Final Reflection

Hello to all and sundry. So it has come down to this: the last day of the senior capstone. All at once it is thrilling and terrifying, but all in good ways. Funny how at the beginning of the semester, one fears how long the class is going to be, readying themselves for the final day. And yet, when the day actually comes, you realize, Man, I’m really done. Grant it, I, personally, am not completely done–I still have another semester, which will involve student teaching and another English class. Nevertheless, the reality that I am only one semester away from graduating is finally hitting. Thus, the final countdown begins. (Scary music: dah, dah, dahhhh!!!)

So what did I think of my senior capstone class?

In truth, I was actually pleasantly surprised. I was not expecting to like it as much as I actually did. I found I learned a lot more about the 1960s and 1970s from this one semester class than I actually did in all of my middle school and high school history classes (which is just sad, in my opinion).

I think my favorite segment during the semester was actually learning about the Blaxpoitation and performativity. I think the reason why for both is that I have a love for both theatre and filmography (believe me, I am a big trivia fan; plus, my brother was in theatre all throughout his high school career). For the blaxpoitation films, I really liked having the ability to watch the movie Foxy Brown and how elements of blaxpoitation can be seen in today’s movies, like the new Shaft films starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jordan Peel movies (i.e. Us and Get Out), as well as a numerous of Quentin Tarantino films like Django: Unchained, Jackie Brown, and The Hateful Eight. Many of these movies consist of social justice, in which many of the protagonists decide to go over the bounds of the law (especially when the law cannot or will not help) and to take justice into their own hands. The reason I enjoyed the performativity segment of the semester is primarily due to the fact it is used a lot in theatre and acting. If an actor wants to be portrayed as a horrible villain, then the actor will put on the facade (the performance) of a cold-blooded villain. The performativity allows for the actor to get more into character (to connect/identify with their character); it helps to create a more authentic air to the character, making the character more believable to both the actor and the audience.

I also liked learning about Afrofuturism. It will probably come as no surprise, but I had no idea what afrofuturism was until I was given the assignment. In all honesty, that was perhaps my favorite blog post. The reason is that my brother decided he wanted to watch the movie Candyman, and I, being in the room, decided to watch it with him. Thus, when watching the movie, I began to notice elements of afrofuturism mixed in with the film. When writing that blog post, I felt like I had a truly clear idea and understanding of what I was writing, thus the reason why I found it so enjoyable.

During the semester, I also liked seeing history through another person’s point of view, especially through the eyes of the “losers” for history is always told through the eyes of the “victors”. In truth, I find the losers’ point of view far more interesting, for it is their story that is hardly, if ever, told.