Entry 1: Asking Around--Literature and Civilization?

For our first assignment, we were asked to interview three people around the TCU campus. Our task was to ask our interviewees three questions: what is literature, what is civilization, and what do you think will be taught in a class called Literature and Civilization? We got a variety of answers from the people we saw at the TCU bookstore, the perfect place to discuss literature. The most common response to the question, "what is literature?” was the interviewees talking about books. One in particular had a more in depth explanation of literature; he even made a point of acknowledging the obvious answer that all the other interviewees answered. The next question, "what is civilization?” on the other hand, temporarily stumped most of the interviewees. While some gave up right away, others racked their brains to think of a suitable answer. The verdict? Civilization is people, society, and what people create. By the time we got to the final question, some of our interviewees seemed a little apprehensive. Nonetheless, we continued the interviews with a smile. The responses for our final question varied; one answer that personally stood out to me was how literature and culture have changed overtime. The interviewee based his answer off of a "Brit Lit" class he had previously taken. Overall, our interviewees had varied responses to every question, demonstrating the role personal interpretation plays in understanding any type of English class. Since not one answer was alike, it was clear that by the end of the class, all of the Literature and Civilizaiton II students would have unique, but more informed, ideas about what literature and civilization truly are.