What I've learned

Even though I didn't write on the generic topic for my paper, I think it's worth mentioning what I've learned this semester. First, of course I've explored the concept that every story is a retelling of another story. Everything we come into contact with is connected in some way, and it's impossible to find a completely original story. At first I was skeptical, but after this class I realized that this is true. In every story, you can find the same archetypes of portrayed by different characters in different ways, but it all ends up similar. Even our own lives are retellings of other's before us and other stories. It's quite interesting once you get to analyze your own life and the stories you've read and see how each of them reltes to other stories.
In addition to retellings, I learned how to persevere trough a huge book.I can honestly say that I've never read a book as large as the Brothers Karamazov. At times I found my attention drifting, and I probably didn't really absorb some of the book, but i was still a rewarding experience and showed me that I have the ability to read a 700 page russian novel.
Also, I examined the idea that I can learn lessons and experiences from reading. Surely, I can learn through travelling and actual physical experiences, but I can also learn through reading.
In class I also learned about many archetypes. For example: the hero, the temptress, the trickster, the earth mother, the wise old man, etc. Each story without a doubt contains some of these archetypes, they are just represented in different ways. There are even these archetypes in our own lives. I'm sure we all know a wise old man, a caring mother, a trickster, some kind of temptress, and hopefully we are the heros of our own life story.
Some of the stories I enjoyed most this semester were: The lady with the pet dog, all the fairytale re-telling like Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella, Antigone, and where are you going, where have you been. I also liked the poetry section, with poems like The Demon Lover and writing our own sonnets. There's something about being forced to condense your thoughts into specific lenghs that makes reading a poem especially powerful and full of emotion. Sonnet therapy is something I'll certainly consider whenever I feel down.
I'm sure I'm leaving a ton of things out, but these are the aspects of this class that will stick with me for many years to come.