Blog Entry 11

I have really enjoyed this class covering Arab American Literature. I took a class on the Arab World and a class in Arabic 1, so this class added to my knowledge of Arabs and Muslims. In January, prior to the start of course, I was hesitant to take this course because I knew it would involve reading lots of books. When I was younger, I used to read a lot more, but lost interest. When I saw the syllabus, I felt a little overwhelmed and when Dr. Esa brought all the books we would read to our first class, and stacked the books on the desk, I knew it would be a lot of reading. Thankfully, I kept up with the reading. I learned about Arab Writers and Arab culture. I looked forward to class and discussions. The discussions were thorough and helpful in teaching us how to analyze literature. I took a class, 'Intro to Literary Analysis' (in Spanish), so I had some background in analyzing texts. We read a lot of books and despite all the hard work, I feel accomplished. Thanks to Dr. Esa and this course, I have started to read again. The pleasure that was lost in reading has now returned. Looking back at my blogs, I am glad I was able to blog every week and consider material discussed in class and reflect. I plan to use my blog as reference for reminding myself everything we learned. I will say, however, if a student is not interested in reading or learning about other cultures, they should not take this class. I will recommend this to students who are interested in the world and improving analytical skills. I graduate this semester and am thankful for the classes I have had with Dr. Esa, and this class on Arab American Literature. Four years went by fast, but I am eager to use the skills I’ve acquired for future jobs.  

Blog Entry 10

I enjoyed Sam’s presentation most on “I, the Divine.” The book seems really interesting. I liked how Sam presented with confidence. Sam explained the book thoroughly and she spoke clearly. You can tell she read the book and she seemed like she really enjoyed the book. She spoke with enthusiasm. She provided an excellent analysis at the end. She did not read the slides verbatim. She had appropriate images to go with her presentation.  I found her character map to be useful. It had character relations in America and in Lebanon. Sam had thoughtful, intelligent discussion questions – she even explained and rephrased her discussion questions. The style of the book was most interesting to me because each chapter is written as a first chapter, the point of view from first, second and third person changes, the writing style from poetic to formal to causal changes, and the story is not told linearly. Sam had interesting quotes that went along with themes of the book. She explained her selected quotes in-depth. This presentation made me really want to read this book. It sounds exciting and I enjoyed learning about another book. She provided excellent background on the author of the book, Rabih Alameddine. Rabih was born to Lebanese parents and born in Kuwait. He moved to the United States to study in college. I thought it was unique that in addition to being a writer, Rabih is also an artist. He seems very talented to have great abilities in art and in writing. Sam definitely put a lot of time into preparing for her presentation. I was happy with how she presented it, and how clear she was with her summary and her analysis. Hopefully, when I get a chance, I will read this book. It is clearly a unique book that should be read.