Final Takeaways – Gratitude

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Wow. I’ve truly learned so much from this class that I don’t know where to start with this blog post. Thank you all for being a part of this educational journey, which has felt way too short! Learning about mermaids and how they have been transformed throughout the years from different cultures have been deeply insightful. By learning more about mermaids, I’ve learned more about humans and our relationship to the environment. It has shifted my perspective on the Ocean (emphasis on the capital O) and how we were never apart from it. Mermaids which are often painted as frivolous shallow girly fantasy exists outside those constructs of the patriarchy as symbols of queer expression, female freedom, immigration, and so much more.

I’ll be missing this class dearly. The intellectual conversations and deep dives have bettered me as a student, and has challenged me to be a better writer.

ECL 305 final thoughts

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Taking this with the 522 class, and the many ECL classes before it, I would say that I have learned a lot this semester. Namely, working on close-reading and critical thinking as a class was a much easier, but anxiety-inducing time than having to learn to close-read yourself, as it has given us the opportunity to hear the different ways others have approached literature and their interpretations.

I like to think of close-reading as a form of psychoanalysis, but for media. Why do you think the professor wants us to analyze a passage from a text from The Little Mermaid or The Deep? Why does she want us to close-read The Water Will Carry Us Home and Sirenomelia, even though they aren’t “texts”? Why explicate? We see the author’s creation (the manifest content), and we try to find its hidden, often larger meaning (latent content) through dissections and interpretations. We have been practicing it throughout the semester, and it has been shaping how we think about the world.

In the context of this class, we’ve learned that mermaids are so much more than just beautiful women with fish tails. They have historical significance (dating back to medieval times) and reflect our relationship with nature. Mermaid literature places us in Her eyes, allowing us to experience man’s impact and penetration through Her perspective, raise environmental/ecological awareness, and promote ecocritical thinking. Through Her, the Ocean is History, the Ocean is an archive, and the Ocean is our mother.

I am looking forward to apply what I’ve learned in this course for the next semester, where we dissect the literature of AI and how it is affecting the world in the age of AI (ECL 510B).

Final Takeaway and a Thank you

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To be fairly honest about the class, its very similar to other literature classes I’ve taken. So my understanding of literature has not changed much. However, this was the first one (outside of fiction writing classes) that inspired and motivated me. The discussion on how many writers, like Hans Christian Andersen, took inspiration and built off what came before was interesting. I personally wasn’t aware the little mermaid was influenced by the story of Undine. Tidbits of information like this alongside the teachings that humanity’s old myths and legends, such as mermaids, survive to the modern day through transformation and changing perceptions. Creating new meanings able to resonate with new people and then they might go on to create something themselves based on what they’ve learned. I’m sure as heck going to do so. While the class wasn’t about ‘how to write fiction’ like the short fiction class I’ve been taking alongside this one. It has helped me with a mental block I’ve always had whenever I tried to sit down and write my novel as someone who wants to be a published author. Originality. The saying of ‘nothing is original anymore’ is a often seen advice for authors, and while true, there is still a demand for it. This class made me stop trying so hard to meet this demand, rather, just take an idea you like and build off it. Do it slightly different even. I enjoyed this class more than I thought. Talked more in class more than I originally wanted to. Made me appreciate the stories about mermaids as well and are now a source of inspiration for my novel’s idea. Sure, there are some areas I wish I did better but overall? I’m happy I decided to enroll and stick around.

Thank you everyone and Professor Pressman.

Reflection

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Looking back on this semester, this class changed how I understand both nature and literature. Before taking it, I thought of the environment as something separate from human life, something that people either protect or harm. Through the course, I came to realize that nature and humanity are deeply connected, and that the way we describe the natural world often reflects how we see ourselves or our own perspectives. Also, at first, I didn’t know much about mermaids, but through this class, I found that it was interesting how mermaids became a bridge between humans and nature. They are not just mythical creatures, but symbols of many things, such as transformation, nature, or coexistence.

I also learned that literature can shape environmental awareness. Stories are not only for entertainment but also for rethinking how we live with the environment. Also, I was able to know that studying literature is not only about interpreting texts but also about thinking critically about the world we live in.

Arts and Letters Open House & Master’s Seminar

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In the Arts and Letters Open House, I was able to learn so much about the Master’s program here at San Diego State University. I got to engage in conversation about the transition from a BA to an MA, learning about the workload difference and the discipline needed to achieve an MA.

Within the Open House, I was able to talk to various of my professors and learning about their journey to San Diego State University, and the motivations that got them through. One of my favorite questions is to ask what they studied, and I got to learn about so many different avenues of literature professors here at SDSU adventured off to.

My biggest takeaway from this open house was how everyone’s journey is not linear; it takes time to find a place that feels like it’s meant for you. And sometimes it’s important to just take a gap year and reset to find what you truly are seeking.

Pic Creds: Professor Bailey

Halloween Costume: Sailor

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For Halloween, I dressed as a sailor! Throughout the mermaid stories we have discussed in class a sailors have been a recurring character. Sailors are said to be lured into the waters by the mermaid’s beauty, and even more sinister, her hypnotizing voice.

Sailors are characters used to push narratives about women’s sexuality and demonize women who freely express their sexuality. Thus, only promotes women’s sexuality as something dangerous and should be kept away or hidden.

Though what if the sailor was a woman? Would they be able to hear the voice of the siren? Would they be lured? Or would women be the only people who would care to hear what the siren is truly communicating to us?

Feat. my car as a prop for the ocean…if you look closely, there is a stingray inside.

Reflection

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Honestly I wouldnt know what to talk about within my reflection,but I would say Ive learned alot.The most fun I had was the deep critical thinking and the dissecting of texts from tales,myths ,and modern texts.The class was also interesting as the seating was made into a circle in which it allowed one to face the people speaking.I hope the skills of the deep critical thinking sticks with me into the future within other classes that I take at state.

Thank you!

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I was so excited to start this class, and I can confidently say it did not disappoint! Before this class, I was very much in my own little bubble about mermaids, seeing their stories as a beautiful sacrifice for true love. Throughout this class, I was provoked to think deeper, to read the text, and to grasp what, why, and how a piece of text at hand is written. I learned that the interpretation of a piece of literature is endless.

Within these mermaid stories, I learned so much about how a myth can reveal so much about society at the time. With stories of Melusine and Undine, we uncovered themes of patriarchy and women’s agency (or lack thereof), and The little mermaid themes of immigration and homosexuality. With all stories holding a belief that nature is something so grand and different from humans.

To discover how the environment holds history by thinking of the ocean as an archive. I think this moment in class was one of my biggest takeaways. History is more than what we can see, read, or hear. To think about the environment as a piece of history. In discussions about the middle passage and the ocean holding the bodies of those who passed was really eye-opening. With this knowledge, I think I will forever look at history differently, being more interested in the forgotten details.

I am so grateful to have the opportunity to have this class, and I fear this class will forever linger in the back of my mind as I go forward in my academic career, analyzing literature. I feel so lucky to have a class that makes saying goodbye so hard.

Thank you so much for a lovely semester,

Kaila

Reflection

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Before taking this class my mermaid knowledge was not very deep. It was centralized around Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” and “Splash” with other media off-shoots and some casual knowledge of non-western mermaids like Mami Wata. I picked up on the transgressive nature of the hybrid creatures as a kid and the one world existing next to another world, internalizing the “superiority”of the human world but really thinking Sebastian had a point when he said “life under the sea is better than anything they’ve got up there”. I still agree with Sebastian, but now having dove deeper into mermaid lore I understand the world of mermaids I was shown was only a reflection of the “up there”.

Mermaid stories tell us more about humans and about how we think about our environment and the ones we don’t have access to, than about mermaids. Studying some areas of the Blue Humanities has made me reframe how I see the land I inhabit and the water that has felt like a neutral space. The language used in western contemporary discussion is still centered on our land experience with, as often as we can, categorizing nature in straight lines and championing the importance of borders. This course taught me even more how deep the roots of colonization run, not just in a cultural or political sense. It has changed how we interpret and interact with what we consider nature, making lines and borders out of convenience and cruelty.

In the last few weeks of class with reading “The Deep” it has also reframed the concept of the mermaid story and the oral traditions that kept mermaids in the conversation. Yes it was helped along with Christianity, but not in the same light and I kind of love how the things mermaids were vilified for are one of the reasons we still love them and have them representing strength and connectivity. “The Deep” is an amazing and heartbreaking story that changed how I looked not only at the stories we read in class, but the nature (or environment) of creativity. Much like how land is designated as “my space” or “your space”, creating art and stories is a collective that does not exist in a vacuum. It is a layer upon layer, a story on top of a story.

Goodbye Mermaids: Final Thoughts

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I will keep this post relatively short, as I don’t have too much to say about the class other than I enjoyed it more than I thought. The course took me for a ride from the very first day, as I didn’t know it had anything to do with mermaids at all. But, with that being said, I’m glad I decided to stay with the class as it taught me to think in many different ways I hadn’t experienced before. I was able to grow a deeper appreciation for nature and the environment through this course, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I appreciate my classmates and Professor Pressman for allowing this class to be a break from all the math and sciences of the engineering life.

That’s it, thank you so much for the good time!