English 1

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York University *

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English

Date

Feb 20, 2024

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docx

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1 Reflection Student's Name Institutional Affiliation

2 Reflection I have gained so many helpful skills from this course, including communication skills and critical and creative thinking skills. For this assignment, my media piece is a poem. The course equipped me with the knowledge on how to analyze poems by establishing the meaning of the poem, identifying the tone and attitude of the poem, getting the structure of the poem, identifying the rhyme scheme and symbols used in the poem together with the figures of speech used in the poem ( Hockx, 2005) . Critical thinking is one of the skills that I applied while identifying the poem's theme. I chose to analyze a poem titled 'The Little Black Boy' whose author is William Blake for this assignment. The poem incorporates figures of speech such as metaphors and similes. The poem's main theme is racial discrimination and emphasizes the importance of equality among all people. Imagery has been used in the poem to bring out the theme of racism whereby the colors black and white represent the different races. The colors also represent ethics that is good and bad. The poem mostly outlines the social issues in the community. The poem has a nostalgic mood. For figurative language, the author employs metaphors to bring out a new meaning. An example is where the author writes, 'look on the rising sun.' The author uses the sun to represent God, who gives people lightly. Light, in this case, represents warmth, hope, and knowledge. The author also uses similes in the line 'like a shady grove.' Africans are compared to a shady grove implying that they cannot gain as much knowledge as whites. The author aims to pass a message of equality to the audience. Everyone should be treated equally regardless of race, gender, or status (Satinem, Juwati & Noermanzah 2020). This message is very relevant to modern-day society. The author also challenges the audience to come up with solutions to address the problem of racial discrimination. This brings out global competencies such as problem-solving skills.

3 The most important technique that I have gained from the course work is analytical skills, as evidenced by my poetry analysis. Another poem that I analyzed was 'Stolen rivers. The main theme of the poem is oppression (Gaudioso, 2021). It also brings out the theme of hope portrayed by the citizens. The poem brings out a mixed tone as it is both a celebration and a cry over the state of South Africa at the time ( Scholes, Klaus, Comley, et al. 1991) . The author also uses figurative language such as similes and metaphors. An example of a simile is 'like forest fires. Metaphors and similes are critical in poetry since they are a basic tool utilized in most forms of fiction writing. Using metaphors and similes ensures that the writer can evoke memory or mood, helping the reader make connections, establish a theme, or add interest and color to work. The knowledge gained from this course has enabled me to improve on my communication skills both verbally and non-verbally, depending on my audience. With this, I can clearly state my ideas. Taking action is also a skill that I have learned. Having an idea is not enough, and you have to take appropriate action and actualize it. It has also built my curiosity and interest in learning new things. I have also learned to respect people's differences and acknowledge that everyone has a different perspective in life, which makes us unique. Evaluation of information is also a technique that I have learned in this course which is very important in literary analysis. The technique of evaluating information shall offer a systematic method to study a practice, initiative, program, and intervention to understand how better it achieves its objectives. Therefore, evaluations will assist in determining what works better and might be improved in an initiative or program. In conclusion, the course also taught me global competencies such as self-awareness, problem-solving skills, and how to accept our differences (Jusslin & Höglund, 2021). I have learned the importance of literature, especially in appreciating culture and history. Through this, I have learned to be more empathetic and open-minded by understanding people's

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