SPAN 312

Hello everyone! This week I read Twenty Love Poems & A Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda. After having taken my first ever introduction to poetry class last semester, I learnt that poetry is not typically my favourite style of writing. Although I can certainly appreciate some specific poems or even single lines at times, I often feel a little bit lost or unsure about the theme or message I was supposed to retain. However, I am always open to reading more poetry to try and expand my taste and learn to better appreciate complicated writing (especially if it is poetry as well known and famous to these twenty).  After having read this collection of poems, there were definitely some poems that I liked, as well as some that I needed to read over a few times to better understand them. Something that I really enjoyed was how the poems seemed to flow in chronological order of his relationship with this woman. Initially, I felt that his poems emphasized this woman by focusing greatly on her ph

Week 3 - Campobello's Cartucho I really enjoyed reading through Campobello's Cartucho this week! It was my first time reading anything related to the revolution, which at first made me think that I wouldn’t be super invested in it, but in the end, I really enjoyed it. I especially liked how it had a much quicker pace and was a little all over the place  (which reminded me of the mind of a young kid).  I think what I liked most about this story was the narrator.  I found that she adds a layer of innocence and curiosity while she tells stories of times and events so horrific to imagine. The narrator often surprised me with regard to her attitudes/feelings as to what was going on around her. As described in the lecture, there is a lot of reference to games and play throughout the book, however it continued to shock me how much the young narrator seemed to view these acts of violence as such. For example, “The truth is the bullets, flying right by our door, seemed lots of fun to me

Week 2 – Mama Blanca’s Memoirs Overall I really enjoyed this first week. Although I will admit it was tough a first to hop back into such detailed writing after a break from reading, I quickly started to become more at ease and invested in this story. Right from the start, the line “She poked gentle fun at everything because her wise heart knew that kindness and gaiety are the sugar and salt with which life must be seasoned” on page 17 stood out to me lots. I thought that it was a beautiful way to encapsulate life’s inevitable ups and down. As well as the line “That door which was almost always ajar and seemed to smile on the street out of the gloom of the hall, was a constant reflection of her hospitality, a natural sign of her love for the poor…” I just found this very warm to read, and openness like this is a beautiful quality. One moment in the text that stood out to me was the fight between Blanca and her sister Violeta. Violeta being the older sister, had a much different persona

Hi everyone! My name is Daisy and im a fourth-year psychology major. However, this is my second year at UBC as I did my first 2 years at the University of Ottawa. I grew up in Peterborough Ontario but have fallen in love with the west coast these last couple of years. As mentioned in another post, I don't see myself leaving anytime soon (or heading back to frigid winters, no thank you!). I love to be up in the mountains, or down by the beach taking in the views.  I was a student in the Romance studies class last spring and fell in love with the style of the course as well as the ‘flipped classroom’ design. Even though I’ve completed my literature requirements, I truly enjoyed having a class that was different from the required psychology courses that I usually take. As a psychology student, the ‘readings’ tend to be from textbooks or research, so having a class that pushes me to read classic novels or books that I wouldn't otherwise come across appeals to me very much. Moreover