Rohan Vora, Grade 11
UWCSEA (East)
English is a subject like no other: the playing around with words, the creation of rhythm and structure, the joy in developing a narrative 'tone'. It's the only subject that allows one to be their unabashed self. In UWCSEA, English language and literature have truly been the wind beneath my wings, allowing me to soar and reach academic and intellectual heights I would only dream of.
My teacher, Mister Watson, makes the classroom into an academic hub, embroiling us in the world of imagination and creativity. At the end of every class, we are made to write a reflection, an 'expectation' of sorts. After our first class, we were made to write down the importance of English language and literature and its personal significance, mine was somewhat like this -
English Literature and language allow us to delve further into ourselves and our identity. What makes us who we are? Why are we different? How does our environment affect us? I hope this course allows me to understand myself better, as when I understand myself better, I can also comprehend others well.
I love reading about current affairs, so much so, that when I grow up, I want to be a journalist. Every Sunday morning I wake up excitedly and read 'The Sunday Guardian', a revered newspaper in India. I feel that studying the English language will help me analyse language and with it tone, punctuation, vocabulary, the intention of the author. I also feel that it will help me understand opinions better, as once one understands the language, the author's opinion becomes more clear.
It's pretty generic, right? I wasn't sure what to pen down or what to truly expect from my upcoming English class. I thought it would be like any other - discussions about novels, analysis of various texts and written assignments that would periodically take place. Little did I know that my class would be an intellectual melting point where contradictory opinions and voices would come together, creating some sense of harmony.
As the COVID pandemic engendered our school to move to online classes, Mister Watson told us to write a few words about what we had learned from English that year. A snippet -
My experience with English was similar to that of writing a novel - it was moving, rigorous, educational and extremely exciting. Pondering over the issues of 'representation' sprouted questions that I had never thought of before - When we represent someone, are we defining them to larger audiences? Should some forms of representations be censored due to defamatory reasons? Isn't the issue of representation contentious because of conflicts with portraying identity? I dived deep into the Christopher Hitchens within me and tried to find answers to every academic question that was posed to me. When learning about the genre of dystopia and analysing the television series, Black Mirror, I was plunged into a future that seemed dangerous and dark. While analysing Duffy poems, I basked in ideas of women empowerment, feminism and gender equality. It helped shape much of my liberal fabric and develop a greater interest in politics.
In another instance, I remember writing and delivering a monologue of Ms. Emilly, a character in Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. As I wrote the monologue, I became my character's voice and slowly started to absorb some of her characteristics. I began to understand the fine line that exists between theatre and literature and fell in love with both worlds. Delivering the monologue in front of the class, I found confidence in me that was hidden in the deepest compartments of my soul and found the inner actor within me. Through the analysis of Never Let Me Go and other works of literature we have studied, I comprehended the reasons for specific for certain authorial choices and discovered some of the idiosyncrasies that teem the written word. As a writer, class has helped me develop much of my reading and writing artistry. As a critical thinker, English has allowed me to develop a nuanced understanding of social and political issues, providing me with the salient gift of awareness.
Simon Weil once said 'the joy of learning is as indispensable in study as breathing is in running'. This definitely rings true for English class - Each idea I had learned in the class before would be replaced with an idea I had learned in class on another day, knowledge became a corrigible substance and academic curiosity remained an incorrigible friend.
My teacher, Mister Watson, makes the classroom into an academic hub, embroiling us in the world of imagination and creativity. At the end of every class, we are made to write a reflection, an 'expectation' of sorts. After our first class, we were made to write down the importance of English language and literature and its personal significance, mine was somewhat like this -
English Literature and language allow us to delve further into ourselves and our identity. What makes us who we are? Why are we different? How does our environment affect us? I hope this course allows me to understand myself better, as when I understand myself better, I can also comprehend others well.
I love reading about current affairs, so much so, that when I grow up, I want to be a journalist. Every Sunday morning I wake up excitedly and read 'The Sunday Guardian', a revered newspaper in India. I feel that studying the English language will help me analyse language and with it tone, punctuation, vocabulary, the intention of the author. I also feel that it will help me understand opinions better, as once one understands the language, the author's opinion becomes more clear.
It's pretty generic, right? I wasn't sure what to pen down or what to truly expect from my upcoming English class. I thought it would be like any other - discussions about novels, analysis of various texts and written assignments that would periodically take place. Little did I know that my class would be an intellectual melting point where contradictory opinions and voices would come together, creating some sense of harmony.
As the COVID pandemic engendered our school to move to online classes, Mister Watson told us to write a few words about what we had learned from English that year. A snippet -
My experience with English was similar to that of writing a novel - it was moving, rigorous, educational and extremely exciting. Pondering over the issues of 'representation' sprouted questions that I had never thought of before - When we represent someone, are we defining them to larger audiences? Should some forms of representations be censored due to defamatory reasons? Isn't the issue of representation contentious because of conflicts with portraying identity? I dived deep into the Christopher Hitchens within me and tried to find answers to every academic question that was posed to me. When learning about the genre of dystopia and analysing the television series, Black Mirror, I was plunged into a future that seemed dangerous and dark. While analysing Duffy poems, I basked in ideas of women empowerment, feminism and gender equality. It helped shape much of my liberal fabric and develop a greater interest in politics.
In another instance, I remember writing and delivering a monologue of Ms. Emilly, a character in Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. As I wrote the monologue, I became my character's voice and slowly started to absorb some of her characteristics. I began to understand the fine line that exists between theatre and literature and fell in love with both worlds. Delivering the monologue in front of the class, I found confidence in me that was hidden in the deepest compartments of my soul and found the inner actor within me. Through the analysis of Never Let Me Go and other works of literature we have studied, I comprehended the reasons for specific for certain authorial choices and discovered some of the idiosyncrasies that teem the written word. As a writer, class has helped me develop much of my reading and writing artistry. As a critical thinker, English has allowed me to develop a nuanced understanding of social and political issues, providing me with the salient gift of awareness.
Simon Weil once said 'the joy of learning is as indispensable in study as breathing is in running'. This definitely rings true for English class - Each idea I had learned in the class before would be replaced with an idea I had learned in class on another day, knowledge became a corrigible substance and academic curiosity remained an incorrigible friend.
www.unitedworldwide.co