Final Project Reflection - Bondonno

This project was definitely different than previous projects in many ways. We had to read two different novels, we got to write individual blog entries instead of one or two essays, and we had the responsibility to schedule our own plans for this project. It was different, but was a learning experience and I really think it helped me prepare for college where I would have to read multiple novels and have to plan out the project on my own. I learned a lot about how to best schedule a project, but also how I strongly I hold myself to that schedule. There were definitely ups and downs to this project, but you can't learn if you don't make mistakes. I also learned how to write individual blog entries instead of a concise essay for booth novels; which was harder than I thought. I also learned how to read two novels within a very short time in order to receive all the information I need for my blog entries which was hard because I am a slow reader. However, considering the situation, I think I did fairly well and I am eager as to see how this has prepared me for college. For this project, I analyzed the two novels through the racial/cultural lens and focused on how African Americans were treated, how they reacted to how they were treated either with actions or emotionally, and also how they thought they should have been treated instead. This was interesting to me because I wanted to get more insight into how African Americans and their culture was viewed and treated in the past and how different authors, one White and one African American, would show how they were treated differently and what that meant. Looking into Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, it was interesting to get a view of how slavery and African Americans were viewed and treated and how a child would have felt about it. Although Huckleberry Finn is not an average child, he still has strong opinions about how African Americans should be treated and mostly due to how he was raised to think about the situation. It was equally interesting to see how African Americans were treated and how the reacted or how they thought they should be treated while looking deeper into Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. This novel in contrast to Huck Finn shares the odd story of Macon (Milkman) Dead and his twisted family. Instead of being only from a child's point of view, throughout the novel, we watch Milkman grow up and try to understand his role in society while dealing with political and cultural torment. This was a unique point of view as well because we get to see how Milkman matures and starts thinking about things more seriously than before. For the most part of the book however, he is a middle-aged adult and is trying to understand why African Americans were being treated they way they were and how they should be treated. This gave me insight into how someone's thought process on this subject could have been during this time and helps me realize how much discussions and arguments broke out from one event or situation in the time and howmuch it meant to everyone of all races. The benefits of reading novels with the point of view based on a specific critical lens is that you can really dig deep into what that meant in the story, how they reacted, and what that means today. Reading through both these novels through the racial/cultural lens really helped be obtain a greater picture into how different races and cultures were viewed in the past, how they reacted physically, emotionally, or mentally, and how that effects us today. In the future, I will definitely use critical lenses to analyze novels or passages to gain a deeper meaning into what the novel is trying to portray and this project as a whole has helped me become more prepared for college style projects.