Throughout this fall semester I have absolutely had my ups and my downs. This class however, has really been a great experience for me. Going to a Catholic High School and college for my freshman year, I have never had an English class that wasn't very boring and excruciating to sit through. This class was different. I enjoyed this English class more than any others in my entire academic career.
Now I understand that this course was designed to not be like your regular literature and composition class, but I actually enjoyed it much more because of this. I also really liked some of the activities that we did, and acronyms that we have learned. Specifically, I really enjoyed learning how to write a descriptive scene and how to put more meaning into my writing. The instructional course that Prof. Mangini put us through on how to correctly use MLA format was very helpful. I did know how to write in MLA before, but this really helped me iron out all of the details that I had originally missed. One of our first activities and one of my favorites, was when we read "Hills like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway. I really enjoyed this activity because Sabatino read through it with us, then proceeded to ask us questions about the reading. At first, the questions were basic, surface level questions. Then, they got deeper and deeper. We then went back through the reading and he pointed out all of the hidden meaning in the writing. This was cool to me because I really had no idea that some authors include a lot of hidden meaning to work around their story. This semester was one of my favorites to date. This is a powerful statement but I really did enjoy this course. Last year, in my first semester of college, I received an "F" in my 100 level English course. From then on, I absolutely hated the subject. I wanted nothing to do with it, but after taking this course my views have changed. I would recommend this course to anyone who asks.
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The term, “Positive Psychology” is defined as “the scientific study of what makes life most worth living.” (Positive Psych.com) Now the father of “Modern Day Psychology”, Dr. Martin Seligman, developed the “Three Good Things” activity to find out just that. What exactly makes life worth living? To go further into a description, positive psychology is essentially the scientific method of studying human thoughts, feelings, and behavior. “With a focus on strengths instead of weakness, building the good in life instead of repairing the bad, and taking the lives of average people up to great instead of focusing solely on moving those who are struggling up to normal.” (Positive Psych.com)
Above is the first part of my literature review for my research project. I find it very interesting that positive psychology is such a key factor in our everyday lives. As I did more research, I found that that gratitude is a very unique aspect of life. People often mistake the emotion, “gratitude” with appreciation. They are the same in some ways, but they also have their differences. “What many people do not know is that gratitude plays an important role in several historical movements and that gratitude is now becoming an important part of psychology research, and especially positive psychology research.” Gratitude, from a researchers standpoint, is not only an action, but actually considered to be a positive emotion. This is a good thing because it means that it serves a purpose. Gratitude has been shown to improve well-being. The “Three Good Things” Gratitude process has shown not only me, but many other people how and why to appreciate and be thankful for their lives. In this post, I will be discussing how my research project is going. I have just about finished up my introduction and am on the brink of starting my literature review. I have come across some new research that I will be using for my project.
"In our day-to-day lives, it's easy to get caught up in the things that go wrong and feel like we're living under our own private rain cloud; at the same time, we tend to adapt to the good things and people in our lives, taking them for granted. As a result, we often overlook everyday beauty and goodness--a kind gesture from a stranger, say, or the warmth of our heater on a chilly morning. In the process, we frequently miss opportunities for happiness and connection. This practice guards against those tendencies. By remembering and listing three positive things that have happened in your day--and considering what caused them--you tune into the sources of goodness in your life. It's a habit that can change the emotional tone of your life, replacing feelings of disappointment or entitlement with those of gratitude--which may be why this practice is associated with significant increases in happiness." This excerpt really moved me to delve deeper into this article. It will certainly be in my final draft. For this blog post, I was asked to read and annotate these sources. What is Fan Fiction -- and why is it making people nervous? (Stephen Downes), a link to Rewinding and Rewriting: The Alternate Universes in Our Head (Hidden Brain Podcast), My Narrative Project page can be viewed, HERE.
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