Introduction

Hello. I am Elizabeth Cornwell. I was born here in LA, and have lived in California City pretty much my entire life. I've always thought that when I move out of California City, I would get myself out of the state altogether, so I see no sense in transporting myself to a place with higher rent and more irritable people until I am ready to exit California for good.

I am a twenty-five year old Senior here at CSUN. How does that happen,, you might ask. Well, although I have been in college since I graduated High School, I have had to pretty much earn my degree credit by credit, working all the while to pay for it. Also, I have changed my major nearly more times than I can personally count. This last time is the winner, though - mostly because I have finally come to far to turn back. I have finally settled on Literature as my major, but I am afraid this class might be my undoing. I am not used to thinking philisophically about what I am reading, but I look forward to learning how.

This said, my personal "theory" while reading literature is a little juvenile, I have to admit. The only thing I really care about is if I am getting enjoyment out of what I am reading. Don't get me wrong, I do tend to filter some of what I see and read through a feminist lens, as the older I have gotten the more I have come to realize that inequality didn't end when women got the vote. For the most part, though, all I am really looking for is entertainment. I do think, however, that what I get our of a text might not be the same reaction that someone else has. I think that we tend to filter the things we see and hear through our own experiences, which is what makes discussions about what we do see and hear so interesting. Even the way that one person perceives the same text as their filter of experience changes. For example, last week when we looked at the visual "text" of "Doll on a Music Box" from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", I realized that when I was a kid, all I cared about was that the adults were fooling the childish king; that they get their children back and thwart this selfish man in his efforts to have all the toys in the land. Watching it again, I was aware that it could be read in many different ways - the play that they were putting on to distract the king might only be the surface of what is being said. Also, that song has been stuck in my head since we watched it, and caused me to purchase the film on DVD.

I love a good debate, and will often take an opinion opposite of my real view just to get a good dialogue going. This class seems as though it will have some pretty interesting discussions.