Dull Tools

3 years ago, Lizzi was an expert in close reading. She knew the differences between concepts she can’t even remember now and was great at analyzing minute details (as every English major should be). But time passed, majors changed, and every skill in her tool belt became duller than a balding history professor wearing tweed.

Last semester she took a creative writing class and a class in writing about art and humanities. Although she enjoyed both of those classes a lot and her writing improved immensely, Lizzi’s close reading wasn’t up to par. Her close reading about a novella called The Shawl:

•         lacked any formal analysis
•         had a confusing organization
•         focused almost exclusively on analyzing themes
•         seemed a little ramble-y

In ENG 295 Lizzi hopes to make her writing more concise and learn how to analyze more than just themes. Besides simply strengthening her weaknesses, she also hopes to improve upon her strengths. Some of which include:

•         good diction (although ‘good’ is clearly not indicative of this skill)
•         a strong voice
•         use of intertexuality

Yeah, mostly just a strong voice. She is still a little unsure about what other strengths she has. Lizzi loves reading because of the opportunity to understand what makes people/characters tick. Even though she doesn’t know Mr. Collins in real life, she does know someone who is awkwardly getting in other peoples’ business and giving unwanted attention. Because of this fascination, Lizzi is good at understanding what characters mean, but she feels woefully uncertain and ignorant on what the authors’ intended meaning is. Is there even an intended meaning? Who really knows?

She hopes to find out.