Jake Cobovic, Period 6, 2/8/2023

Literacy & Learning Write about your thoughts regarding any of the fiction or nonfiction covered in class. Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception. How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/the world around you?

Following our discussion in class on the value of teaching Grendel by John Gardner in a modern day school setting, I’ve taken some time to further consider the impact that reading the book has had on myself. I believe that thanks to the book’s rich language and themes, I’ve been able to take my critical reading skills to a higher level than ever before. 

Grendel in a way reminds me of my favorite book of all time, The Great Gatsby, since I like both books are as much poetry as they are novels. Every single choice of words or phrase, which would be meaningless in most other novels, has deep meaning in both Grendel and The Great Gatsby. However, I feel like while reading Grendel, I really dove into what these choices meant in a way I hadn’t ever before. 

While I was lost a little at first, I believe that by the end of the book I really learned how to read critically. Thanks to the guidance from the slides and discussions with my teammates, I feel as though I analyzed and understood the intention behind almost every major decision Gardner made throughout the novel. I wasn’t just relying on other people to help me understand it, though; for the first time I felt like I was really coming up with my own interpretations and drawing my own conclusions.

This new found skill of critical reading is something I hope to carry with me throughout the rest of my time in this class and even further into college. Even despite being someone who plans on majoring in engineering, I still plan on taking and enjoying English classes in college, and not just doing the bare minimum to pass my required classes like most STEM majors. I want to continue learning more about literature, and in order to do that, the critical reading skills I learned from reading Grendel in this class will be incredibly helpful.