PORTFOLIO
Why Study English?
This was the first essay question I faced in my specialization course this year. I am thankful that the assignment required that I think deeply about the purpose and the benefits of English Education. I created a podcast to address this question. This podcast is located on the right. The podcast is twelve minutes long, so I have included portions of my script below to summarize my emerging conceptual understanding of the purpose of English.
"Considering this question [why study English?] has expanded my understanding of how the study of English significantly influences the ethical, socio-political and personal aspects of our lives. It is essential in understanding human nature, participating in socio-political processes and constructing personal knowledge."
According to Frye (1993) “We constantly find things in literature that suddenly coordinate and bring into focus a great many [of our impressions of human life], and this is a part of what Aristotle means by the typical or universal human event.” (p. 35)
"...the study of literature provides us with the opportunities to deconstruct the barriers of difference and recognize the universal and unifying conditions of humanness."
Reference
Frye, N. (1993). The Educated Imagination. Canada: House of Anansi Press Ltd. (Original work published in 1963).
"The study of English increases our ability to successfully participate in social and political contexts through developing our communication skills and educating our imagination."
"the process of reading literature, analyzing literature, creating a thesis and supporting it in an essay greatly increases our ability to formulate and effectively communicate our ideas. Writing in this capacity increases our potential for self-expression, that is our ability to make a case; to use rhetoric; to argue; to convince; to persuade, all of which are crucial aspects of living in a social world."