that” is the unresolved emotional debt and disconnection, and this moment is where the distance between achievement and fulfillment becomes impossible to ignore.
Discussion 4: Week 9- Wide Sargasso Sea
Question 1
The “madwoman in the attic” trope continues to appear in modern cultural productions when women’s emotional breakdowns are treated as dangerous rather than human. A strong example of this is Wanda Maximoff in WandaVision. After losing her family, Wanda retreats into an imagined reality that allows her to live the life she can no longer have. While her actions are harmful, the show makes it clear that she is acting from grief rather than malice. Instead of being given compassion or support, Wanda is treated as a threat to be contained. The public and authorities see her pain as something terrifying instead of understandable. This mirrors how women in older literature were removed from society when their emotions became inconvenient or overwhelming. Wanda is viewed not as a grieving woman, but as a dangerous one.
This example matters because it shows that even in modern storytelling, women who experience deep emotional suffering are frequently punished rather than supported. WandaVision reflects how society continues to associate women’s emotional expression with instability and danger. Instead of being comforted, Wanda becomes isolated and feared in the same way Bertha Mason or Annette are. The trope survives not because women are still locked in attics, but because they are still framed as problems when they refuse to suppress grief. The show reinforces how emotional suffering is tolerated only up to a certain point, after which it becomes something society wants hidden or controlled.
A real-life example of the trope can be seen in Rosemary Kennedy. Because she did not fit expectations for behavior and development, her family chose to alter her rather than support her. The lobotomy arranged by her father permanently disabled her and resulted in her institutionalization for life. Rosemary is a real-world version of the literary figure shut away for being “too different.” Like characters in novels, she was not offered care, understanding, or dignity. Instead, she became a secret. Her story shows how the “madwoman” trope moves beyond fiction into real consequences when society treats difference or difficulty as something that must be erased rather than understood.
Discussion 5: Week 10- The Mersault Investigation
Question 1
When asked to share what I think or notice in class, I generally feel comfortable doing so. Growing up, I was encouraged to speak up and share my thoughts, so participating has almost become second nature. That said, I sometimes struggle with framing my ideas in a way that is thought-provoking or precise, rather than vague. I see this as a positive challenge because it pushes me to think critically and express myself more effectively.
In classes within my major, I am often one of the first to contribute, which gives me a chance to influence the discussion. I’ve noticed that many students have ideas they want to share but hold back due to fear of being judged or misunderstood, often waiting to see how others respond first. For me, engagement comes naturally because I am genuinely interested in the material and its real-world applications, and I recognize that participating is an important part of learning. While discussions don’t always shape the course content directly, they provide a space to exchange perspectives, deepen understanding, and connect theory with experience.
Question 2
When I hear the phrase “world literature,” I immediately think of a network of stories that cross cultures, languages, and histories. I also think about the challenges of translation, not just of words, but of cultural context, symbolism, and nuance, and how meaning can change depending on the reader. “World literature” brings to mind literary conversations across time and space: how a Japanese haiku might resonate with a Brazilian novel or a Nigerian poem, creating unexpected connections. The phrase evokes the idea of literature as a bridge between human experiences, where the particulars of culture, history, and perspective are central to understanding the text.