Contemporary Literature Reflection

Final Course Reflection

            The question is: why is it important to be a reader (and writer) in the twenty-first century? This question was mentioned at the beginning of Contemporary Literature way back in August and it is fitting that for the final project of Contemporary Literature we are coming back to this question and answering it for the last time. It is important to be a reader and writer in the twenty-first century because we are able to understand what is happening in a rapidly changing world and where we stand in that rapidly changing world. I will be discussing that exact question in the four books (five if you count the extra credit book) that we have covered throughout the year. Through reading and writing in the twenty-first century, we are also able to learn about new things from different perspectives where we would probably not have learned about them. As seen through The Art of Racing in the Rain. This is why it is so important to be a reader and writer in the twenty-first century.

            Gath Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain does an excellent job of getting a story from a different perspective as well as understanding things from a different point of view. In this example, it is that of a dog named Enzo. If it was not for Stein’s impressive and intricate way of telling this story from Enzo’s point of view while making it believable that this could happen at some point, the story would not have the appeal that it did with this impressive storytelling by Stein. The description of Enzo as he get older and starts to experience the aches and pains as his body ages are hilarious and believable because of Stein’s descriptions in his writing. As seen in this scene with Enzo, “The morning after Eve’s funeral, I could barely move. My body was so stiff, I couldn’t even stand, Denny had to [help] me” (Stein 215). Through this description of the pain that Enzo is in, the reader feels sorry for him. If it was not for the descriptive writing of this scene, the reader would not necessarily feel that way. The writing style of Stein is also one of the reasons that after The Art of Racing in the Rain was published there was a high influx of similar novels taking the point of view of an animal. Stein had successfully started a sub-genre through his vivid descriptions of what happens in the novel. This novel is just a great example of the benefits of learning about new things from different points of view by reading and writing in the twenty-first century. The infographic project that went along with this novel did an OK job of representing that but the book was a better example of what it means to truly be a reader and writer in the twenty-first century.

            Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus also represents a different point of view similar to Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain but it is as different as it is similar. Unlike all of the other books that we read in Contemporary Literature where they could be set in the present time and it would be a “believable” book, which would not be possible for The Night Circus. It is because it takes place in the 1800s and there is magic. Besides those two factors in the book, Morgenstern’s vivid and descriptive does a great job of making the book believable and a joy to read. As seen in the description of the fire, “flames lit up in yellow, ripe pumpkin, red, …” (Morgenstern 120). While only a few colors were included in the quote out of the twelve in total that are mentioned, the beauty of the story that Morgenstern constructs is second to none. The perspectives in the book help to also allow the reader to understand more about what they are reading. Marco learns in solitude while Celia learns with the help of her father. These are two clearly different ways of learning and preparing for a competition but love ends up getting in the way. This the only book that (I will be writing about) has an overwhelming theme of love. Sure, there are other books that we read that have love briefly mentioned but they are not as strong as a central theme as it is in The Night Circus. Morgenstern’s shows how an individual’s judgment can be clouded by love, which is not a bad thing, but the reader is able to get a different experience through reading this book than they would get through reading the other books this year. Since this one is the only one that really was in the past and had magic in it. This perspective that the reader gets from The Night Circus shows how important it is to be a reader in the twenty-first century.

            Robin Sloan’s Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is a literary masterpiece and by far my most favorite that we read for Contemporary Literature (beside Lone Survivor for Extra Credit). What Sloan does better than any other author that we read this year (besides Luttrell) was create very vivid descriptions of the different settings in the novel as well as just being very descriptive in everything that happens pertaining to the novel. The Waybacklist as well as Mr. Penumbra’s actual 24-Hour Bookstore are so descriptive that they are believable that the store could actually be in San Francisco. The description of the Reading Room is one such example, “...Wide steps curl down into the darkness. The ceiling is crisscrossed with heavy wooden beams. ...The floor is bedrock ...smooth like glass” (Sloan 143-44). With this description of the Reading Room, the reader is successfully able to picture themselves walking besides Clay and experiencing the Reading Room right along with him. Sloan is able to do what many authors try to do but are rather unsuccessful. He is able to intertwine technology with literature, books in particular.  The Unbroken Spine is situated in the modern and ever changing world; however, there roots are still situated in the ancient form of print—word on paper. The rest of the business is run with copyright suits using the most high-tech and modern technology. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is the epitome what it means to be a reader and writer in the twenty-first century. The blend of technology and literature clearly shows that and makes this book a perfect example of what it truly means to read and write in the twenty-first century.

            The final book that we were required to read was A.S. King’s Please Ignore Vera Dietz since the writer of this paper did not like the book and found it a pathetic example of what literature is (just my opinion), the writer of this paper will instead focus on the project that went along with the reading of this book, the TEDxCL project. The TEDxCL project was a great culmination to finish out Contemporary Literature. The project was also quite successful in making sure that the participants of Contemporary Literature clearly understood what it meant to be a reader and writer of the twenty-first century since both of those skills were used through finding research about the topic that was chosen for the participant’s TEDx talk as well as understanding what they were researching so that the information could be written out to properly convey what the reader had learned from their research. The topic that the writer of this paper chose for their TEDxCL talk was, The Benefit of Getting Enough Sleep. The writer of this paper feels that they were able to successfully present what they had learned from researching this topic in an environment that was not hostile and was very accepting. This is a plus. Did you know that “getting more sleep can lead to a better sex life?” (WebMD). This is just one of the interesting tidbits of information that writer of this paper found that helped to move the presentation along without losing the audience’s attention for too long. Overall, this was the best project that was presented and executed upon in Contemporary Literature. The writer of this paper hopes that it will never go away as this project really helped to answer the question about what it means to be a reader and writer in the twenty-first century.

            Everything that was covered in Contemporary Literature, have it be a book, article, or even a project. They were all geared to answering the question of what it truly means to be a reader and writer in the twenty-first century. A reader and writer in the twenty-first century is someone that is able to successfully attain information from different points of view, make sense of what they learned, and write it down so that others will be able to learn about the new information as well. The writer of this article is happy that they took this class since they were able to learn more about getting information from books that were published in the twenty-first instead of just reading biographies. However, I have never had as much homework in one class before taking this class. This is my own personal opinion. For a comparison, I am taking three AP classes this semester, one which is online through JVLA, and the amount of homework from those three AP classes does not even compare to what I received from this class. Now getting homework is not a bad thing, I do understand that it was the first year that this class was offered, but maybe next year the homework load could be lightened a little bit. Concerning the choices of books, they were all good except for Please Ignore Vera Dietz. How possible would it be to replace Vera Dietz with Lone Survivor? I feel that Lone Survivor would be a more interesting book to read. All of the projects that we did were good, especially the TEDxCL project. If you were going to change one or spruce it up, I would do that for the Infographic project. Overall, a good class and hope that people will continue to take it.