Nicholas Lofaso, 2/11/2021, Period 5, Day B

 Nicholas Lofaso

February 11, 2021

Literacy & Learning

Write about your thoughts regarding any of the fiction or non-fiction covered in class.

I’ve really enjoyed Beowulf so far; it might not be written in the most understandable way, but the fact that most of the stories are 5 pages at most means that I can spend more time annotating and trying to find hidden meanings. A good example of this came up today, where I noticed that Grendel’s Mother is one of the first times that God was used as reasoning for a plot point. This led me to believe that the story is less authentic than some of the others—since it was written down by Christian monks, they may have taken some creative liberty with the retelling. I think I enjoyed the original Norse mythology stories more since they focused on more than just one person, but Beowulf is still really interesting. 

Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception.

I mentioned this above, but the realization that Grendel’s Mother was one of the first times God was mentioned/utilized and realizing that it was probably due to the Monks’ personal beliefs really made me think about the impact authors can have on history and the way we perceive it. If this was such an easy and nondescript detail, what else has been changed in other stories that we don’t know about? By understanding the background of a source and the biases that they might have, I can get better at spotting instances of revisionism. This skill is useful in all sorts of scenarios, from reading school texts to trying to find bias in news sources. 

How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/the world around you?

While Norse mythology itself might not be directly applicable to most aspects of my life outside of school, the skills that I’m picking up on while reading these historical texts definitely are. The language that they’re written in is very different from language today, and requires me to focus more on what I’m reading to be able to understand them—I’ve gotten much better at deciphering complicated texts, which will help me in both college and practically any field that I go into after. Understanding the history of different cultures also allows me to better understand different cultures today, being able to connect to more people and potentially relate to them.