Madison

Maddie

1. What is the most interesting thing you have learned since the start of this class?
 * Exercise 1**

Part of the reason I decided to take the Literature course here is because what has always been hardest for me in my English classes is getting very detailed about a piece of work. I can argue philosophies and broad concepts all day, but when asked to refer back to the text to support myself, I get lost. Usually my arguments are based off the general 'feel' of the text, and the rest is my strong opinions about social issues or whatever we are discussing. I was nervous about having to get technical with the works, but thought it would be a good chance to improve that skill. Despite my qualms, I've actually already found that forcing myself to focus in on //why// a text has a certain feel to it can add, not detract from an argument as I previously believed. When we were discussing the mission statements, I had written down some general thoughts about my opinion on them, but it was only after discussing the use of the word 'they' in the IB Learner Profile that I actually began to understand what about it I didn't like. I didn't only begin to construct a better argument about the text, but it actually lead me to new ideas about my feelings towards the text, and what that meant about myself and what I'm looking for. I've always loved literature, but have been pretty aggressively opposed to text deconstruction under the belief that it ruins the quality of the book. However, by keeping an open mind from the first day of class, I've actually found how much I enjoy the new realizations it brings. I can't wait to see where this goes!

2. With which points made did you agree most (in relation to the discussion re mission statements / learner profile/ UWC values)?

I really enjoyed the discussion that began specifically in relation to the rigidness most of us saw in the IB Learner Profile. I felt the discussion itself demonstrated the 'celebration of difference' which is emphasized in the UWC mission statement because many of us did not appreciate being given what we perceived as a formulaic personality. Rather, it seemed that most people were searching for a way to embrace the broader UWC mission statement values of compassion, respect, and challenge, while still feeling individual and creating our own sense of idealism within our personal values. People seemed to want to embrace their differences, and I felt like part of the community when everyone seemed to agree about the profile: that the traits themselves were good, but that we wanted more of a sense of our own journey through the IB to a goal and an ideal we felt more personally connected to. The UWC Mission statement had more of a sense of respecting each student's journey to self-discovery by not defining the traits such as compassion and integrity, but trusting the students to find a personal meaning for them. Perhaps it is a generational trend, as we discussed, but from the discussion we had, it seems as though the students here are passionate about their own self-discovery. We question and challenge anyone who tells us who we are or should be, and I think the tone of the UWC mission statement more strongly reflects that quality.

3. With which points did you disagree most (in relation to the discussion re mission statements / learner profile / UWC values)?

This is not exactly a disagreement, but one point I think is missing from the mission statements is the importance of humility. One of the biggest problems we, as students, had with the IB Learner Profile was the air of superiority that came from the repeated use of the word 'they.' It seemed to create a strong 'us' and 'them' attitude that bothered a lot of students. One of the things that grows out of an education like the IB, particularly at such a unique school as UWC, is the idea that there is no right answer. That we are no better than others for being here, and our responsibility, and hopefully our desire, as a result of this opportunity is to go out into the world with ideals and a passion for change. The mission statement includes the idea of 'respect' for others, but I think adding the concept of 'humility' would further encompass the purpose of an IB education. To truly affect change, it's important to remember that we stand as an 'us.' We are here because we are smart, talented, but most of all incredibly lucky. As people, just because we are here does not make us any better or superior to anyone else. I think an addition of humility would really complete the circle of ideals that the mission statements are trying to put forward, and be a good reminder to students of it's importance as we go out into the world after this experience.

4. Anything else you would like to tell us.

I think our class size is excellent, and we've already had a couple fascinating discussions about relatively innocuous texts. I can't wait to see what sort of stuff we'll be talking about when we begin literature discussions next week. I'm looking forward to this year with all of you!


 * Setting of Beloved**

The setting of Beloved is critical because it provides the foundation for the one of the main themes of the novel: that the past is not a separate and distinct period of time, but rather something that shapes and creates and follows people, despite the border that has been crossed away from it. The main setting is near Cincinnati, Ohio in 1873, which lies just north of the Ohio river. The river separates Kentucky from Ohio, and during the days of the slave trade, the free north from the slave-owning south. Slavery was abolished by the Emancipation Proclamation of 1862, but in the flashbacks from the 1850s when Sethe first made her run to freedom, the slave trade was only just beginning to slow. At that point, it was illegal to transport new slaves into the United States from Africa, but slave masters still had ownership of the slaves that were already there and their children. In addition, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 stated that even if a slave had escaped to the free north, they could still be captured and brought back to the south. This law was not abolished until the Emancipation Proclamation which ended all laws that supported the slave trade across the country. In 1855 when Sethe escaped to Cincinnati, she was still Schoolteacher’s legal property when he went Cincinnati to bring her back. The context of the novel provides an American backdrop that is still very much defined by slavery’s recent history, which not only impacted social structure in the south, but also the north through laws such as the Fugitive Slave Act. Slavery may have been abolished by this point in the novel, but any adult alive in the novel had grown up in a time of slavery, and the culture of the country still reflected a time when slavery had been alive and thriving. The laws may have changed, but the culture in which Sethe could be raped and violated by Schoolteacher’s sons, or where Paul D. could be sexually assaulted by guards during his tenure on a chain gang had not fundamentally changed. The ‘prisoner syndrome’ that develops when one group of people is given significant power over another has completely defined the attitudes and fears of the characters throughout the book, and provides the basis for Sethe’s inability to escape the psychological role she had been in her entire life. How can Sethe be free when the entire country is still divided by north and south, free and slave, black and white, past and present? The lines that have been firmly etched in her mind since birth are not easily erased and crossed, and the context of American history provides the setting for Sethe and her family’s mentality towards their history, their relationships, and even their own humanity. The damage is nearly impossible to repair, and just as hard to forget, as seen in Beloved’s manifestation of Sethe’s memories that are a lot harder to bury than by simply passing an anti-slavery law.