Preparing for the Presentation Reflection

Good evening class,

          I figured I might as well post this weeks’ reflection now since I might have just finished my part of the presentation.  I believe I got very lucky, my portion of the presentation does not focus on the explication or interpretation of our story “How the Coyote Placed the Stars,” in fact my portion is the introduction to the Wacos/Chinook tribe and context.  So as stated I got off easy, but also a bit sad.  In preparing my slides, I read through the brief history given in our text, which prompted me to look “google” more information about the tribes. 

          I have always been impressed by educators who take an extra step and prepare historical contexts prior to engaging in a lesson, even if it does not contribute directly, it applies and engages the class indirectly as the background of the writer, artist, family, culture etc make all the difference in understanding even a few nuances that otherwise may go misunderstood or comprehended.  When I first truly discovered reading, I was mesmerized by Edgar Allan Poe, to me, it made all the difference in the word in understanding that he grew up and a child and as a man surrounded by death, particularly tuberculosis and lost many close people to him who; in their final days, would cough blood until they perished.  It made sense to me how vividly he wrote of suffering, death, and torture of the soul.  Somehow if he grew up on a bunny farm, I don’t think his writing would be the same.