Project Reflection
The way second semester honors worked was we all read the same book, prepared for and participated in a seminar together, then worked individually to complete a project of our choosing, which could have been anything from a visual art piece to a literary analysis. Since I did first semester honors, I was only required to do one project this semester, and I chose to do mine on Fahrenheit 451. What drew me to this book, and what ultimately made me choose it for my project, was the connection I saw between its themes and the existentialist philosophies we’d studied earlier in the year. Since I’d really enjoyed our unit on existentialism, I was really excited at the prospect of relating that so closely to another project, and hopefully broadening my understanding of both existentialism and Fahrenheit 451 in the process. Once I decided to focus my project around the existentialist themes I initially interpreted, I was really surprised by how many more I seemed to encounter as I continued my analysis.
While Fahrenheit 451 expanded upon the understanding I already had, I felt that Cat’s Cradle gave me more of a historical insight, and connections with history on which I could form my own perspective. Vonnegut seemed to reference a lot of historical symbols in this book, along with a lot of opinionated commentary on those symbols, which I think offered a stark contrast to the standard unbiased method of teaching history. In my opinion, Vonnegut’s unrestrained slant on such well-known historical landmarks was incredibly unique and valuable, and brought a certain passion and approachability to history that I wouldn’t normally encounter in an unbiased textbook or class. That said, this book was definitely more challenging to analyze, but I found that I got a lot out of working through it as a class during seminar. I thought that Vonnegut’s distinct writing style and unbridled biases really lent themselves well to seminar, as it was sure to spark a conversation or question.
A Habit of Heart and Mind that I think served me well throughout this project was perspective. While both books I studied were rich with symbolism, it was oftentimes buried under sarcastic writing styles or historical references, making it more difficult to decipher. I thought that this project really challenged me to broaden my perspective before I passed judgement, since symbolism is so dependent on context. I also learned to appreciate the unique perspectives everyone brought to the table when analyzing this book, expanded by both our work in this class as well as our own experiences. For example, the way I interpreted Fahrenheit 451 was strongly tied to existentialism, which was a perspective no one had explored before. Also, listening to my peers’ perspectives gave me more profound insight into the themes of the books as well, and I found that the comments made by my classmates during seminars were some of the most helpful resources when it came down to firmly grasping the content of the books for the projects.
While Fahrenheit 451 expanded upon the understanding I already had, I felt that Cat’s Cradle gave me more of a historical insight, and connections with history on which I could form my own perspective. Vonnegut seemed to reference a lot of historical symbols in this book, along with a lot of opinionated commentary on those symbols, which I think offered a stark contrast to the standard unbiased method of teaching history. In my opinion, Vonnegut’s unrestrained slant on such well-known historical landmarks was incredibly unique and valuable, and brought a certain passion and approachability to history that I wouldn’t normally encounter in an unbiased textbook or class. That said, this book was definitely more challenging to analyze, but I found that I got a lot out of working through it as a class during seminar. I thought that Vonnegut’s distinct writing style and unbridled biases really lent themselves well to seminar, as it was sure to spark a conversation or question.
A Habit of Heart and Mind that I think served me well throughout this project was perspective. While both books I studied were rich with symbolism, it was oftentimes buried under sarcastic writing styles or historical references, making it more difficult to decipher. I thought that this project really challenged me to broaden my perspective before I passed judgement, since symbolism is so dependent on context. I also learned to appreciate the unique perspectives everyone brought to the table when analyzing this book, expanded by both our work in this class as well as our own experiences. For example, the way I interpreted Fahrenheit 451 was strongly tied to existentialism, which was a perspective no one had explored before. Also, listening to my peers’ perspectives gave me more profound insight into the themes of the books as well, and I found that the comments made by my classmates during seminars were some of the most helpful resources when it came down to firmly grasping the content of the books for the projects.