This years class about truth and lies in literature, like we talked about in class, has made me completely aware of the abundant manipulation surrounding me, and has allowed me to be able to see myself being manipulated. Suggestion and influence are powerful external (and internal) forces that effect our individual decisions. To ensure the decisions we make are in our best interest, we must be aware of the constant manipulation surrounding us. We are always being manipulated, in positive and negative ways. This class has made me able to identify manipulation and selectively choose what effects my decisions. This class has given the us control at a time in our lives where it doesn’t seem like we have much. We’ve been exposed to the manipulation of literature, school, media, and with it, the choice to defy them. Although our efforts to leave and return to class were anticlimactic and largely ineffective, it was the first glimpse of agency our class collectively showed. We felt as though we were choosing to not let class rules manipulate our actions. Thinking about the “so what” assignment, I’ve realized how applicable this class is to real life, something I can’t say about most english classes I've taken. I’ve been hyper aware of manipulation and seen it everywhere from my closest friends to the media. The “so what” seems to be that just being aware of the perpetual manipulation around us lends us the choice to ignore them, opening infinite choices of action of which we can then independently decide on.
Yes! This is quite similar to the scenery that i drew on the envelope! As Professor Schwartz noted, the class is similar to a philosophy class and has allowed me to be more skeptical of my surroundings and being aware of all the manipulation that can potentially be put into use.
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