Honors Humanities Semester Two Reflection
For second semester Honors Humanities, I participated in a book club in which I read two books, discussed them in seminar with my peers, and created a project for one of them. We were required to read Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn and choose to read one of the following two books: The Great Gatsby by Scott F. Fitzgerald and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I chose to read and create a project of The Great Gatsby by Scott F. Fitzgerald because I had more interest in the storyline. For my Great Gatsby project, I chose to write unwritten scenes from the book. I wrote one scene from Daisy’s perspective and one scene from Tom’s perspective. This helped me gain deeper insight into the characters’ actions, thoughts, and personalities.
Of the two books, Half the Sky emotionally and intellectually affected me more. This book offered me a chance to learn more about poverty, oppression, and foreign aid and did it in a very organized way. As this is a topic I am interested in, it was intriguing to read this book and hear the unique tales of oppressed women around the world. This book allowed me to expand on ideas and morals that I had developed during the first semester project the Morality and Politics of Justice. I had the opportunity to re-evaluate my values and refine my perspective. I now believe that foreign aid should be dedicated mainly to education while some money must also be filtered towards governmental and economical development. Overall, Half the Sky assisted me in further understanding poverty, foreign aid, and my values.
While the first semester of Honors Humanities was focused heavily on research and critical thinking, the second semester was more relaxed and focused on reading and analysis skills. Book club helped me learn to identify themes, writing style, and symbolism throughout novels, which I now do more easily in my leisurely reading. This semester of Honors also helped me develop my creative writing skills during the writing stage of my project for The Great Gatsby. Finally, Half the Sky helped me to see the subject of foreign aid without a filter. When we hear about foreign aid in the United States, we are encouraged to donate in order to become a better person instead of donating to help empower the world. Half the Sky never spoke of the benefits the donor has in foreign aid, but only spoke of the benefits of the recipient and that made a world of difference to me. This book helped me see the root of the problem of poverty and oppression and has suggested solutions to this, solutions that seem plausible to me. These clarifications, reflections, and authentications made me value this project and the second semester of Honors Humanities.
Of the two books, Half the Sky emotionally and intellectually affected me more. This book offered me a chance to learn more about poverty, oppression, and foreign aid and did it in a very organized way. As this is a topic I am interested in, it was intriguing to read this book and hear the unique tales of oppressed women around the world. This book allowed me to expand on ideas and morals that I had developed during the first semester project the Morality and Politics of Justice. I had the opportunity to re-evaluate my values and refine my perspective. I now believe that foreign aid should be dedicated mainly to education while some money must also be filtered towards governmental and economical development. Overall, Half the Sky assisted me in further understanding poverty, foreign aid, and my values.
While the first semester of Honors Humanities was focused heavily on research and critical thinking, the second semester was more relaxed and focused on reading and analysis skills. Book club helped me learn to identify themes, writing style, and symbolism throughout novels, which I now do more easily in my leisurely reading. This semester of Honors also helped me develop my creative writing skills during the writing stage of my project for The Great Gatsby. Finally, Half the Sky helped me to see the subject of foreign aid without a filter. When we hear about foreign aid in the United States, we are encouraged to donate in order to become a better person instead of donating to help empower the world. Half the Sky never spoke of the benefits the donor has in foreign aid, but only spoke of the benefits of the recipient and that made a world of difference to me. This book helped me see the root of the problem of poverty and oppression and has suggested solutions to this, solutions that seem plausible to me. These clarifications, reflections, and authentications made me value this project and the second semester of Honors Humanities.