How did knowing you’d have to write a Review on the blog change the way you read our books? How did it change the way you prepared for class?
Given that this popular fiction course had a genre specific theme, “Cli-fi” (climate-fiction), and knowing there are mandatory blog posts made me read the texts more critically in relation to climate-change and the authors’ intended message, from my perspective. Whether the books/authors addressed climate-change literally like Oreskes’ and Conway’s “The Collapse of Western Civilization” and Squarzoni’s “Climate Change”; or made subtle inferences to adverse climate-change and/or weatherization like Bacigalupi’s “The Windup Girl”, or Buckell’s “Hurricane Fever”; or developed sub-textual themes of grave importance in conjunction to the effects of climate-change like in Stewart’s “Earth Abides” (conservationism), Atwood’s “The Year of the Flood” (sustainability), or Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” (commonality through religion and the hydrologic system); all these works of literature stimulate discussion. Having to post on a blog inspired me to focus on the preceding points-of-interests.
How often did you read the Reviews posted by your classmates? Did you gravitate towards reading particular writers?
I read all the blog posts and Reviews submitted by my colleagues, but only after my own review had been completed, as I did not want my opinion or experience of the text jaded by excellent interpretive insights. I gravitated more towards the negative and critical Reviews only because it is easy to simply say “I liked the book because…”; however, when you do not like nor care for a particular text you cannot simply state “I don’t like it.” The critic needs to demonstrate a legitimate reason for the distaste. For instance, I did not care for “The Windup Girl” not because it is a poorly written, structured, or executed novel; on the contrary, I did not like the book because it was written excellently, I am not a fan of the “Sci-fi/Cli-fi” genres of writing. I have an immense literary respect towards the author and the book because it is beautifully composed, but I could not truly appreciate this work of art due to my own prejudices toward “Sci-fi” and “Cli-fi.”
Did knowing that you had to post on the blog affect the way you read (and watched) stuff unrelated to the course readings?
Yes, I was careful to only read material related to the theme of climate-change with specific references or direct correlational links to the assigned works of fiction. Secondary source materials are important as they reinforce factual real-world effects that these fictional works highlight to visitors who read the blog’s informative Reviews.
I’d be excited to hear you reflect on whether and/or how your experience with and attitude towards the blog changed over the course of the semester. Did it live up to its promise? Was the blog element of the course better or worse than you hoped or feared?
I am not a blogger and this was my first experience participating in any type of blogging activity or postings, and I must confess the experience is not as bad as I expected and feared. Since I am not a fan of the genre theme for the course, “Cli-fi”, I was apprehensive about expressing my unedited honest opinions and Reviews about the books, but my honesty was met with unbiased appreciation. This blog provided a safe place to express oneself without fear of ridicule and allowed an interaction among classmates that may have lacked in the classroom setting. Some people find it difficult to articulate themselves in person and the blog gave them a platform to be heard; if this was the promise of the blog, then yes it did live up to and exceed my expectations.
Finally, if you’d like, reflect upon the possibility that the work you’ve posted on the blog is now available for anyone to read, even now that the course is over. Do you think this blog could be a useful resource for future readers curious about the topic?
I support and feel confident about the work I have posted on the blog. My only apprehension would be the potential for negative feedback and/or comments, but I have resolved that with all good there will be bad. That is to say, for each negative comment or criticism there will be an opposite positive reaction. With this in mind, this blog will most assuredly stand as a place of quality information on the topics of climate-change, weatherization, global-warming, and the genre theme of Climate-Fiction, “Cli-fi” literary novels for future visitors. Whether an impassioned Eco-activist or disinterested skeptic, this blog will delight as the commentary of Reviews and posts are infused with intelligent academic insights, humor, and blunt-honesty.
