"The Norton Introduction to Literature" by Jonathan

"The Norton Introduction to Literature" by Jonathan - May 2017 Scholarship Essay

The “The Norton Introduction to Literature”, edited by Kelly J. Mays, was the textbook used in my Introduction to Literature class at Tallahassee Community College. It showed me to a whole new world of literature and the true feeling of enjoyment that is found in receiving a college education.
Introduction to Literature began quite sleepily will a lecture on SQ4R, a method of reading comprehension. Things picked up when I received my book and we began reading and writing responses to the short stories within. Our first assignment, Response 3, was based on “A&P” by John Updike. A&P was the story of a young man impulsively quitting his unsatisfying job at a grocery store. The story illustrates the consequences of the impulsivity and lack of foresight we have when we are young. I really appreciated the insightfulness demonstrated by Updike through his character development and descriptive writing. The story not only opened my eyes to the profundity that can be found in fictional literature, but it allowed me to enjoy the college educational experience. I received great satisfaction from analyzing the story in the assignment, the first of many assignments I would enjoy writing.
Through the direction of my professor and the curriculum, I was introduced to the talent of authors such as William Faulkner, Tim O’Brien, Earnest Hemmingway, and Raymond Carver along with the significance of their work. I also gave poetry a chance having not respected it prior to the class. Having been guided through this textbook with the hand of assignments, I was forced to be open-minded to literature, authors, and critical lenses I had not ever previously considered. This open-mindedness and newfound motivation towards learning carried into my other classes. All through the semester I began to have an increasingly improved work ethic and received a more thorough understanding of all class material. My grades and tenacity for studying were brought by the influence that my textbook had on me. It’s content drove me to push myself academically harder than I had ever pushed myself before.
From that point onward, I truly began to understand the meaning of a college education, the meaning going beyond just a diploma. I wanted to do everything I could continue this enlightening and satisfying experience. The catalyst behind this awakening to the delight that is a collegiate education began with something as simple as my class textbook, “The Norton Introduction to Literature”.