Category: ENGL 100

A quote that stood out most to me was from the Chinese philosopher Gongsun Long discussed in Gleick’s “Persistence of The Word”. The quote poses a question: “Can it be that a white horse is not a horse?” Long elaborates on his question, “Horse is that by means of which one names the shape. “White is that by means of which one names the colour. What names the colour is not what names the shape. Hence, I say that a white horse is not a horse.” Gleick used this argument in his paper about how written language has stolen the connection and intimacy between us and the world. The fact that we are made to think and sort our world into arbitrary categories has interesting connotations and possible consequences. I think this quote stood out to me because I heard the white horse paradox when I was younger and as a kid, I thought it was hilarious. I think Gleick’s contextualization of this classic question is super interesting I would have never thought to question the system of written language.

I found ENGL 100 probably the toughest course out of my first term in university. The readings assigned were far beyond the reading and comprehension level I’ve experienced before. I found the online format a little bit disappointing, for a class like English I definitely prefer in class discussions where I can discuss with my peers and teacher more directly about the concepts being introduced. Although I still enjoyed the thought-provoking ideas the readings provided, I just wanted more communication and connection to engage my comprehension of the subjects. I think I improved on structuring essays this term, before I generally would just write straight and wordy. My writing style was more like a transcript of my ramblings. This term I tried to be more conscious of having a clear structure in my essays. My favourite part of this course was talking about the final essay topics with my peer review partner. It was very beneficial and uplifting to talk to someone about the topics we were passionate about!