Farewell from your Local Woodland Witch

 Hello all, and welcome back to the cottage--for the final time.

What a journey it's been. I really don't know what to say--other than that I've truly enjoyed my time here. The woodland witch will remain in the cottage, though I do foresee some trips to the town bookstore in the near future. Sometime through the term--I believe it was when we were reading Calvino, to be exact--I decided that once the term had concluded, I'd go out and buy myself physical copies of the books that I'd liked to have spent more time on.

And there were many. There were books that I wished we could've spent more time discussing, even though they weren't mandatory reads. Ninety minutes--not even--didn't seem enough to cover everything, especially with the way that new ideas would spring up during discussion because of something that someone else had observed. I think that perhaps my only regret for this class is that I didn't speak out more.

Because there was nothing to read for this concluding note, I'm at a loss for words. I did, however, listen to the lecture beforehand in hopes that it would generate some ideas (it did indeed) and to bring this course to its end in the same way that we've done throughout this term together.

The notion of a child's perspective of an 'adult's world' brought me all the way back to Proust and his cup of tea, that cozy bedroom tucked away from the vast night outside, within which Proust lay in his bed and recounted and thought and dreamed and slept. Looking back, it was a wonderful introduction to the 'Romance world' (of course, there isn't such a thing, remember) and despite the initial confusion surrounding the book, I think that it did well in paving the way for the rest of our reading. I think that the difficulty and bewilderedness that we shared in navigating Proust really brought us together. Though it wasn't one of my favourite reads, it left a great impression on me.

One other thing that stood out to me from the final lecture was the concept of minor literature. It really made me think about how my own relationship with literature will continue to develop, how my identity as a reader--and a writer--will develop as someone who is classified by the English [literature] world as a minority. I think that will stay with me for a very long time, especially as times change and I tread further down the path I have chosen for myself.

And now, considering that I have begun to run out of the words between 'hello' and 'farewell', I shall do just that--bade you all farewell.

To those of you who I shared this time with, thank you all so very much for coming to the cottage, coming to class and sharing your thoughts which in turn provoked new thought of my own, and making my time in this course absolutely delightful.

Perhaps for the few that are just starting this course--who wander in by accident, or to get an understanding of how these student blogs may look by drawing on examples of previous students, how nice to see you. You will enjoy yourselves in this course.

A special, fourth-wall breaking thank you to Jon, Julian, and Daniel. Thank you for responding to us every week, and I hope you know that your hard work is well appreciated.

This has been your Local Woodland Witch,

June