Johnny Kuhn's Lit Seminar

I feel that my literary seminar went well, my literary devices showed more meaning to the passage then people originally saw and my questions sparked much conversation. My story, Rules of the Game, was also easy to understand and relate to, which I think may have had an effect on the outcome of the seminar. The questions forced the class to remember the reading and think beyond, causing varying opinions and new ideas.

First Question: Do you think that chess and her rapid success in the game may have impacted Waverly's childhood? If so, how do you think it impacted it and would the affect be?

I believed that Waverly would not have the same experiences as a child when compared to other children. When these children were playing on the swings, Waverly was in her room playing chess. This different childhood may cause Waverly to see things differently, and she would not have many friends or social skills.

During the Lit Seminar, someone pointed out that we often tend to fallback on our childhood, a kind of comfort zone, and sometimes look to it for answers. Waverly's unique childhood would cause her to act differently in certain situations and think in certain ways. This response is similar to mine, but I had never thought of my childhood as my safe or comfort zone before. This person was right, we can all typically relate to each other through out childhood, may it be through the toys we played with or the cartoon shows that we watched.

Second Question: the Jongs made many concessions for Waverly due to her rapid success at chess. Do you think this may have impacted Waverly's relations with her family members?

When composing this question, I thought that due to her rapid success at chess Waverly may not get to spend time with her family as much since she was always studying. I also thought that Waverly took advantage of her success and asked for many unnecessary favors. This may have caused a strain on her relationships.

The majority of the class believed that her rapid success at chess, may cause Waverly to feel inferior to others and look down upon her family members. I did not think of that, and it was very interesting. once hearing this idea it did make sense that Waverly would think less of the others around her since they have not achieved that same level of success that she did.

Overall, i think my lit seminar went well and I certainly began to look at the story and characters in new ways. The idea of the literary seminars is great, since it forces people to swap ideas and maybe causing people to look at an event in a different way.